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Amherst, December 1, 2005

The Allen Noble Book Award, is given in honor of the scholarship he contributed to cultural geography. The award recognizes the best-edited book in the field of North American material culture. As a long-time scholar and professor emeritus of geography and planning at the University of Akron, Dr. Noble is recognized for his influential and seminal work.

The Noble Award is being presented this year to Building the Nation: Americans Write About Their Architecture, Their Cities and Their Landscape. It is edited by Steven Conn and Max Page and published by the University of Pennsylvania Press (2003).

Compiled around eight themes which reflect the interaction between humans as they create the built environment, and the built environment as a formative force on human social and cultural values, each chapter is a collection of ideas, thoughts, meditations and essays on historically reoccurring themes such as “what is American architecture?”, or “shaping nature the American way.” The selected authors for each chapter provide expert writings on the themes from the nation’s founding to contemporary times. The book provides a thought provoking way to compare and contrast ideas about our human geography through topical issues over time, persistence and change, and exemplifies the work of Allen Noble.

The Pioneer America Society (PAS), established in 1967, is an international group of scholars, historians, geographers, and those interested in landscape and material culture studies, who combine their efforts to record, both visibly and orally, that which constitutes the visible landscape. A long line of eminent scholars has been among its members over the years, and this has made the organization one of the major contributors to the field of landscape and material culture studies. Its peer-reviewed journal, Material Culture, has been designated one of the top five research tools for aspiring scholars in landscape studies. Several of the members, Fred Kniffen and Allen Noble, have been internationally recognized as authorities in the field based on the breadth of their publications. In their honor, the PAS established two book awards honoring both the best written and best edited publications during the past year.

This year the PAS Book Review Committee received thirty-six book nominations from thirteen publishers from the US and Canada. These quality books were reviewed for applicability to the award criteria, and the award committee is pleased to announce its 2006 Book Award recipients.