For the second time this year, LaGrange historian Kaye Lanning Minchew has been honored with a major writing award.

Minchew, retired director of Troup County Archives, was recognized by ARMA International for her book, “Managing Local Government Archives.” The work, co-authored with John H. Slate, city archivist of the Dallas (Texas) Municipal Archives, received the Christine Zanotti Award for Excellence in Non-Serial Publications, recognizing exceptional contributions in literature for the records and information management profession.

The award was presented at the organization’s recent annual conference in Orlando, Florida.

Calling the book “distinguished” and “displaying clear evidence of credibility and appropriateness,” the ARMA editorial board said it “has valuable and relevant information for archives of all types and sizes and offers sage advice for the local professional who has been tasked with setting up/running an archive for local government entities.”

Minchew, who spent 34 years working in the archival field — 32 of them in LaGrange working with local government archival records — said she was “deeply honored” by the ARMA recognition.

“I am pleased to share my expertise with other interested people.  Local government records touch the lives of people more directly than any other kind of records. This includes records relating to marriage and divorce, land, law enforcement, court cases and much more.

As important as the records are, many governments ignore their historic records. I am delighted to have worked with John Slate of the City of Dallas to describe essential elements and prescribe best practices of local government archives programs.”

Minchew and Slate were colleagues for years in activities of the Society of American Archivists, where they were active in the Local Government Records Roundtable and the Government Records Section.

“John first had the idea for the book and approached me,” she explained. “He thought that if we worked together we might be able to get the book written more quickly since we both lead busy lives. We developed the outline together, and then we divided up the chapters.  Once one of us finished a chapter, the other would review it and edit it, as we tried to speak with one voice.”

In June, Minchew was named Georgia Author of the Year for History by the Georgia Writer’s Association for her book,” Franklin Delano Roosevelt: A President in Our Midst.” The pictorial history of Roosevelt’s extensive Georgia experiences, was published in 2016 by the University of Georgia Press with support from Georgia Humanities.

Established in 1955 and encompassing more than 30 nations, ARMA International is a professional association whose members include records and information managers, information governance professionals, archivists, corporate librarians, imaging specialists, legal professionals, IT managers, educators and more.