Alice Storey Winner of 2005 SHD
Prize Essay Contest

Alice Storey, who holds a J. Armand Bombardier Internationalist Fellowship (2004), and is a doctoral student in anthropology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, was named the winner of the 2005 SHD Prize Essay contest. The title of her essay is “Layers of Discovery: Exploration and Innovation in Oceania.” This work is the result of considerable archaeological fieldwork in the Western Pacific. She holds the B.A. and M.A. degrees from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. Ms. Storey could not attend the annual meeting in Williamsburg, but will present her paper at our society’s conference in Portland, Oregon, which is much closer to her home in British Columbia. The prize includes a $600.00 award, plus transportation to, and lodging at, the annual meeting. Her paper will appear in a future issue of  Terrae Incognitae.

Honors Committee - 2006

A new Honors Committee is at work to select the Society for the History of Discoveries Fellow or Fellows (FSHD) for 2006. The Chairman is Ed Dahl, and serving with him are Barbara McCorkle and Louis De Vorsey. SHD members who wish to nominate a person for an honor should contact Ed Dahl at edahl@ iosphere.net. Nominations must be accompanied by a letter stating the qualities of the person to be considered.

NEWS OF MEMBERS – 2006

David Allen writes that he has retired from his position as map librarian at Stony Brook University (State University of New York). He is working on a book on the history of the mapping of New York State. He is editor of Coordinates: The Online Journal of the Map and Geography Round Table of the American Library Association.

Our member from Israel, Simcha Bahiri, wrote that he is continuing his “Jewish-crypto” contribution to exploration in history. He is preparing a paper to be read at the Portland SHD meeting on the role of fur trappers and traders in European exploration and discovery in the American Northwest and its settlement in the 17th to 19th centuries. Intriguingly, he stated that his family was active in the fur sector. 

Benjamin Baughman is the Historic House Manager for the 1797 Ezekial Harris House at the Augusta Museum of History in Augusta, Georgia. “Such Deeds of Darkness,” his essay concerning the life of William Craig, mountain man and first permanent settler in Idaho, was recently published in the Spring/Summer 2005 edition of Idaho Yesterdays, the journal of the Idaho State Historical Society. Ben lives in Augusta, Georgia with his cat Zeke. 

During the past year, Herbert Beals has contributed six articles for the forthcoming Oxford Companion to World Exploration. They include three Chinese explorers: Zhang Qian, Xuanzang, and Zheng He. The other three subjects are Gaspar Corte-Real, The Columbia River, and The Oregon Trail. His translation of Bodega y Quadra’s 1775 journal is in the Hakluyt Society’s hands and will appear in a volume provisionally to be titled Four Travel Journals. 

Sanford Bederman has had another fulfilling year as Executive Secretary of SHD. Sandy still teaches at Senior University of Greater Atlanta, where he offers an annual course in geography. Work also continues as a Section Editor of the Oxford Companion to World Exploration. He has been informed that the Companion is inching closer to completion, and wishes to thank all of the members of SHD who have contributed to the volume.

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