Taft Award Submission Guidelines

The award may be made annually to that book judged by the Award Committee to be the outstanding book on American labor history published during the preceding calendar year. The making of an award is not mandatory, however, and if, in the judgment of the Award Committee, no book is worthy of recognition, no award need be made.

The award will carry with it a monetary prize of $2,000.00.

Competition is limited to books published in the English language.

Subject matter must be United States labor history defined broadly enough to include histories of workers (free and unfree, organized and unorganized) as well as histories of their institutions, and their workplaces, as well as the broader historical trends that have shaped working-class life, including but not limited to immigration, slavery, community, the state, race, gender, and ethnicity.

Books for the competition may be submitted by either the author or the publisher. One copy of each nominated book should be submitted to every member of the Award Committee. Hard copies are strongly preferred. Books must be published in 2025.

Nominated books should be submitted no later than December 15, 2025. Page proofs may be submitted in lieu of books to be published between December 15, 2025, and December 31, 2025.

The winner of this year’s prize will be announced at the 2026 LAWCHA annual meeting to be held at the OAH Conference in Philadelphia, PA on April 16-19, 2026.

Ileen A. DeVault

RE: Taft Labor History Prize

Cornell University ILR School

Department of Global Labor and Work

370 Ives Hall

Ithaca, NY 14853-3901

 

Paul Ortiz

RE: Taft Labor History Prize

Cornell University ILR School

Department of Global Labor and Work

288 Ives Hall

Ithaca, NY 14853-3901

 

John Weber

RE: Taft Labor History Prize

Old Dominion University

8022 Batten Arts and Letters

Norfolk, VA 23529

 

Dana Caldemeyer

RE: Taft Labor History Prize

Alabama A&M University

124 Clear Spring Circle

Hazel Green, AL 35750

 

Dr. Sarah Rose

RE: Taft Labor History Prize

2541 Shirley Ave.

Fort Worth, TX 76109