Historical Society’s ‘Governor’s Post’ wins top prize at Illinois State Historical Society awards ceremony

QUINCY — “The Governor’s Post,” a quarterly publication produced by the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County (HSQAC), has been awarded the top prize in its category at the Illinois State Historical Society’s 2025 Best of Illinois History Awards at an April 26 ceremony in Springfield.

The Post was recognized for superior achievement for non-book materials – ongoing periodicals. The winning piece was described as follows: “This periodical is surely the envy of historical societies and museums throughout the state as it establishes a high standard not only in production quality but with varied and interesting content. Combining the society’s news and program promotions with interesting and enlightening articles provides fresh insights into the history of Quincy and Adams County.”

“The Governor’s Post” is one of the benefits of HSQAC membership and is distributed to its members each quarter. The writing staff consists of HSQAC executive director Rob Mellon, office manager Susi DeClue, museum and collection manager Nancy Benz and volunteer contributor Beth Young.

Stories from the Society’s column, “Once Upon a Time,” coordinated by Arlis Dittmer, are featured in each issue. Jenna Benz of Arts Quincy designs the piece, and Royal Printing of Quincy has printed the periodical for several years.

Two other entries from HSQAC also received high honors – Civil War Symposium V and the book, “Tales of John Wood and His Adams County.”

Civil War Symposium V, recognized by several national publications and sponsored by HSQAC and Tri-States Civil War Round Table, received the certificate of excellence in public programming – educational program. The event has long been recognized for offering a mix of local and national presenters in various formats. Symposium coordinators are Young and Timothy Jacobs.

The adjudication committee commented: “This comprehensive and informative program about Civil War military leadership, the Lincoln assassination and other topics used a variety of presentation styles, including music, to provide a strong program targeting an audience with varied interests.”

“Tales of John Wood” received the certificate of excellence in publications – other. This book features selected articles pertaining to the Gov. John Wood era in Adams County and was coordinated by HSQAC member Reg Ankrom. It was lauded for its entertainment value and communal approach to research.

The book was described as “an entertaining and informative collection of short essays by 21 authors about the history of Adams County from 1730 to 1896. The activity of writing these stories beginning in 2011 brought community members together to research local history, and the publication of dozens of these essays meant that the wider community could share in this knowledge.”