Larry W. Cates is the 2017 recipient of the Filby Award for Genealogical Librarianship. Cates, who is librarian at the Heritage Research Center of the High Point Public Library, High Point, North Carolina, received his award and its $1,000 prize, which is underwritten by ProQuest, at the Librarians’ Day event of National Genealogical Society (NGS) 2017 Family History Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina., also underwritten by ProQuest.

Cates has been Librarian at the Heritage Research Center of the High Point Public Library since October 2007. During the course of his career, he has created innovative programs for family historians, provided programs to local genealogical societies, served as journal editor for the Randolph County Genealogical Society and Guilford County Genealogical Society; and helped to promote participation through his library’s mailing list and at genealogy fairs at his library.

Equally dedicated to the preservation and cataloging of historical records, he has worked tirelessly to process and incorporate various private collections of papers into his library’s local history files. Cates also volunteered to create scope and content descriptions for manuscript and other textual materials housed at the High Point Museum. He is currently working to document High Point’s participation in the Great War, including a more complete roster of local participants, with African Americans who were omitted from High Point’s World War I monument. Over the years, Cates has published a wide variety of abstracts, transcriptions, and feature articles in various local and state-level genealogical publications.

Please join me in congratulating Mr. Cates on this prestigious award.