Pulitzer Prize for History explained

The Pulitzer Prize for History, administered by Columbia University, is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished book about the history of the United States. Thus it is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were awarded that year.[1] The Pulitzer Prize program has also recognized some historical work with its Biography prize, from 1917, and its General Non-Fiction prize, from 1962.

Finalists have been announced since 1980, ordinarily two others beside the winner.

Winners

In its first 97 years to 2013, the History Pulitzer was awarded 95 times. Two prizes were given in 1989; none in 1919, 1984, and 1994.

1910s1970s

Pulitzer Prize for History winners, 1917–1979[2] !Year!Author!Title!Ref.
1917With Americans of Past and Present Days
1918[3]
1919No award presented
1920
1921 and Burton J. Hendrick
1922[4]
1923
1924
1925History of the American Frontier
1926
1927Pinckney's Treaty
1928Main Currents in American Thought
1929[5]
1930
1931
1932My Experiences in the World War
1933
1934
1935
1936[6]
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942Reveille in Washington, 1860–1865
1943Paul Revere and the World He Lived In
1944
1945Unfinished Business
1946
1947Scientists Against Time
1948Across the Wide Missouri
1949
1950Art and Life in America
1951The Old Northwest, Pioneer Period 1815–1840
1952The Uprooted
1953The Era of Good Feelings
1954A Stillness at Appomattox
1955Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History
1956The Age of Reform
1957Russia Leaves the War: Soviet-American Relations, 1917–1920
1958Banks and Politics in America
1959 and Jean SchneiderThe Republican Era: 1869–1901
1960In the Days of McKinley
1961
1962
1963
1964Puritan Village: The Formation of a New England Town
1965
1966
1967Exploration and Empire: The Explorer and the Scientist in the Winning of the American West
1968
1969Origins of the Fifth Amendment: The Right Against Self-Incrimination
1970Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department
1971
1972Neither Black nor White: Slavery and Race Relations in Brazil and the United States
1973People of Paradox: An Inquiry Concerning the Origins of American Civilization[7]
1974[8]
1975Jefferson and His Time
1976Lamy of Santa Fe[9]
1977 (Completed and edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher)
1978[10]
1979

1980s

Entries from this point on include the finalists listed after the winner for each year.

Pulitzer Prize for History winners, 1980-1989!Year!Author!Title!Result

!Ref.

1980Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of SlaveryWinner
Finalist
Finalist
1981American Education: The National Experience, 1783–1876Winner[11]
Over Here: The First World War and American SocietyFinalist
Finalist
1982Mary Chesnut's Civil WarWinner
White Supremacy: A Comparative Study in American & South African HistoryFinalist
Power and Culture: The Japanese-American War, 1941–1945Finalist
1983Winner
Finalist
Southern Honor: Ethics & Behavior in the Old SouthFinalist
1984No Award presented
1985Prophets of Regulation: Charles Francis Adams, Louis D. Brandeis, James M. Landis, Alfred E. KahnWinner
Finalist
Finalist
1986Winner
Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work and the Family from Slavery to the PresentFinalist
Novus Ordo Seclorum: the Intellectual Origins of the ConstitutionFinalist
Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North AmericaFinalist
1987Voyagers to the West: A Passage in the Peopling of America on the Eve of the RevolutionWinner
Eisenhower: At War, 1943–1945Finalist
Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership ConferenceFinalist
1988Winner
Finalist
Finalist
1989Winner
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War EraWinner
Finalist
Finalist

1990s

Pulitzer Prize for History winners, 1990-1999!Year!Author!Title!Result!Ref.
1990Winner
Finalist
American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm 1870–1970Finalist
1991Winner
Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919–1939Finalist
Finalist
America in 1857: A Nation on the BrinkFinalist
1992Winner
Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great WestFinalist
Finalist
Profits in the Wilderness: Entrepreneurship and the Founding of New England Towns in the Seventeenth CenturyFinalist
Finalist
1993Winner
Finalist
Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade AmericaFinalist
1994No award given
Crime and Punishment in American HistoryFinalist
Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFKFinalist
William Faulkner and Southern HistoryFinalist
1995No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War IIWinner
Stories of ScottsboroFinalist
Lincoln in American MemoryFinalist
1996William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American RepublicWinner
Finalist
Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen BombFinalist
1997Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the ConstitutionWinner
Finalist
Founding Mothers and Fathers: Gendered Power and the Forming of American SocietyFinalist
1998Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and ReligionWinner[12]
Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of AmericaFinalist
Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in U.S. HistoryFinalist
1999 and Mike WallaceWinner[13]
This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space AgeFinalist
In a Barren Land: American Indian Dispossession and SurvivalFinalist

