James A. Rawley Prize
The James A. Rawley Prize in Atlantic History was created in 1998 in accordance with the terms of a gift from James A. Rawley, Carl Adolph Happold Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. It is offered annually to recognize outstanding historical writing that explores aspects of integration of Atlantic worlds before the 20th century. See the list of past recipients.
The general rules for submission are:
- Only books of a high scholarly and literary merit will be considered. Research accuracy and originality are also important factors in the evaluation of the books.
- Books with a copyright of 2020 are eligible for the 2021 award.
- Nomination submissions may be made by an author or by a publisher. Publishers may submit as many entries as they wish. Authors or publishers may submit the same book for multiple AHA prizes.
- Nominators must complete an online prize submission form for each book submitted.
- One copy of each entry must be sent to each committee member and clearly labeled “Rawley Prize Entry.” Print copies preferred unless otherwise indicated. If only e-copy is available, please contact review committee members beforehand to arrange submission format.
Please Note: Entries must be received by May 15, 2021, to be eligible for the 2021 competition. Entries will not be returned. Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2021 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2022 AHA annual meeting in New Orleans.
For questions, please contact the Prize Administrator.
Contact Information for Committee Members
Send one copy to each committee member and complete the prize submission form (above).
Heather Miyano Kopelson |
Philip D. Morgan |
Marcus P. Nevius |
Bianca Premo |
James Sidbury |
2020 Rawley Prize
Sophie White, University of Notre Dame
Voices of the Enslaved: Love, Labor, and Longing in French Louisiana (Omohundro Inst. of Early American History and Culture and the Univ. of North Carolina Press)
Utilizing a treasure trove of slave testimonies from court records, this groundbreaking book illuminates the lived experiences of enslaved people in colonial Louisiana. Sophie White uses these testimonies to reconstruct the biographies of enslaved people at the microhistorical level, while also drawing especially from visual and material sources. The result is an imaginative work of scholarship that foregrounds the voices and lives of enslaved people, which are so often thought of as unrecoverable.