Gold and white logo for the ASALH Book Prize, featuring stylized books and text reading “The Association for the Study of African American Life and History.”.

2026 ASALH Book Prize

For the best new book in African American history and culture

ASALH is accepting submissions for the 2026 ASALH Book Prize. This is an annual prize for the best new book in African American history and culture.

The deadline for submitting titles for the 2026 award is September 15, 2025. Eligible titles should be submitted using our online form, and instructions for mailing physical copies of books to the ASALH Book Prize jurors will be provided shortly after that date. Books will need to be mailed by October 15, 2025.

The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) awards an annual prize to recognize an outstanding book in the field of African American history and culture. Books must engage archives in order to be eligible for consideration, however, the book prize committee invites submissions from across disciplinary and interdisciplinary boundaries.

2026 ASALH Book Prize Submission Form

Submit Books Here

2026 ASALH Book Prize Submissions are Closed

Submissions for the 2026 ASALH Book Prize are now closed. This is an annual prize for the best new book in African American history and culture. The finalists will be announced soon, along with the date for the 2026 ASALH Book Prize Event in February.

The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) awards an annual prize to recognize an outstanding book in the field of African American history and culture. Books must engage archives in order to be eligible for consideration, however, the book prize committee invites submissions from across disciplinary and interdisciplinary boundaries.

2026 ASALH Book Prize Finalists

Join us on February 17th, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. EST. | 6:00 p.m. CST | 5:00 p.m. MST | 4:00 p.m. PST as we announce the winner!

Afterlives of the Plantation- Plotting Agrarian Futures in the Global Black South

Afterlives of the Plantation: Plotting Agrarian Futures in the Global Black South

Jarvis McInnis

Tell Her Story

Tell Her Story: Eleanor Bumpurs and the Police Killing that Galvanized New York City

LaShawn Harris

An Efficient Womanhood

An Efficient Womanhood: Women and the Making of the Universal Negro Improvement Association

Natanya Duncan

Queen Mother

Queen Mother: Black Nationalism, Reparations, and the Untold Story of Audley Moore

Ashley Farmer

Disreputable Women

Disreputable Women: Black Sex Economies and the Making of San Diego

Christina Jessica Carney

Underworld Work

Underworld Work: Black Atlantic Religion Making in Jim Crow New Orleans

Ahmad Greene-Hayes

Black Panther Woman

Black Panther Woman: The Political and Spiritual Life of Ericka Huggins

Mary Francis Phillips

Model Schools in the Model City

Model Schools in the Model City: Race, Planning, and Education in the Nation’s Capital

Amber N. Wiley

Unforgettable Sacrifice

Unforgettable Sacrifice: How Black Communities Remembered the Civil War

Hilary Green

The Trouble of Color

The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir

Martha Jones

The winner(s) of the ASALH Book Prize will be announced on ASALH TV on February 11th at 6:00 p.m. EST. This event is part of the 2025 ASALH Black History Month Festival.

The winner of the 2026 ASALH Book Prize is

Congratulations to all the finalists for their outstanding work!

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Previous ASALH Book Prize Winners

2025

2025 ASALH BOOK PRIZE WINNER

2025 Awardee
Vengeance Feminism: The Power of Black Women’s Fury in Lawless Times
Dr. Kali Gross

2024

2024 ASALH BOOK PRIZE WINNER

2024 Awardee
Merze Tate
Barbara D. Savage

Donate to The ASALH Book Prize fund

AWARD NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN

Award Nomination Form
Luminary Award Form
Award Descriptions and Past Awardees
Woodson Scholars Medallion
Mary McLeod Bethune Service Award
Council Award of Special Recognition
Living Legacy Awards
Freedom Scholar Award
The ASALH Luminary Award
The ASALH Book Prize
V.P. Franklin Legacy Journal of African American History Award
The Wesley-Logan Prize
National Educational Association’s Carter G. Woodson Memorial Award
National Educational Association’s H. Councill Trenholm Memorial Award
The Dorothy Porter Wesley Award
Rays of Light Honorees
President’s Service Award Honorees
Outstanding Branch Programming Award
Branch of the Year

Eligibility

Books with a 2024 copyright date are eligible for the 2025 award. Bound page proofs can be considered for books published after October 2024 (though published book should be mailed to jurors by January 1, 2025).

  1. Book nominations can be made by an author or by a university or trade press publisher. Publishers may submit multiple entries.
  2. Textbooks, juvenile literature, documentary collections, fiction, poetry, and collections of essays are not eligible.

Submission Process

  1. Submit book titles using the link below. Deadline for submission of book titles is September 15, 2024. (No book will be considered without the book submission form)
  2. All books must be received by book prize jurors by October 15, 2024. Instructions for mailing books to jurors will be communicated shortly after title submission deadline.
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT

For more information about The ASALH Book Prize visit:
https://asalh.org/awards/the-asalh-book-prize/
or contact: [email protected]