George Washington Book Prize

The George Washington Book Prize was instituted in 2005 and is awarded annually to the best book on America's founding era. It is administered by Washington College’s C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and sponsored by Washington College in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and George Washington’s Mount Vernon.

At $50,000, the George Washington Book Prize is one of the largest book awards in the United States.

The 2008 George Washington Book Prize was awarded to Marcus Rediker for "The Slave Ship: A Human History" (Viking, 2007). Previous winners have included Ron Chernow in 2005 for "Alexander Hamilton"; Stacy Schiff in 2006 for "A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America"; and Charles Rappleye in 2007 for "Sons of Providence: The Brown Brothers, The Slave Trade, and the American Revolution".

About the Sponsoring Organizations

Established in 2000 with a grant from the New York-based Starr Foundation, the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience draws on the special historical strengths of Washington College and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Through educational programs, scholarship, and public outreach, the Starr Center explores the early republic, the rise of democracy, and the manifold ways in which the founding era continues to shape American culture. In partnership with other institutions and with leading scholars and writers, the Center works to promote innovative approaches to the study of history, and to bridge the gaps between historians, contemporary policymakers, and the general public. Washington College was founded in 1782 under the patronage of George Washington, and was the first college chartered in the new nation.

Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History promotes the study and love of American history among audiences ranging from students to scholars to the general public. It creates history-centered schools and academic research centers, organizes seminars and enrichment programs for educators, produces print and electronic publications and traveling exhibitions, and sponsors lectures by eminent historians. In addition to the George Washington Book Prize, the Institute also sponsors the Lincoln Prize in conjunction with the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College and the Frederick Douglass Prize in cooperation with the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University.

George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, open to the public since 1858, communicates the character and leadership of Washington to millions of Americans each year through a variety of interpretive programs on the Estate and in classrooms across the nation. Mount Vernon is owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, founded in 1853, making it America’s oldest national preservation organization. The George Washington Book Prize is an important component in the Association’s aggressive outreach program, which engages millions of teachers and students throughout the nation.

External links

* [http://gwprize.washcoll.edu/ George Washington Book Prize]
* [http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu/ C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience]
* [http://www.gilderlehrman.org/ Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History]
* [http://www.mountvernon.org/ George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens]
* [http://www.washcoll.edu Washington College Home Page]
* [http://www.marcusrediker.com/ Marcus Rediker's home page]