Stephanie George and Carlota F. Haider are the recipients of the 2008 Award of Merit from the American Association for State & Local History. They won the award for creating the 2007 exhibit, Sowing Dreams, Cultivating Lives: Nikkei Farmers in Pre-World War II Orange County - the inaugural exhibit of the O.C. Agricultural & Nikkei Heritage Museum..
As the curator and designer (respectively), Steph and Carlota created the exhibit by pouring in ridiculous amounts of their own time, expertise and elbow grease, as well as investing thousands of dollars of their own money. Although the exhibit is no longer on display, they’re working on a catalog which should be available through CSUF’s Center for Oral & Public History around October. (For more photos and information, see CSUF's press release.)