Awards

Programs, grants, prizes, and fellowships

The American Society for Legal History sponsors a number of programs, grants, prizes, and fellowships which benefit our members. We support programs that – in addition to welcoming new participants to our annual meetings — create smaller and more focused venues where junior scholars may develop their skills, seek opportunities for career-building publications, interact with senior scholars, and meet peers from around the world with whom they will collaborate throughout their careers.

Fellowships

  • STUDENT RESEARCH COLLOQUIUM

    Criteria

    Early-post-coursework Ph.D. students and historically minded law students.

    Amount

    Fellowship funding for travel and accommodation.

    Deadline

    June 1, 2024

    The American Society for Legal History will host its eleventh annual Student Research Colloquium (SRC) on Wednesday, October 23, and Thursday, October 24, 2024, in San Francisco, California, USA.  Each year, the SRC brings eight graduate students to the site of the ASLH annual meeting to discuss their in-progress research projects with each other and with ASLH-affiliated scholars. Learn More
  • Wallace Johnson First Book Program

    Criteria

    Scholars working toward the publication of first books in legal history.

    Amount

    Fellowship funding for travel and accommodation.

    Deadline

    TBD

      The biennial Wallace Johnson Program for First Book Authors provides advice and support to scholars working toward the publication of first books in legal history, broadly defined. In conversation with peers and with the advice of senior scholars, participants develop and revise book proposals and sample chapters, as well as meeting with guest editors to learn about approaching and working with publishers. Learn More
  • Cromwell Fellowships

    Criteria

    Early-career scholars researching and writing in American legal history.

    Amount

    $5,000

    Deadline

    June 1, 2024

    The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation makes available a number of $5,000 fellowships to support research and writing in American legal history by early-career scholars. Early-career generally includes those researching or writing a PhD dissertation (or equivalent project) and recent recipients of a graduate degree working on their first major monograph or research project. Learn More
  • Kathryn T. Preyer Scholars

    Criteria

    Early-career scholars who wish to present a paper on any topic in legal, institutional and/or constitutional history, at the annual ASLH conference.

    Amount

    $500 cash + $750 reimbursement

    Deadline

    April 1, 2024

    Named after the late Kathryn T. Preyer, a distinguished historian of the law of early America known for her generosity to early career legal historians, the program of Kathryn T. Preyer Scholars is designed to help legal historians at the beginning of their careers. Learn More
  • J. Willard Hurst Summer Institute in Legal History

    Criteria

    Early-career scholars in law, history and other disciplines pursuing research on legal history of any part of the world.

    Amount

    Fellowship funding for travel and accommodation.

    Deadline

    TBD

    The J. Willard Hurst Summer Institute in Legal History is a biennial event sponsored by ASLH and traditionally held in June in Madison, Wisconsin, with support from the Institute for Legal Studies of the University of Wisconsin, where the late Professor James Willard Hurst was a founding member of the modern field of legal history. Learn More

Prizes

  • Anne Fleming Article Prize

    Criteria

    Best article on the relation of law and business/economy published in the previous two years.

    Amount

    $250

    Deadline

    N/A

    The Anne Fleming Article Prize is a joint prize of the the ASLH and the Business History Conference (BHC). It is awarded every other year to the author or authors of the best article published in the previous two years in either Law and History Review or Enterprise and Society on the relation of law and business/economy in any region or historical period. Learn More
  • Jane Burbank Global Legal History Article Prize

    Criteria

    Best article in global legal history published in the previous year.

    Amount

    $250

    Deadline

    June 1, 2024

    The Jane Burbank Article Prize in global legal history will be awarded annually to the best article in regional, global, imperial, comparative, or transnational legal history published in the previous calendar year. Submissions may address any topic or period, and may focus on case studies in which the analysis relates to broader processes or comparisons. Learn More
  • Mary L. Dudziak Digital Legal History Prize

    Criteria

    Excellence in digital legal history.

    Amount

    $250

    Deadline

    June 1, 2024

    The Dudziak Prize, named in honor of Mary L. Dudziak, a leading scholar of twentieth century U.S. legal history and international relations as well as a digital history pioneer, is awarded annually to an outstanding digital legal history project. These projects may take the form of either traditionally published peer reviewed scholarship or born-digital projects of equivalent depth and scope. Learn More
  • Sutherland Prize

    Criteria

    Best article on British legal history published in the previous year.

