KNOXVILLE — The East Tennessee Historical Society (ETHS) invites nominations from across East Tennessee for Awards of Excellence in the field of history. Each year, the society recognizes individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the preservation, promotion, programming, and interpretation of the region’s history. The awards have been presented each year since 1982.

Awards are in four categories:

• The Award of Distinction recognizes a special project, such as publications, building preservation, or special program, such as a conference, heritage event, publication, lecture series, or other.

• History in the Media Award is presented to someone in the field of television, radio, newspaper, magazine, Internet, for outstanding contributions to the promotion of our region’s history.

• Teaching Excellence Award is for outstanding or innovative teaching of history at any level, grades one through adult education.

• The Society’s most prestigious recognition is the Ramsey Award for Lifetime Achievement. This award is reserved for one who, over the course of a lifetime, has made outstanding contributions to the understanding and preservation of East Tennessee history. It is named for ETHS founder and early historian, Dr. J.G.M. Ramsey, author of The Annals of East Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century.

For more information about the Awards of Excellence or to request a nomination form, please contact the East Tennessee Historical Society, P. O. Box 1629, Knoxville, TN 37901, by phone at 865-215-8824 or visit the website at www.eastTNhistory.org. The postmark deadline for award applications is April 11, 2014. Winners will be recognized at the Society’s Annual Meeting held on May 6 in Knoxville.

Established in 1834, the East Tennessee Historical Society has 2,000 members across the United States. Its active publications program includes the biannual genealogy magazine Tennessee Ancestors; the annual Journal of East Tennessee History; and Newsline, as well as other books pertaining to the region's history. The Society also sponsors the Museum of East Tennessee History, East Tennessee National History Day, and the family heritage programs "First Families of Tennessee” and “Civil War Families of Tennessee.”