Steven Noll, a professor in the UF department of history, has been given the Florida Historical Society’s 2010 Rembert Patrick Award for his recently published book, “Ditch of Dreams: The Cross Florida Barge Canal and the Struggle for Florida’s Future.”

The book, which was co-authored by Santa Fe College history professor Dave Tegeder, examines the effort to dig a canal across Florida, according to a press release from the UF news desk.

Noll and Tegeder received the award for their 352-page book at the historical society’s annual meeting in St. Augustine on May 27, according to the release.

The Rembert Patrick Award each year goes to authors who write scholarly books about the history of Florida, according to the FHS website.

“Ditch of Dreams” which was published by the University of Florida Press in 2009, details the nearly 50-year fight by resident environmentalists against the construction of a canal across the heart of Florida, according to the University Press of Florida website.

“Ditch of Dreams” is Noll’s third book. He wrote “Feeble-Minded in our Midst” in 1995 and “Mental Retardation in America” in 2004.