The Society for History in the Federal Government announced two awards presented in 2004 for outstanding articles or essays that furthered understanding of the federal government's history. The society awarded its James Madison Prize to Landon R. Y. Storrs for the article, "Red Scare Politics and the Suppression of Popular Front Feminism: The Loyalty Investigation of Mary Dublin Keyserling," which appeared in the Journal of American History (September 2003). The society's Charles Thomson Prize was awarded to Timothy Davis for the article, "Inventing Nature in Washington, D.C.," which appeared in the anthology, Inventing for the Environment, edited by Arthur Molella and Joyce Bedi.

The society also issued a call for papers for its annual conference to be held March 17–19, 2005, in College Park, Maryland. The theme for the conference (being held in conjunction with the annual conference of Oral History in the MId-Atlantic region) will be oral history in the federal government. Proposals (of not more than 600 words) for papers should be sent by January 15, 2005. They may be sent by e-mail addressed to
donalps1@ucia.gov (but only in the body of the message and not as attachments). Proposals may be mailed to SHFG, 2005 Conference, Box 14139, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044. For details, see www.shfg.org.