This award honors the memory of Arline Custer (1909-1975), MARAC member and editor of the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, and is presented by the MARAC Arline Custer Memorial Award Committee. The award recognizes the best books, monographs, exhibition catalogues, and articles published by MARAC members and other individuals and institutions in Washington, DC, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Material submitted must appeal to the general public as well as the archival community and submissions are evaluated based on relevancy both to the archival community and the general public, originality and quality of scholarship, style of writing, presentation, and layout.

Recent winners include the paperback edition of "The Burning of Washington: The British Invasion of 1814," by Anthony S. Pitch, "She Worked Her Head Off: Edwin and Louise Rosskam and the Golden Age of Documentary Photography Books." and "Documenting Diversity: Edwin Rosskam and the Photo Book, 1940-1941," by Gary D. Saretzky, both published in The Photo Review, Becoming American Express: 150 Years of Reinvention and Customer Service, by Reed Massengill, Becoming Visible: An Illustrated History of Lesbian and Gay Life in Twentieth-Century America, by Molly McGarry and Fred Wasserman and New York University and the City: An Illustrated History, by Thomas J. Frusciano and Marilyn H. Pettit.

Individuals or institutions may submit up to two works which were published between July 1, 2001, and June 30, 2002. Submissions must be received not later than July 31, 2002.

Up to two awards may be given, with a maximum value of $200.00 for books or monographs, and $100 for articles. The 2002 Arline Custer Award winner(s) will be announced at the Fall Business Meeting, October 19-21, 2002 in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Please send two copies of each submission to the address below.

Questions? Please call or email Danna Bell-Russel.