The African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS) is now accepting submissions for the 2026 Pauli Murray Book Prize. Named after lawyer, author, and women’s rights activist-intellectual Pauli Murray, the prize will recognize the best book concerning Black intellectual history (broadly conceived) published between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025 by a member of AAIHS. AAIHS board members are not eligible.
The winner of the 2026 Pauli Murray Book Prize will receive $1,500, a featured week-long roundtable on the book in Global Black Thought, and a featured interview published in Black Perspectives. The prize is open to scholars at all stages of their academic careers. Five finalists will be announced and their books will be featured on Black Perspectives in early March 2026.
Authors or Publishers must follow these steps to submit books for consideration:
- Complete the AAIHS Book Prize Publisher Information Form by October 1, 2025 (required)
- Mail your nominated book to all members of the selection committee. One copy of each entry, clearly labeled “2026 Pauli Murray Prize Entry,” must be mailed directly to each of the committee members listed below. Bound page proofs may be used for books to be published after October 1, 2025 and before January 1, 2026. Books may be sent by the author or the publisher. Please note that authors who are not AAIHS members will not be considered for the prize. Membership must be current by October 1, 2025. All submissions must be postmarked to each committee member by October 1, 2025.
2026 Pauli Murray Book Prize Committee
Dr. Crystal Sanders, chair
Emory University
Department of African American Studies
550 Asbury Circle
Suite 214 Candler Library
Atlanta, GA 30322
Dr. Christopher Bonner
University of Maryland, College Park
2115 Francis Scott Key Hall
College Park MD, 20742
Dr. Keidrick Roy
Dartmouth College
Silsby Hall 219A
3 Tuck Mall – HB 6108
Hanover, NH 03755
Previous Winners
- 2025: Crystal Sanders, A Forced Migration: Black Southerners, Segregation Scholarships, and the Debt Owed to Public HBCUs
- 2024: J.T. Roane, Dark Agoras: Insurgent Black Social Life and the Politics of Place
- 2023: Leslie M. Alexander, Fear of a Black Republic: Haiti and the Birth of Black Internationalism in the United States
- 2022: Tamika Y. Nunley, At the Threshold of Liberty: Women, Slavery, and Shifting Identities in Washington, D.C.
- 2021: Quito Swan, Pauulu’s Diaspora: Black Internationalism and Environmental Justice
- 2020: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership
- 2019: Elizabeth Todd-Breland, A Political Education: Black Politics and Education Reform in Chicago since the 1960s
- 2018: Christopher M. Tinson, Radical Intellect: Liberator Magazine and Black Activism in the 1960s