BOWLING GREEN, O. -- Great Lakes and Toledo architectural history are the subjects of books honored at the 19th annual Conference on Local History, presented Thursday (April 3) by Bowling Green State University's Center for Archival Collections.

Receiving Local History Publication Awards were, in the academic scholar division, "The Sixty Years' War for the Great Lakes, 1754-1814," edited by Drs. Larry Nelson and David Skaggs, and in the independent scholar division, "Toledo: A History in Architecture, 1890-1914," by William Speck. The winning entry in each division receives a $300 cash prize and a plaque.

Published in 2001 by Michigan State University Press, "The Sixty Years' War for the Great Lakes, 1754-1814" is a compilation of 20 essays taken from papers presented at a 1998 conference of the same name at BGSU. Nelson is an adjunct assistant professor of history at BGSU Firelands, while Skaggs is a professor emeritus of history at BGSU.

The book, one of two nominees in the academic scholar division, "will really stand the test of time," predicted Ann Bowers, interim director of the Center for Archival Collections. "If you could only have one book about this time period in this area, this would be it."

Specifically, she cited the book's completeness in addressing the military, economic, political and cultural issues among the four groups who vied for control of the Great Lakes at the time-the British, French, Americans and Native Americans.

The Speck book, published last year by Arcadia Publishing Co. in Chicago, was chosen from among nine nominees in the independent scholar division. The author, a graduate of St. John's High School in Toledo and now a New York City resident, received honorable mention last year for his first volume on Toledo architectural history, covering the years 1835-90.

The award-winning second volume represented "a very nice job in accurately documenting this aspect of Toledo's history," Bowers said. "His work is just very thorough, very detailed about these buildings," as well as their builders and occupants, she added, noting that many of the structures are no longer standing.

The awards were announced Thursday morning as part of the daylong history conference at the Holiday Inn French Quarter in Perrysburg. The conference's keynote speaker was Andrew Carroll, editor of the best-selling book, "War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars."

(Posted April 07, 2003 )