February 10, 2021
Online Journal of Rural Research and Policy announces Thomas P. Gould Prize winner
The Online Journal of Rural Research and Policy, a publication of the Chapman Center for Rural Studies, has announced the winner of the third Thomas P. Gould Prize for the best article published in the journal.
The winner of the 2021 prize is John Truden, doctoral student at the University of Oklahoma. Truden received his master's degree in 2018 in history from the University of Oklahoma.
Truden's article, "You're in apple land but you are a lemon:" Connection, Collaboration, and Division in Early '70s Indian Country," examines case studies about the transformation of Oklahoma's Indigenous communities in the 1970s. The findings of this research present a portrait of emerging collaboration through Native media within a diverse, indigenous world that was simultaneously wrought with emerging ideological schisms.
Truden expressed that he is grateful for the open-source format of the OJRRP. He said that this platform makes his studies and the research of others more accessible to Indigenous communities everywhere:
"I was able to share my work with people from the communities in this article as well as many others across Indian Country through non-academic channels like Facebook," Truden said. "The stories of Native connection, collaboration, and division in 1970s Oklahoma I've had the privilege to tell are one of many reminders that the future of the Great Plains is Indigenous. Native peoples and communities are growing every day and momentous victories like McGirt v. Oklahoma reflect decades of revitalization and organizing across Indian Country."
Winners of the annual Gould Prize receive $500 and recognition for their work in the journal and the media.
Founding editor Thomas Gould, a K-State journalism professor, died on Feb. 14, 2016. His wife, Carol VanNahmen, donates half of the prize money in his honor every year since his passing.
Those interested in submitting work can find more information at newprairiepress.org/ojrrp/, or may contact members of the editorial staff: Mary Kohn, Tuan Nguyen, Bradley Galka, or Chanh Lam.