2000s

Pulitzer Prize for History winners, 2000-2009!Year!Author!Title!Result!Ref.
2000Winner
Into the American Woods: Negotiators on the Pennsylvania FrontierFinalist
Finalist
2001Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary GenerationWinner[14]
Way Out There in the Blue: Reagan, Star Wars and the End of the Cold WarFinalist
Finalist
2002Winner
Deep Souths: Delta, Piedmont, and the Sea Island Society in the Age of SegregationFinalist
Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early AmericaFinalist
2003Winner
At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black AmericaFinalist
Rereading Sex: Battles Over Sexual Knowledge and Suppression in Nineteenth Century AmericaFinalist
2004Winner
They Marched into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967Finalist
Finalist
2005Washington's CrossingWinner
Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz AgeFinalist
Conjectures of Order: Intellectual Life and the American South, 1810-1860, volumes 1 & 2Finalist
2006Winner
New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century ManhattanFinalist
Finalist
2007 and Hank KlibanoffWinner
Middle Passages: African American Journeys to Africa, 1787-2005Finalist
Finalist
2008Winner
Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in PowerFinalist
Finalist
2009Winner[15] [16]
This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil WarFinalist
and Robert WeisbrotFinalist

2010s

Pulitzer Prize for History winners, 2010-2019!Year!Author!Title!Result!Ref.
2010Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the WorldWinner[17]
Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle CityFinalist
Finalist
2011Winner[18]
Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War SouthFinalist[19]
Eden on the Charles: The Making of BostonFinalist[20]
2012Winner[21] [22]
Empires, Nations & Families: A History of the North American West, 1800-1860Finalist
and Robbyn SwanFinalist
Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern AmericaFinalist
2013Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s VietnamWinner[23]
Finalist
Lincoln’s Code: The Laws of War in American HistoryFinalist
2014Winner[24] [25]
Finalist
Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of SafetyFinalist
2015Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan PeopleWinner[26]
Empire of Cotton: A Global HistoryFinalist
Finalist
2016Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New AmericaWinner[27]
Finalist
Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil WarFinalist
Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl HarborFinalist
2017Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its LegacyWinner[28] [29]
Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved ItFinalist
New England Bound: Slavery and Colonization in Early AmericaFinalist
2018Winner[30] [31]
Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity PoliticsFinalist
Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots against Hollywood and AmericaFinalist
2019Winner[32] [33]
Civilizing Torture: An American TraditionFinalist
American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early RepublicFinalist

2020s

Pulitzer Prize for History winners, 2020-2024!Year!Author!Title!Result!Ref.
2020Winner[34] [35] [36]
Finalist
Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black HomeownershipFinalist
2021Winner[37] [38] [39]
Finalist
Finalist
2022Covered with Night: A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early AmericaWinner[40] [41] [42]
Winner
Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to ReconstructionFinalist
2023Freedom's Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal PowerWinner[43] [44]
Watergate: A New HistoryFinalist
Michael John WitgenSeeing Red: Indigenous Land, American Expansion, and the Political Economy of Plunder in North AmericaFinalist
2024No Right to an Honest Living: The Struggles of Boston’s Black Workers in the Civil War EraWinner[45] [46]
Continental Reckoning: The American West in the Age of ExpansionFinalist
American Anarchy: The Epic Struggle Between Immigrant Radicals and the US Government at the Dawn of the Twentieth CenturyFinalist

Repeat winners

Five people have won the Pulitzer Prize for History twice.

