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| Philip Taft Labor History Book Award | |
|---|---|
| Name | Philip Taft Labor History Book Award |
| Awarded for | Outstanding book in United States labor history |
| Country | United States |
| Year | 1977 |
| Presenter | Cornell University Department of History; Labor and Worklife Program; School of Industrial and Labor Relations |
Philip Taft Labor History Book Award is an annual prize recognizing outstanding scholarship in United States labor history. Established to honor the legacy of Philip Taft, the award highlights monographs that illuminate labor movements, unions, workers, industrial conflict, and labor law across U.S. history. Winners and finalists often intersect with scholarship on the American Federation of Labor, Congress of Industrial Organizations, Industrial Workers of the World, National Labor Relations Act, and biographies of labor leaders.
The award was founded in 1977 at Cornell University to commemorate Philip Taft, a noted labor historian affiliated with Brown University and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Early prize cycles coincided with renewed interest in labor studies triggered by scholarship on the New Deal, the Great Depression, the Taft–Hartley Act, and the postwar decline of union density. Over the decades the award has reflected shifting historiographical emphases, from social history approaches associated with scholars like E. P. Thompson, David Montgomery (historian), and Herbert Gutman to cultural and transnational studies engaging topics connected to Mexican American labor, Chinese railroad workers, and postindustrial labor controversies involving corporations such as General Motors, United Auto Workers, and Amazon (company).
Eligible books are typically monographs dealing with labor history within the geographic and political boundaries of the United States; editions in English by university presses such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Princeton University Press, and University of Illinois Press are common among nominees. The award emphasizes original archival research in repositories like the Library of Congress, the National Archives and Records Administration, state historical societies, and manuscript collections tied to unions such as the United Auto Workers, Teamsters, AFL–CIO, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Works addressing legislation—e.g., the Wagner Act—or major strikes like the Pullman Strike and the Homestead Strike have been frequent contenders, as have biographies of figures such as Samuel Gompers, Cesar Chavez, Eugene V. Debs, and Mother Jones.
Administration is coordinated by the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, with organizational support from the ILR School's Labor and Worklife Program and the Department of History. Sponsors and supporters have included university presses and labor organizations including the AFL–CIO, foundations such as the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, and archival institutions like the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives. Media partners and scholarly societies such as the Organization of American Historians and the Labor and Working-Class History Association have promoted the award and readings featuring authors from the shortlist.
Nominations are solicited annually from publishers and scholars, with submission rules aligned with standards used by organizations such as the American Historical Association. A rotating selection committee of historians affiliated with institutions like Rutgers University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan, Columbia University, and University of Chicago reviews entries. Committees often include scholars specializing in labor law, labor politics, comparative labor studies, and labor culture—fields associated with researchers like Nelson Lichtenstein, Kim Voss, David Montgomery (historian), and Melvyn Dubofsky. The committee convenes to create a shortlist and select a winner, announced at events hosted at venues such as the ILR Conference Center or during meetings of the American Historical Association.
Winners have included books exploring a wide range of subjects: industrialization studies examining corporations such as Bethlehem Steel and U.S. Steel; immigrant labor histories focused on communities from Ellis Island to the Gulf Coast; civil rights-era labor scholarship connecting to figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and organizations such as Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; and radical labor histories tied to the Industrial Workers of the World and Socialist Party of America. Prizewinning authors have gone on to receive recognition from peer prizes like the Bancroft Prize, the Merle Curti Award, and the John Hope Franklin Prize. Specific celebrated works have addressed topics such as the Great Migration, the Bracero Program, sit-down strikes by the United Auto Workers, and workplace organizing in service-sector firms including Walmart.
The award shapes academic careers and public understanding by amplifying research that enters syllabi at institutions like Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University, and New York University and informs exhibits at museums such as the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum of American History. Winning books influence labor policy debates involving entities like the National Labor Relations Board and contribute to historiographical debates concerning labor's role in movements including the Civil Rights Movement, the Progressive Era, and postwar conservatism linked to figures like Barry Goldwater. The prize also elevates archival projects and oral histories housed at centers such as the Tamiment Library and the Kheel Center.
Comparable prizes in the field include the Bancroft Prize for American history, the Merle Curti Award from the Organization of American Historians, the John H. Dunning Prize, and labor-specific honors such as the Eileen Basker Prize and awards administered by the Labor and Working-Class History Association and the American Labor Studies Center. Authors who win have often been finalists for broader literary and scholarly accolades administered by organizations like the National Book Foundation and university presses.
Category:Labor history awards Category:Cornell University