For more than thirty years, AHPCS has recognized significant scholarship in the field of American historical prints with its Ewell L. Newman Book Award. Newman (1905-1992) was among the co-founders of AHPCS in 1975, and he served as the inaugural editor of both the AHPCS News Letter and the journal Imprint. The book award was established in 1989, and after Newman’s death his widow, Lois Wiggins Newman (1907-2009), herself a founding member, continued as a generous supporter of the Society and the publication awards. Learn more about the Newmans.
List of Past Newman Book Award Winners
New publication awards
At its May, 2023, annual meeting, the AHPCS Board voted to add two essay awards to recognize shorter works published in journals and edited volumes, including exhibition catalogues and digital formats. Essays between 3,000 and 10,000 words will be considered. Works should be submitted in published form as a hard copy or digital attachment. The Society’s present Newman Award Committee will serve as the jury to evaluate these additional submissions. Jurors are all AHPCS members and include collectors, curators, and scholars of American prints.
The purpose of the book and essay awards is to recognize and encourage outstanding scholarship in the field, as defined in our mission statement: prints depicting or reflecting North American history and culture, made either in America or elsewhere. Original research, fresh assessments, and the fluent synthesis of known material will be taken into account. The emphasis is on quality and on making an outstanding contribution to the subject. Publications remain eligible from the year of publication through the following year, a period of approximately two years. Once a work has been reviewed by the jury, it will not be considered in a subsequent cycle except in a substantially revised edition. Submissions received by December 1st will be considered for the award announced the following spring.
Each annual cycle typically will result in one Book Award in the amount of $2,000 and two Essay Awards in the amount of $750 each. One of the essay awards will be designated for the best article in the AHPCS journal Imprint, as selected by the Committee. Awards are not necessarily presented each year but are determined by the quality of available submissions. Occasionally, there may be multiple winners in an individual year.
Submissions & contact information
Please contact the chair of the Newman Book Award committee for instructions on mailing a copy of the publication:
Helena Wright, chair
Email: wrighthelena16@gmail.com
Publishers and authors, please note: if it is possible to provide multiple copies, it would facilitate distribution of the publications among the Committee and speed their work. Please contact the Committee chair for individual addresses. Thank you.