Honorary Lifetime Membership

The Honorary Lifetime Membership in the Western History Association is given by the WHA President in recognition of the notable achievements of individuals in the field of Western History over the course of their careers. The Honorary Lifetime Award is announced annually during the WHA Awards Ceremony. The WHA office sends notifications of this honor in August.



Past Recipients



1992
Samuel P. Arnold

1993
Allan G. Bogue

1970

George Chalfant

Agnes Wright Spring


1971

James C. Malin

Frederick Merk


1972

Ramon Adams

Lawrence Kinnaird

Alys H. Freeze


1973

Juanita Brooks


1975

Ernest S. Osgood


1976

Nyle H. Miller


1977

John and LaRee Caughey


1978

Vernon Carstensen


1979

W.H. Hutchinson


1980

John C. Ewers


1981

Paul W. Gates


1983

Llerena B. Friend


1985

Earl Pomeroy


1986

Lewis Atherton


1987

Abraham Nasatir


1988

Michael Harrison


1989

Everett Cooley


1990

Robert V. Hine


1991

Donald C. Cutter

Arthur H. Clark



2009
Gordon Bakken
John Hickenlooper

2010
Theda Perdue and Michael Green
Kathleen Underwood

1994
Chester Kerr                 
Stewart Udall
Harwood Hinton

1995
Janet R. Fireman
Joan Jensen

1996
Floyd O'Neil

1997
Henry Fritz
Donald Witnah
John Porter Bloom
Jo Tice Bloom

1998
Walter Nugent

1999
Edwin R. Bingham
Robert C. Woodward

2000
Jan Shipps
Duane Smith

2001
Guy Logsdon
John L. Allen

2002
Dee Brown
Judith Austin

2003
William H. Goetzmann

2004
Anne Butler
Margaret Connell-Szasz

2005
Markku Henriksson
Elizabeth Jameson
Quintard Taylor

2006
Thomas Alexander
Malcolm Rohrbough
Paul Hutton

2007
Donald J. Berthrong
William Hagan

2008
George Miles
Paula Petrik



2011
Patricia Nelson Limerick


2012
Kenneth Owens
Robert Ritchie
Tom Noel
W. David Baird

2013
Francis Paul Prucha

2014
Peter Iverson

2015
Susan Armitage
David Rich Lewis
Vicki Ruiz

2016
Iris H.W. Engstrand
Donald Worster

2017
John Gray
John Heaton

2018
R. David Edmunds

2019

Alfred P. Bush


2020

Peter Blodgett

Virginia Scharff

Caroline F. Schimmel


2021

Christine Marin

Elliott West


2022
Peter Boag

Theresa Salazar

Richard White

The WHA is located in the Department of History at the University of Kansas.

The WHA is grateful to KU's History Department and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for their generous support!


Western History Association

University of Kansas | History Department

1445 Jayhawk Blvd. | 3650 Wescoe Hall

Lawrence, KS 66045 | 785-864-0860

wha@westernhistory.org