The Graduate Student Essay Prize is awarded annually for the best essay of journal article length written by a graduate student on a Gilded Age and/or Progressive Era topic. The winner of the prize will receive $250, and their essay will be considered for publication in the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. They will also be honored at the annual SHGAPE luncheon at the OAH. The inaugural prize was awarded in 2018.
Essays should not be previously published nor under consideration for publication. Applicants must be SHGAPE members at the time of submission.
Submissions should follow the formatting guidelines for the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, which can be found here. They should conform to the Journal’s length requirements of 8,000-10,000 words, including notes—with one-inch margins and 12-point type. Essays that do not meet these requirements may not be considered for this prize.
Submissions for the 2024 Graduate Student Essay Prize should be sent in PDF format to the prize committee chair, Erin Bush, at Erin.Bush@ung.edu by January 3, 2024.
PAST AWARDEES
2023 – David Dry, “Advocating for Allotment: Civil Rights and Sovereign Ends”
2022 – Zada Ballew, “The Indian Side of the Question”: Settling the Story of Potawatomi Removal in the Twentieth Century Midwest.”
2022 Honorable Mention – Marie Sarnacki, “Save the Child and Honor the State: Moral Reconstruction and the Origin of Progressive Child Welfare Policy.”
2021 – Nathan K. Finney, “The Associational State and Woman’s War Work in North Carolina, 1917-1919.”
2020 – Mark C. Boxell, “Carbon Allotment: Land, Race, and Oil in Indian Territory and Oklahoma.”
2019 – Julia Haager-Devin, “Sex Education’s Many Sides: How Reformers Moved it into Public Schools, 1900-1920.”
2018 – Morgan Shahan, “Making Good: On Parole in Early Twentieth Century Illinois.”
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