    Amount

    $500

    Deadline

    June 1, 2024

    The Sutherland Prize, named in honor of the late Donald W. Sutherland, a distinguished historian of the law of medieval England and a mentor of many students, is awarded annually, on the recommendation of the Sutherland Prize Committee, to the person or persons who wrote the best article on the legal history of Britain and/or the British Empire published in the previous year. Learn More
  • Surrency Prize

    Criteria

    Best article published in the Society’s journal, the Law and History Review, in the previous year.

    Amount

    TBD

    Deadline

    N/A

    The Surrency Prize is awarded annually for the best article published in the Society’s journal, the Law and History Review, in the previous year. The prize is named in honor of Erwin C. Surrency, a founding member and first president of the Society and for many years the editor of its former publication, the American Journal of Legal History. Learn More
  • John Phillip Reid Book Award

    Criteria

    Best monograph by a mid-career or senior scholar, published in English in Anglo-American legal history.

    Amount

    $2,500

    Deadline

    June 1, 2024

    The John Phillip Reid Book Award is awarded annually for the best monograph by a mid-career or senior scholar, published in English in any of the fields defined broadly as Anglo-American legal history. The prize is named for John Phillip Reid, the prolific legal historian and founding member of the Society, and made possible by the generous contributions of his friends and colleagues. Learn More
  • Peter Gonville Stein Book Award

    Criteria

    Best book in legal history (written in English) outside the field of US legal history, published during the previous calendar year.

    Amount

    $500

    Deadline

    June 1, 2024

    The Peter Gonville Stein Book Award is awarded annually for the best book in non-US legal history written in English. This award is designed to recognize and encourage the further growth of fine work in legal history that focuses on all regions outside the United States, as well as global and international history. Learn More
  • Cromwell Dissertation Prize

    Criteria

    Best dissertation in American legal history completed in the past year.

    Amount

    $5,000

    Deadline

    June 1, 2024

    The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Dissertation Prize is awarded annually to the best dissertation in any area of American legal history, including constitutional and comparative studies, although topics dealing with the colonial and early national periods will receive some preference. The author of the winning dissertation receives $5,000. Learn More
  • Cromwell Article Prize

    Criteria

    Best article in American legal history published by an early career scholar.

    Amount

    $5,000

    Deadline

    June 1, 2024

    The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Article Prize is awarded annually to the best article in American legal history published in the preceding calendar year by an early career scholar. Articles published in the field of American legal history, broadly conceived, will be considered. Learn More
  • Cromwell Book Prize

    Criteria

    Excellence in scholarship in the field of American legal history by an early career scholar.

    Amount

    $5,000

    Deadline

    June 1, 2024

    The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Book Prize is awarded annually to the best book in the field of American legal history by an early career scholar. The prize is designed to recognize and promote new work in the field by graduate students, law students, post-doctoral fellows and faculty not yet tenured. Learn More

Honors

  • Honorary Fellows

    Criteria

    Recognizes distinguished historians whose scholarship has shaped the discipline of legal history.

    Amount

    Recognition

    Deadline

    N/A

    Election as an Honorary Fellow of the American Society for Legal History is the highest honor the Society can confer. It recognizes distinguished historians whose scholarship has shaped the broad discipline of legal history and influenced the work of others. Honorary Fellows are the scholars we admire, whom we aspire to emulate, and on whose shoulders we stand. Learn More
  • Craig Joyce Medal

    Criteria

    Extraordinary and sustained volunteer service to the Society.

    Amount

    Recognition

    Deadline

    N/A

    The Society depends on the volunteer labors of its members. It is fortunate in the number of its members who are willing to join in the business of the Society, which is to foster scholarship and teaching in the broad field of legal history. Learn More

Funding

  • Small Grants for Legal History Research

    Criteria

    Grants for graduate students and early career scholars

    Amount

    $1,000

    Deadline

    April 30, 2021

    Responding to continuing constraints on research travel during the pandemic, the ASLH announces a competition for 10 small grants to support legal history research in digital and print sources this summer. Application is open to ASLH members who are graduate students at any stage or recent Ph.D. Learn More
  • Projects and Proposals Funding

    Criteria

    Project ideas to encourage novel forms of scholarly interchange, to support pedagogical experiments in legal history, and to seed new forms and venues for public history.

    Amount

    $4–6,000

    Deadline

    TBD

    The Projects and Proposals Committee of the American Society for Legal History invites proposals for the funding of new initiatives in the study, presentation, and production of legal historical scholarship and in the communication of legal history to all its possible publics and audiences. Learn More
Become a Member

The ASLH supports our members in many ways, including offering a variety of awards and fellowships, and funding of proposals and projects. In many ways, including offering a variety of awards and fellowships.

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