Established in 1984, this prize is awarded annually for the book in women’s history and/or feminist theory that best reflects the high intellectual and scholarly ideals exemplified by the life and work of Joan Kelly. The prize was established by the Coordinating Committee on Women in the Historical Profession and the Conference Group on Women’s History (now the Coordinating Council for Women in History), and is administered by the American Historical Association.
To be eligible for consideration, submissions shall be books in any chronological period, any geographical location, or in an area of feminist theory that incorporates a historical perspective. Books should demonstrate originality of research, creativity of insight, graceful stylistic presentation, analytical skills, and a recognition of the important role of sex and gender in the historical process. The inter-relationship between women and the historical process should be addressed. The current prize amount is $1,000.
The general rules for submission are:
- Books with a copyright of 2024 are eligible for the 2025 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. Once you fill out the form you will receive an email with the committee’s contact information.
- One copy of each entry must be sent to each committee member and clearly labeled “Kelly 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: The competition will open in mid-March. Entries must be received by May 15, 2025, to be eligible for the 2025 competition. Entries will not be returned. Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2025 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2026 AHA annual meeting in Chicago.
For questions, please contact the Prize Administrator.
Joan Kelly
Trained as a Renaissance historian at Columbia University and touched by the women's movements of the late 1960s, Joan Kelly (1928–82) began to explore the field of women's history in the early 1970s. In collaboration with Gerda Lerner, she set up the first MA degree program in women's history in the United States at Sarah Lawrence College. She was a professor at City College of New York.
Past Recipients
Current Recipient
Chelsea Schields, University of California, Irvine
Offshore Attachments: Oil and Intimacy in the Caribbean (Univ. of California Press)
Chelsea Schields’s brilliant debut is a deeply researched and thoughtfully argued examination of the oil industry’s profound impact on society in the Dutch islands of Aruba and Curaçao. Her analysis offers a provocative and nuanced discussion of how island women responded to the industry’s attempts to influence their home lives, sexuality, and reproductive choices. In exploring this largely untold history, Schields provides critical context for understanding the role of race and gender in the global expansion of international corporations during the 20th century—and how those dynamics continue to play out in our own time.