For immediate release | April 25, 2017
Alexander Ames Wins the 2017 Justin Winsor Prize Essay
CHICAGO — The American Library Association has awarded the 2017 Justin Winsor Prize Essay to Alexander Ames for “The 'Spirit of The Fatherland': German-American Culture And Community in the Library and Archive of the German Society of Pennsylvania, 1817-2017.”
Winsor Jury chair Andy Huse remarked on the decision, “The winning essay synthesized impressive primary source research, interviews, and secondary literature into a discussion of an important cultural institution, the German Society of Pennsylvania’s library and archive. German American consciousness began long before Germany became a nation in 1871 and was destined to change with Germany’s changing status and alliances over the years. Groups such as the German Society celebrated German American culture while their facilities enshrined it. With excellent research and writing and a timely topic of immigration and identity, this essay traces the thread of German American identity and the desire for its recognition through the life and times of the German Society of Pennsylvania’s library and archive.”
The Justin Winsor Library History Essay Award is presented by the Library History Round Table of the American Library Association annually to recognize the best essay written in English on library history. The award is named in honor of the distinguished nineteenth-century librarian, historian, and bibliographer who was also ALA's first president. It consists of a certificate and a $500 cash award, as well as an invitation to have the winner's essay considered for publication in Information & Culture: A Journal of History.
For guidelines and a list of previous winners see:
The Library History Round Table of the American Library Association exists to facilitate communication among scholars and students of library history, to support research in library history and to be active in issues, such as preservation, that concern library historians. The round table sponsors conferences, publishes a newsletter and presents awards such as the Justin Winsor Award to promote excellence in library history research.
For more information on the Library History Round Table see:
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