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.pulitzer.org/awards/1917 "1917 Winners"
  2. Web site: History . 20 April 2015 . . 6 April 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190406045457/https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-category/220 . live .
  3. Book: Elizabeth A. Brennan . Who's who of Pulitzer Prize Winners . Elizabeth C. Clarage . Greenwood Publishing Group . 1999 . 978-1-57356-111-2 . 280– . 12 September 2020.
  4. Book: Heinz-D Fischer . Complete Historical Handbook of the Pulitzer Prize System 1917-2000: Decision-Making Processes in all Award Categories based on unpublished Sources . Erika J. Fischer . 9 May 2011 . Walter de Gruyter . 978-3-11-093912-5 . 304– . 13 September 2020.
  5. Book: Fischer, Heinz Dietrich . American History Awards, 1917-1991: From Colonial Settlements to the Civil Rights Movement . Erika J. Fischer . Walter de Gruyter . 1994 . 3-598-30177-4 . 53.
  6. Book: Heinz Dietrich Fischer . Complete Bibliographical Manual of Books about the Pulitzer Prizes, 1935-2003: Monographs and Anthologies on the Coveted Awards . Erika J. Fischer . Walter de Gruyter . 2004 . 978-3-598-30188-9 . 254– . 13 December 2020.
  7. Web site: January 1, 2008 . Kammen, Michael G. 1936- (Michael Gedaliah Kammen) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170902134009/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3070000080.html . September 2, 2017 . December 9, 2012 . Contemporary Authors .
  8. Encyclopedia: Boorstin, Daniel J. . Encyclopaedia Judaica . January 1, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181114005812/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-2587503326.html . November 14, 2018 . dead . December 9, 2012.
  9. Web site: March 9, 1995 . Deaths . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160416055754/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-824446.html . April 16, 2016 . December 9, 2012 . The Washington Post .
  10. Web site: May 14, 2007 . Noted Economic Historian Alfred Chandler Jr., 88 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160311202100/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-5981455.html . March 11, 2016 . December 9, 2012 . The Washington Post .
  11. Web site: September 5, 1990 . L.A. Cremin, Historian on Education, Dies . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20181120060650/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1145999.html . November 20, 2018 . The Washington Post.
  12. Web site: 1998-04-20 . PW: Roth, Kakutani Awarded Pulitzers . 2023-05-10 . . en.
  13. Web site: Zeitchik . Steven M. . 1999-04-19 . FSG Leads Pulitzer Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220127120746/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/19990419/20221-fsg-leads-pulitzer-winners.html . January 27, 2022 . 2023-05-10 . . en.
  14. Web site: 2001-04-23 . Chabon, Ellis Win Pulitzers . 2023-05-10 . . en.
  15. Web site: 2009-04-21 . Awards: The Pulitzers; Orange Prize Shortlist . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20171002000124/http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=905 . October 2, 2017 . 2023-05-10 . Shelf Awareness.
  16. Web site: 2009-04-20 . The 2009 Pulitzer Prizes for Letters and Drama . 2023-05-10 . . en.
  17. Web site: 2010-04-13 . Awards: The Pulitzers . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160820022347/http://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1160 . August 20, 2016 . 2023-05-10 . Shelf Awareness.
  18. Web site: 2011-04-19 . Awards: Pulitzer, Lukas Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230206034500/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1443 . February 6, 2023 . 2023-05-10 . Shelf Awareness.
  19. News: April 18, 2011 . 2011 Pulitzer Prizes for Letters, Drama and Music . . September 3, 2014 . September 4, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140904062848/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/business/media/19PULITZERLIST-ARTS.html?_r=0 . live .
  20. Vary . Adam B. . April 18, 2011 . Pulitzer Prizes announced for 2011 . Entertainment Weekly . June 1, 2018.
  21. Web site: 2012-04-17 . Awards: Pulitzer Winners; Orange Prize Shortlist . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221028053548/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1718 . October 28, 2022 . 2023-05-10 . Shelf Awareness.
  22. Web site: Habash . Gabe . 2012-04-16 . 2012 Pulitzer Prize: No Fiction Award, Jurors 'Shocked' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119150319/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/51542-2012-pulitzer-prize-no-fiction-award-jurors-shocked.html . January 19, 2023 . 2023-05-10 . . en.
  23. Web site: Habash . Gabe . 2013-04-15 . 2013 Pulitzer Prize: 'Orphan Master' Brings Fiction Prize Back . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210126191934/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/56832-2013-pulitzer-prize-orphan-master-brings-fiction-prize-back.html . January 26, 2021 . 2023-05-10 . . en.
  24. Web site: 2014-04-15 . Awards: Pulitzer Winners; Thwaites Wainwright Nature & Travel Writing . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220310022608/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2229 . March 10, 2022 . 2023-05-10 . Shelf Awareness.
