Each year the ASLH and the Cromwell Foundation sponsor a number of prizes for books, articles, dissertations, and digital legal history projects. Scholars are encouraged to apply, and to encourage others to apply. Please note that in some cases eligibility criteria have shifted slightly from last year. Applicants should double-check the specific language to ensure eligibility.
All ASLH prize nominations (including self-nominations) are due June 1.
--Dan Ernst The descriptions of the prizes appear after the jump.
The Max Planck-ASLH Dissertation Prize for European Legal History in a Global Perspective will honor exceptional dissertations on topics in European legal history in global perspective and presented for PhD or JSD degrees awarded in the previous calendar year. Topics may include European legal interactions with people or places outside Europe, legal processes spanning Europe and other world regions, and developments in legal theory closely related to imperial, transnational, or trans-regional trends. The prize this year is for dissertations submitted for degrees awarded in 2024. Dissertations must be written in English. The prize recipient will receive a three-month residential fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory in Frankfurt. The fellowship includes a monthly stipend, in accordance with the regulations of the Institute’s visitor program, round-trip airfare to Frankfurt (up to €1,500), and accommodation in an institute apartment (valued at €700 per month). Currently, the monthly stipend is €2,500 for scholars with a PhD or JSD, and an additional €100 allowance for mandatory health insurance. The stipend will be offset against other sources of income. The timing of the period in residence at the Max Planck Institute is flexible and will be arranged in consultation with the Institute directors. Typically, the three-month period will take place in the fall or spring within a year or two of the date of the award. Submissions should be sent to mpdissertation@aslh.net.The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Dissertation Prize is awarded annually to the best dissertation completed in the previous calendar year in any area of American legal history, including constitutional and comparative studies. Topics dealing with the colonial and early national periods will receive some preference. The author of the winning dissertation receives $5,000. This prize is awarded by the Foundation after a review of the recommendation of the Cromwell Dissertation Prize Advisory Committee of the American Society for Legal History. Annual nominations or self-nominations for the Cromwell Dissertation Prize are due June 1. Applicants should send an electronic copy of the nominated work, as well as necessary supporting documents detailed on the prize page, to Cromwell Foundation Secretary John Gordan at johngordan3@gmail.com and the Cromwell Dissertation Prize Advisory Committee cromwelldissertationprize@aslh.net.
The Jane Burbank Article Prize in global legal history is awarded annually to the best article in regional, global, imperial, comparative, or transnational legal history published in the previous calendar year. Submissions may address any topic or period, and may focus on case studies in which the analysis relates to broader processes or comparisons. Articles on methodological or theoretical contributions are also welcome. Annual nominations or self-nominations for the Burbank Prize are due June 1. Applicants should send an electronic copy of the nominated work to burbankprize@aslh.net.
The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Article Prize is awarded annually to the best article in American legal history published in the previous calendar year by an early career scholar. Articles published in the field of American legal history, broadly conceived, will be considered. There is a preference for articles in the colonial and early National periods. Articles published in the Law and History Review are eligible for the Surrency Prize and will not be considered for the Cromwell Article Prize. The author of the winning article receives $5,000. This prize is awarded by the Foundation after a review of the recommendation of the Cromwell Article Advisory Committee of the American Society for Legal History. Annual nominations or self-nominations for the Cromwell Article Prize are due June 1. Applicants should send an electronic copy of the nominated work, as well as necessary supporting documents detailed on the prize page, to Cromwell Foundation Secretary John Gordan at johngordan3@gmail.com and the Cromwell Article Prize Advisory Committee cromwellarticleprize@aslh.net.
Please note that the Cromwell foundation generously sponsors two article prizes; this one and the Legal History Article of the Year Prize. Only this one is sponsored by the ASLH, and both prizes have different due dates.
The Surrency Article Prize is awarded annually for the best article published in the Society’s journal, the Law and History Review, in the previous year. The Surrency Prize Committee reviews every article published in the Law and History Review in the previous year. As such, nominations for this prize are unnecessary.
The Sutherland Article Prize is awarded annually to the person or persons who wrote the best article on the legal history of Britain and/or the British Empire published in the previous year. Annual nominations or self-nominations for the Sutherland Prize are due June 1, although, in keeping with past practice, the committee may also consider eligible articles nominated by the chair. To ensure consideration, authors are invited to nominate an article by sending an electronic copy to sutherlandprize@aslh.net.
The Anne Fleming Article Prize is a joint prize of the the ASLH and the Business History Conference (BHC). It is awarded every other year to the author or authors of the best article published in the previous two years in either Law and History Review or Enterprise and Society on the relation of law and business/economy in any region or historical period.
The Mary L. Dudziak Legal History Prize is awarded annually to an outstanding digital legal history project. These projects may take the form of either traditionally published peer reviewed scholarship or born-digital projects of equivalent depth and scope. Annual nominations or self-nominations for the Dudziak Prize are due June 1. Applicants should send an electronic copy of the nominated work, as well as necessary supporting documents detailed on the prize page, to dudziakprize@aslh.net.
The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Book Prize is awarded annually to the best book in the field of American legal history by an early career scholar published in the previous calendar year. The work may be in any area of American legal history, including constitutional and comparative studies, but scholarship in the colonial and early national periods will receive some preference. The author of the winning book receives a prize of $5,000. This prize is awarded by the Foundation after a review of the recommendation of the Cromwell Book Prize Advisory Committee. Nominations for this prize, which may be made by the publisher of the nominated work, authors, or anyone else, are due June 1. Nominators should send copies of the nominated work, as well as necessary supporting documents detailed on the prize page, to each member of the Cromwell Book Prize Advisory Committee.
Please note that in previous years the Cromwell book prize was only open to scholars who were pre-tenure. For this year and for the future, eligible scholars can be tenured so long as their book meets the other criteria (being a first book published no later than ten calendar years following the calendar year from which the author received a PhD or other highest degree earned).
The John Phillip Reid Book Award is awarded annually for the best monograph by a mid-career or senior scholar, published in English in any of the fields defined broadly as Anglo-American legal history, in the previous year. When awarding this prize, preference is given to work that examines seventeenth- through nineteenth-century Anglo-America and Native American law. Nominations for this prize, which must be made by the publisher of the nominated work, are due June 1. Publishers should send copies of the nominated work, as well as necessary supporting documents detailed on the prize page, to each member of the Reid Book Award Committee.
The Peter Gonville Stein Book Award is awarded annually for the best book in non-US legal history written in English in the previous calendar year. Nominations for this prize, which may be made by the publisher of the nominated work, authors, or anyone else, are due June 1. Nominators should send copies of the nominated work, as well as necessary supporting documents detailed on the prize page, to each member of the Stein Book Award Committee.
