George Washington Book Prize
Encyclopedia
The George Washington Book Prize was instituted in 2005 and is awarded annually to the best book on America's founding era, especially those that have the potential to advance broad public understanding of American history. It is administered by Washington College
’s C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and sponsored by Washington College in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
and George Washington’s Mount Vernon. At $50,000, the George Washington Book Prize is one of the largest book awards in the United States.
Each year the sponsors appoint a jury of three historians or other qualified scholars who are asked to read all submitted books and narrow the field down to three finalists. The finalists are announced at Washington College on or near George Washington's birthday in February. Then a seven member committee, made up of two representatives of each of the three sponsoring institutions plus an independent historian, reviews the finalists and chooses a winner. The winner is announced at a gala dinner honoring the finalists at Mount Vernon in May
and the Eastern Shore of Maryland
. Through educational programs, scholarship, and public outreach, the Starr Center explores the early republic, the rise of democracy, and the manifold ways in which the founding era continues to shape American culture. In partnership with other institutions and with leading scholars and writers, the Center works to promote innovative approaches to the study of history, and to bridge the gaps between historians, contemporary policymakers, and the general public. Washington College
was founded in 1782 under the patronage of George Washington
, and was the first college chartered in the new nation.
Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
promotes the study and love of American history among audiences ranging from students to scholars to the general public. It creates history-centered schools and academic research centers, organizes seminars and enrichment programs for educators, produces print and electronic publications and traveling exhibitions, and sponsors lectures by eminent historians. In addition to the George Washington Book Prize, the Institute also sponsors the Lincoln Prize in conjunction with the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College
and the Frederick Douglass Prize in cooperation with the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University
.
George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, open to the public since 1858, communicates the character and leadership of Washington to millions of Americans each year through a variety of interpretive programs on the Estate and in classrooms across the nation. Mount Vernon is owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, founded in 1853, making it America’s oldest national preservation organization. The George Washington Book Prize is an important component in the Association’s aggressive outreach program, which engages millions of teachers and students throughout the nation.
Washington College
Washington College is a private, independent liberal arts college located on a campus in Chestertown, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782...
’s C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and sponsored by Washington College in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, founded in New York by Richard Gilder and Lewis E. Lehrman in 1994, was set up to promote the study and love of American history.The Institute serves teachers, students, scholars, and the general public...
and George Washington’s Mount Vernon. At $50,000, the George Washington Book Prize is one of the largest book awards in the United States.
Each year the sponsors appoint a jury of three historians or other qualified scholars who are asked to read all submitted books and narrow the field down to three finalists. The finalists are announced at Washington College on or near George Washington's birthday in February. Then a seven member committee, made up of two representatives of each of the three sponsoring institutions plus an independent historian, reviews the finalists and chooses a winner. The winner is announced at a gala dinner honoring the finalists at Mount Vernon in May
About the Sponsoring Organizations
Established in 2000 with a grant from the New York-based Starr Foundation, the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience draws on the special historical strengths of Washington CollegeWashington College
Washington College is a private, independent liberal arts college located on a campus in Chestertown, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782...
and the Eastern Shore of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. Through educational programs, scholarship, and public outreach, the Starr Center explores the early republic, the rise of democracy, and the manifold ways in which the founding era continues to shape American culture. In partnership with other institutions and with leading scholars and writers, the Center works to promote innovative approaches to the study of history, and to bridge the gaps between historians, contemporary policymakers, and the general public. Washington College
Washington College
Washington College is a private, independent liberal arts college located on a campus in Chestertown, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782...
was founded in 1782 under the patronage of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, and was the first college chartered in the new nation.
Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, founded in New York by Richard Gilder and Lewis E. Lehrman in 1994, was set up to promote the study and love of American history.The Institute serves teachers, students, scholars, and the general public...
promotes the study and love of American history among audiences ranging from students to scholars to the general public. It creates history-centered schools and academic research centers, organizes seminars and enrichment programs for educators, produces print and electronic publications and traveling exhibitions, and sponsors lectures by eminent historians. In addition to the George Washington Book Prize, the Institute also sponsors the Lincoln Prize in conjunction with the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College
Gettysburg College
Gettysburg College is a private four-year liberal arts college founded in 1832, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, United States, adjacent to the famous battlefield. Its athletic teams are nicknamed the Bullets. Gettysburg College has about 2,700 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women...
and the Frederick Douglass Prize in cooperation with the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, open to the public since 1858, communicates the character and leadership of Washington to millions of Americans each year through a variety of interpretive programs on the Estate and in classrooms across the nation. Mount Vernon is owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, founded in 1853, making it America’s oldest national preservation organization. The George Washington Book Prize is an important component in the Association’s aggressive outreach program, which engages millions of teachers and students throughout the nation.
