William and Edwyna Gilbert Award
The submission deadline has passed. Awardees are announced in the fall, and the next contest will begin in the spring.
The William and Edwyna Gilbert Award for the Best Article on Teaching History annually recognizes outstanding contributions to the teaching of history through the publication of articles in journals, magazines, and other serials. Originally the “William Gilbert Award,” named in memory of William Gilbert, a longtime AHA member and distinguished scholar-teacher of the Renaissance at the University of Kansas, it was renamed the William and Edwyna Gilbert Award in 2012 after Edwyna Gilbert passed away and left additional funds to supplement the original bequest for the award.
The current prize amount is $1,000 each to the author and journal. See the list of past recipients.
Eligibility
Articles with a publication date of 2021 are eligible for consideration for the 2022 award. Authors must be members of the AHA. Both the author of the winning article and the journal that publishes it will each receive the award. Journals and individual members may submit nominations on the teaching of history (including scholarship of teaching and learning, methodology and theory of pedagogy). Journals, magazines, and other serials can submit up to two articles for each award cycle.
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 names of additional nominees (if group nomination).
- Upload an Application Packet as a single PDF. Include the following documents:
- Letter of support (up to 2 pages)
- Copy of the article
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 Gilbert Award
Rien Fertel, writer; Elizabeth S. Manley, Xavier University of Louisiana; Jenny Schwartzberg, Historic New Orleans Collection; and Robert Ticknor, Historic New Orleans Collection
“Teaching in the Archives: Engaging Students and Inverting Historical Methods Classes at the Historic New Orleans Collection,” The History Teacher 53, no. 1 (November 2019)
The four authors document the ways in which a local historical collection worked with secondary- and college-level history courses using a flipped or inverted classroom. Solidly grounded in the literature of teaching and learning, the article offers an easily replicable model of working with archives and museums by both secondary and college courses. The authors provide some early assessments of their challenges and successes as well as newer understandings they gained from their interactions with the student participants in the program.