As Chair of the SHA Awards Committee I would like some feedback
concerning the Award Ceremony held at the annual SHA Banquets.Those of
you who attend SHA Annual Meetings on a regular basis, and attend the
banquets, what do you think about the LENGTH of the awards ceremony? Does
it seem too long or just about right?
 
        Of course, the ceremony in Corpus Christi WAS too long because I
spent too much time on some of the Awards of Merit, especially the TAS
background statement. There was a reason for the details. I was trying to
build ties between the state archaeological societies (Missouri,
Virginia, Maryland and Texas) we have honored and the SHA. All of these
state organizations have long and impressive records of supporting
historical archaeology. But it was clearly too long. I had to wake up a
number of SHA officers who had fallen asleep in their chairs and one, it
is rumored, had to have an operation to get out of his chair. I corrected
this mistake in Atlanta by condensing the SEAC statement (see SEAC
Newsletter April 1998).
 
        Please keep in mind that the senior awards (Harrington Medal and
Ruppe Plaque) are the highpoint in the careers of many of our colleagues.
Also the Harrington part of the ceremony is usually well illustrated with
very fine slides while the Ruppe presentation is not.
 
        I would like to have your opinions on this question of length
either publically on HISTARCH or privately to me ([log in to unmask]).
 
        We do have a wonderful ceremony planned for 1999 in Salt Lake City.
George Bass, one of the founders of Underwater Archaeology, will be honored
with the J.C. Harrington Medal. We had over 1,000 people attending the
very successful conference in Atlanta (1998), lets try to match this
number in SLC. I also urge all those attending to sign up for the banquet
and to attend the Awards Ceremony. Some chairs will be put out for those
students who can not afford the banquet tickets.
 
                                Thank you,
                                Bob Schuyler
                                Chair, SHA Awards Committee