Sharlot Hall Award Recipient 1998

Dr. Margaret F. Maxwell has made a significant effort to document and acquaint others with the people and incidents that influenced that influenced Arizona's history.  Born September 9, 1927 in Schenectady, New York, Maxwell first came to Arizona in 1971 when she was appointed to the faculty of the Graduate Library School of the University of Arizona.  A strong interest in Arizona history has resulted in numerous lectures, articles and books.  She has been a frequent contributor to the Journal of Arizona History and coedited Voices of the Southwest: A Gathering in Honor of Lawrence Clark Powell (1976).  She is perhaps best known for her biography of Sharlot M. Hall entitled A Passion for Freedom: The Life of Sharlot Hall (1982).  An award-winning publication, garnering both the National Cowboy Hall of Fame Award in 1983 and the Southwest Book Award in1984, A Passion for Freedom remains the most comprehensive study of one of Arizona's most prominent pioneers.

Also an excellent instructor, Maxwell received a Creative Teaching Award from the University of Arizona Foundation.  Recently retired from that university's faculty, she continues to research and write about Arizona history.  As both a writer and a teacher, Margaret F. Maxwell has helped many people share her understanding of Arizona history.

Maxwell received several nominations for the Sharlot Hall Award.  One described her talent for making Arizona's history excitable and enjoyable: "I have come to appreciate her wisdom, her enthusiasm and her professional commitment.  Dr. Maxwell is a productive writer whose articles and books demonstrate not only a dedication to historical accuracy but a pleasing literary style.  No drab and lifeless account has ever been published under her name -- on the contrary, a Maxwell text is readable and lively -- a treat for the reader."