Table of Past Winners
| Year | Author | Book |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Ron Chernow Ron Chernow Ronald Chernow is an American biographer. He is the author of Washington: A Life, Alexander Hamilton, The House of Morgan, and Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., among other works... |
Alexander Hamilton |
| 2006 | Stacy Schiff Stacy Schiff Stacy Madeleine Schiff is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American nonfiction author and guest columnist for The New York Times.-Biography:... |
A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America |
| 2007 | Charles Rappleye Charles Rappleye Charles Rappleye is a writer and editor working in Los Angeles.-Life:He is the co-founder, along with his wife Tulsa Kinney, of the art magazine Artillery.... |
Sons of Providence: The Brown Brothers, the Slave Trade, and the American Revolution |
| 2008 | Marcus Rediker Marcus Rediker Marcus Rediker is an American professor, historian, writer, and activist for a variety of peace and social justice causes. He graduated with a B.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1976 and attended the University of Pennsylvania for graduate study, earning an M.A. and Ph.D. in history... |
The Slave Ship: A Human History |
| 2009 | Annette Gordon-Reed Annette Gordon-Reed Annette Gordon-Reed is an American historian and law professor noted for changing scholarship on Thomas Jefferson. Gordon-Reed was educated at Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School. She is Professor of Law and History at Harvard, and the Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at the Radcliffe... |
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family |
| 2010 | Richard Beeman Richard Beeman Richard R. Beeman is an American historian specializing in the American Revolution. He has written multiple books, and is the John Walsh Centennial Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania... |
Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution |
| 2011 | Pauline Maier Pauline Maier Pauline Maier is a popular scholar of the American Revolution, the preceding era and post-revolutionary United States. She is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of American History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology .... |
Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution: 1787-1788 |
Table of Past Finalists
= winner| year | author | book |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Ron Chernow Ron Chernow Ronald Chernow is an American biographer. He is the author of Washington: A Life, Alexander Hamilton, The House of Morgan, and Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., among other works... |
Alexander Hamilton |
| Rhys Isaac | Landon Carter's Uneasy Kingdom | |
| Gordon Wood Gordon Wood Gordon Wood may refer to:* Gordon S. Wood , American historian* Gordon Wood , high school football coach in Texas* Gordon Wood , Australian... |
The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin | |
| 2006 | Edward G. Lengel Edward G. Lengel Edward G. Lengel is an American military historian and professor at the University of Virginia.Lengel is the editor-in-chief of The Papers of George Washington documentary editing project in Charlottesville, Virginia... |
General George Washington: A Military Life |
| Stacy Schiff Stacy Schiff Stacy Madeleine Schiff is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American nonfiction author and guest columnist for The New York Times.-Biography:... |
A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France and the Birth of America | |
| Stanley Weintraub Stanley Weintraub Stanley Weintraub is a professor, historian, and biographer. He is an expert on George Bernard Shaw. Weintraub was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the eldest child of Benjamin and Ray Segal Weintraub, followed by siblings Herbert and Gladys... |
America's Battle for Freedom, Britain's Quagmire: 1775-1883 | |
| 2007 | Catherine Allgor | A Perfect Union |
| Francois Furstenberg | In the Name of the Father | |
| Charles Rappleye Charles Rappleye Charles Rappleye is a writer and editor working in Los Angeles.-Life:He is the co-founder, along with his wife Tulsa Kinney, of the art magazine Artillery.... |
Sons of Providence: The Brown Brothers, the Slave Trade and the American Revolution | |
| 2008 | Woody Holton Woody Holton Abner Linwood "Woody" Holton, III is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Richmond in Virginia and is a member of the Richmond Research Institute.-Life:He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and received his PhD from Duke University.... |
Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution |
| Jon Latimer Jon Latimer Jonathan David Latimer was an historian and writer based in Wales. His books include Operation Compass 1940 , Tobruk 1941 , Deception in War , Alamein , Burma: The Forgotten War and 1812: War with America which won a... |
1812: War With America | |
| Marcus Rediker Marcus Rediker Marcus Rediker is an American professor, historian, writer, and activist for a variety of peace and social justice causes. He graduated with a B.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1976 and attended the University of Pennsylvania for graduate study, earning an M.A. and Ph.D. in history... |
The Slave Ship: A Human History | |
| 2009 | Annette Gordon-Reed Annette Gordon-Reed Annette Gordon-Reed is an American historian and law professor noted for changing scholarship on Thomas Jefferson. Gordon-Reed was educated at Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School. She is Professor of Law and History at Harvard, and the Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at the Radcliffe... |
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family |
| Kevin J. Hayes | The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson | |
| Jane Kamensky Jane Kamensky Jane Kamensky is an American historian, and Harry S. Truman Professor of American Civilization at Brandeis University.She graduated from Yale University, with a B.A. and Ph.D. in History.She was a Radcliffe Institute Fellow in 2006–2007.... |
The Exchange Artist: A Tale of High-Flying Speculation and America's First Banking Collapse | |
| 2010 | Richard Beeman Richard Beeman Richard R. Beeman is an American historian specializing in the American Revolution. He has written multiple books, and is the John Walsh Centennial Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania... |
Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution |
| R. B. Bernstein | The Founding Fathers Reconsidered | |
| Edith Gelles | John and Abigail: Portrait of a Marriage | |
| 2011 | Pauline Maier Pauline Maier Pauline Maier is a popular scholar of the American Revolution, the preceding era and post-revolutionary United States. She is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of American History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology .... |
Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788 |
| Jack Rakove | Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America | |
| Alan Taylor Alan Taylor Alan Shaw Taylor is a Pulitzer-Prize-winning historian specializing in early American history. He is the author of a number of books about colonial America, the American Revolution, and the Early American Republic.-Life:... |
The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, and Indian Allies | |