The 2023 Pauli Murray Book Prize in Black Intellectual History


DEADLINE TO SUBMIT: OCTOBER 1, 2022

The African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS) is pleased to announce the 2023 Pauli Murray Book Prize for the best book in Black intellectual history. 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, 2022 and December 31, 2022 by a member of AAIHS. AAIHS board members are not eligible. 

The winner of the 2023 Pauli Murray Book Prize will receive $1,000, a featured week-long roundtable on the book in Black Perspectives, 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 2023.

One copy of each entry, clearly labeled “2023 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, 2022 and before January 1, 2023. 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, 2022. All submissions must be postmarked to each committee member by October 1, 2022.


2022-2023 Pauli Murray Prize Committee

Dr. Quito SwanIndiana University (Committee Chair)

Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies
Indiana University
Ballatine Hall 677
1020 East Kirkwood Ave.
Bloomington, IN 47405

Dr. Barbara D. SavageUniversity of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania
3401 Walnut Street #331
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Dr. Kristin WatersWorcester State College

Please send all submissions for Dr. Waters to:
Dr. Hettie V. Williams
Monmouth University
400 Cedar Avenue
West Long Branch, New Jersey 07764

Dr. Candace CunninghamFlorida Atlantic University

Department of History
Florida Atlantic University
777 Glades Road
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Humanities (AH) Room 107
Boca Raton, FL 33431

*DEADLINE: SUBMISSIONS MUST BE POSTMARKED BY OCTOBER 1, 2022


Previous Winners

  • 2022: Tamika Y. NunleyAt the Threshold of Liberty: Women, Slavery, and Shifting Identities in Washington, D.C.
  • 2021: Quito SwanPauulu’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
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