The Colonial Society of Massachusetts announces the 2015 Walter Muir Whitehill Prize in Early American History. This prize of $2500, established in memory of Walter Muir Whitehill, for many years Editor of Publications for the Colonial Society and the moving force behind the organization, will be awarded for a distinguished essay on early American history (up to 1825), not previously published, with preference being given to New England subjects. The Society hopes that the prize may be awarded annually.
A committee of eminent historians—Douglas Anderson of the University of Colorado, David Hall of the Harvard Divinity School, and Mary Beth Norton of Cornell University—will review the essays. Their decision in all cases will be final.
By arrangement with the editors of the New England Quarterly, the society will have the winning essay published in an appropriate issue of the Journal. Essays are now being accepted for consideration. All manuscripts submitted for the 2015 prize must be postmarked no later than 31 December 2015. The Society expects to announce the winning candidate in the spring of 2016. Entries submitted for consideration should be addressed to:
Whitehill Prize Committee
The New England Quarterly
Department Of History
University of Massachusetts, Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd.
A paper on legal history was a recent winner: Ian Saxine, "The Performance of Peace: Indians, Speculators, and the Politics of Property on the Maine Frontier, 1735-1737,” NEQ 87:3 (September 2014). A complete list of past winners is here.
