The R. C. Crane Heritage Service Award honors an outstanding non-profit organization for its work in preserving the history and legacy of West Texas. West Texas is loosely defined as west of a line drawn from Wichita Falls to Fort Worth to San Antonio to Laredo. Those eligible include local and regional organizations, county commissions, or associations.

The WTHA seeks nomination letters describing the work done by non-profits that have distinguished themselves through achievement of goals or completion of projects that transcend the norm, infused their mission with cooperative partnerships, funded projects via local and regional sources, and linked their efforts to public education within the community and especially in service of schools, teachers, and students who have participated in or attended their exhibits, events, and activities. Moreover, the award winning organization should exemplify the spirit of grass-roots citizen historians that accomplish great things with scant resources - i.e., "Doing more with less."

Letters of nomination should be forwarded to The Crane Heritage Service Award at craneawardcommittee@wtha.org no later than March 20th of each year.

The award, along with a cash prize of $500, will be announced at the Saturday Business Luncheon at the WTHA annual meeting.

Funds for this award come exclusively from donations. Consider contributing to this worthy cause today. To donate by mail please fill out this form [PDF file].

Crane Award Winners:

2022 - Wheeler County Historical Commission

2020 - Clay County Historical Society

2017 - Lubbock Heritage Society

2016 - Historic Motley County Jail Association

2015 - Historic Scurry County, Inc.

2014 - Brewster County Historical Commission

2014 - Runnels County Historical Commission

2013 - Fort Chadbourne Foundation and the Runnels County Historical Commission

2012 - Brewster County Historical Commission

In 2013, Brewster County Historical Commission received the first Crane Excellence in Heritage Award. Travis Roberts of Marathon accepted the award on behalf of the Commission.

There were two award winners in 2014. Photo and text provided by Ruth Cooper of the Runnels County Historical Commission:

Pictured from left to right are Brent Bryan, Ruth Cooper, Ann Pate, Garland Richards and Lana Richards.

The Fort Chadbourne Foundation and the Runnels County Historical Commission were both recipients of the prestigious R. C. Crane Heritage Service Award at the 91st Annual Meeting of the Texas Historical Association held in Odessa, Texas, April 4-5, 2014.

The recipients each received the prestigious Award along with a check of $500.00. Fort Chadbourne was selected for its cooperation and work with other organizations and its projects of history preservation. The Runnels County Historical Commission was selected for its cooperation with other organizations and extreme volunteerism, as well as the preservation projects.

DONATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Founder's Level ($1,000 and above)
2016 - Joe Specht, Abilene

2015 - Joe Specht, Abilene

Gold Level ($500-$999)
2016 - Glen Ely, Fort Worth

2015 - Glen Ely, Fort Worth; Robert Hall, Pittsburg;
Marisue Potts, Matador; and J. Travis Roberts, Jr., Marathon.

Silver Level ($100-$499)
2017 - Jack Becker, Lubbock

2016 - Glen Ely, Fort Worth; and Jennifer Spurrier, Lubbock.

2015 - Austin Allison, Lubbock; Lynn Hopkins, Borger; and Bill O'Neal, Carthage.

2014 - Mary Sue Potts, Matador; Joyce Gibson Roach, Keller; Travis Robers, Marathon; and J. Tillapaugh, Odessa.

President's Level ($20-$99)

2023 - Alex Hunt, Canyon.

2017 - Austin Allison, Lubbock; and Clint Chambers, Lubbock.

2016 - Mari Nicholson-Preuss and Gene Preuss, Houston; Austin Allison, Lubbock; Debbie Liles, Denton; Monte Monroe, Lubbock; Lynn Whitfield, Lubbock; and Garry and Annette Nall, Amarillo.

2015- Jack Becker, Lubbock; John Caraway, Clyde; Tom Crum, Granbury; Sylvia Mahoney, Fort Worth; Monte Monroe, Lubbock; Garry and Annette Nall, Amarillo; Leland Turner, Wichita Falls; and Lynn Whitfield, Lubbock.