  25. Web site: 2014-04-14 . Tartt, Fagin Take 2014 Pulitzers . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20141110152417/http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/61855-tartt-fagin-take-2014-pulitzers.html . November 10, 2014 . 2023-05-10 . . en.
  26. Web site: 2015-04-21 . Doerr, Kolbert Among 2015 Pulitzer Prize Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220128034004/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2490 . January 28, 2022 . 2023-05-10 . .
  27. Web site: 2016-04-19 . Debut Novel Among 2016 Pulitzer Prize Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230302135954/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2735 . March 2, 2023 . 2023-05-10 . Shelf Awareness.
  28. Web site: 2017-04-11 . The Underground Railroad Among Pulitzer Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119025053/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2977 . January 19, 2023 . 2023-05-10 . Shelf Awareness.
  29. Web site: Maher . John . 2017-04-10 . Whitehead, Thompson Among 2017 Pulitzer Prize Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220808033829/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/73303-pulitzer-prizes-2017.html . August 8, 2022 . 2023-05-10 . . en.
  30. Web site: 2018 Pulitzer Prize Winners . . 2018-04-16 . 2019-09-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190911080447/https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2018 . live .
  31. Web site: 2018 Pulitzer Prize Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190911080447/https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2018 . September 11, 2019 . April 16, 2019 . Pulitzer Prize.
  32. Web site: 2019 Pulitzer Prize Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190726100152/https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2019 . July 26, 2019 . April 16, 2019 . Pulitzer Prize.
  33. Web site: 2019-04-16 . Richard Powers, David W. Blight Among Pulitzer Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220126034939/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3474 . January 26, 2022 . 2023-05-10 . Shelf Awareness.
  34. Web site: 2020 Pulitzer Prize Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200730234718/https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2020 . July 30, 2020 . May 5, 2020 . Pulitzer Prize.
  35. Web site: 2020-05-05 . The Nickel Boys Among Pulitzer Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230130215553/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3732 . January 30, 2023 . 2023-05-10 . Shelf Awareness.
  36. Web site: Maher . John . 2020-05-04 . Moser, Whitehead, McDaniel, Grandin, Boyer, Brown Win 2020 Pulitzers . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211130123841/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/83233-pulitzer-prizes-2020.html . November 30, 2021 . 2023-05-10 . . en.
  37. News: 2021-06-11 . Pulitzer Prize: 2021 Winners List . en-US . . 2023-05-11 . 0362-4331 . 2021-06-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210614171313/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/11/business/pulitzer-prize-winners.html . live .
  38. Web site: 2021 Pulitzer Prize Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220711134532/https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2021 . July 11, 2022 . June 11, 2021 . Pulitzer Prize.
  39. Web site: 2021-06-14 . 2021 Pulitzer Prize Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230123024752/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4006 . January 23, 2023 . 2023-05-10 . Shelf Awareness.
  40. Web site: 2022 Pulitzer Prize Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220802013936/https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2022 . August 2, 2022 . May 12, 2022 . Pulitzer Prize.
  41. Web site: Maher . John . 2022-05-09 . 'The Netanyahus,' 'frank: sonnets' Among 2022 Pulitzer Prize Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221129181727/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/89252-the-netanyahus-frank-sonnets-among-2022-pulitzer-prize-winners.html . November 29, 2022 . 2023-05-10 . . en.
  42. Web site: 2022-05-10 . 2022 Pulitzer Prize Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220705011242/https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4229 . July 5, 2022 . 2023-05-10 . Shelf Awareness.
  43. Web site: Stewart . Sophia . 2023-05-08 . 'Demon Copperhead,' 'Trust,' 'His Name Is George Floyd' Among 2023 Pulitzer Prize Winners . 2023-05-10 . . en.
  44. Web site: 2023-05-09 . 2023 Pulitzer Prize Winners Include Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead, Diaz's Trust . 2023-05-10 . Shelf Awareness.
  45. Web site: op de Beeck . Nathalie. 2024-05-06 . 'Night Watch,' 'A Day in the Life of Abed Salama,' 'King' Among 2024 Pulitzer Prize Winners . 2024-05-08 . . en.
  46. Web site: 2024-05-07 . 2024 Pulitzer Prize Winners. 2023-05-08 . Shelf Awareness.
  47. Web site: Husna Haq . Donna Tartt's 'The Goldfinch' – a novel that has charmed critics and readers alike – wins the 2014 Pulitzer Prize . CSMonitor.com . 2014-04-14 . 2014-04-22 . 2014-04-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140421174835/http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2014/0414/Donna-Tartt-s-The-Goldfinch-a-novel-that-has-charmed-critics-and-readers-alike-wins-the-2014-Pulitzer-Prize . live .