Raymond J. Cunningham Prize
The submission deadline has passed. Awardees are announced in the fall, and the next contest will begin in the spring.
The American Historical Association offers the Raymond J. Cunningham Prize annually for the best article published in a journal written by an undergraduate student. The prize was established in memory of Raymond J. Cunningham, who was an associate professor of history at Fordham University. He was an authority on American historian Herbert Baxter Adams.
The current prize amount is $500 each to the author and journal. See the list of past recipients.
Eligibility
The prize selection committee has typically given preference to articles that incorporate primary sources. The article must be published in a journal between May 1, 2021, and April 30, 2022.
Application Process
Log into your MY AHA account at historians.org/myaha and click “Available Application Forms” in the AHA Awards, Grants, and Jobs section. If nominating someone else, select the Nominate button and search for the nominee’s existing record or create a new record.
- Fill in the application form, which includes the nominee’s contact information and the name of the article, journal, and faculty advisor.
- Upload an Application Packet as a single PDF. Include the following documents:
- Letter of support (no more than 2 pages)
- Copy of the article
Only ONE article from a specific journal may be nominated each year.
Please Note: Entries must be received by May 15, 2022, to be eligible for the 2022 competition. Entries will not be returned. Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2022 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2023 AHA annual meeting in Philadelphia.
For questions, please contact the Prize Administrator.
2020 Cunningham Prize
Jubilee Marshall, Villanova University (BA, 2019)
“Race, Death, and Public Health in Early Philadelphia, 1750–1793,” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies (Spring 2020)
At a time when Americans are once again debating the depths of structural racism, Jubilee Marshall investigates the intersection of African American burials and public health. She documents how severely limited burial options in the segregated section of the potter’s field were often the African American community’s last resort. Yet, within this oppressive structure, the author also finds agency among the living as they claimed public space, reshaped public health discourses, and navigated civil society.