News and Events
2010 George Washington Book Prize Awarded at Mount Vernon
May 20, 2010
Richard Beeman accepted the 2010 George Washington Book Prize for Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution on Thursday, May 20 at an elegant black-tie gala at Mount Vernon. The winner of one of the largest literary prizes in the country was presented with a medal and $50,000 check from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, which co-sponsors the prize with Washington College and George Washington's Mount Vernon. The celebration honoring this year's three finalists was attended by about 175 people, including faculty, board members, students and dignitaries from the worlds of publishing, academia, law and politics. The bald eagle soaring across the sky just as the prize was awarded was an unexpected, though most welcomed, guest.
Click to enlarge photos.
Prize winner Richard Beeman.
Plain, Honest Men – winner of the 2010 George Washington Book Prize.
Adam Goodheart, director of the CV Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, which administers the prize, praises finalist Edith Gelles' book, Abigail & John: Portrait of a Marriage (William Morrow).
Prize finalist RB Bernstein, author of The Founding Fathers Reconsidered (Oxford) and his mother, Marilyn Bernstein.
Adam Goodheart with Edward P. Nordberg '82, Chairman of the Washington College Board of Visitors and Governors.
Lesley Herrmann, Executive Director of the Gilder Lehrman Institute, addresses the group.
Richard Beeman signs copies of his book.
Board of Visitors members Lawrence Culp '85 and Ed Nordberg with incoming Washington College President Mitchell Reiss.
Incoming First Lady Elisabeth Reiss with Bob Duemling, Chair of the Starr Center Advisory Council.
Jim Rees, Executive Director of Mt. Vernon.
Assistant Professor of Political Science Joseph Prud'homme with Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Samuel Alito and his wife, Martha-Ann Alito.
Prize winner Richard Beeman with his wife, Mary Cahill Beeman.
Boyce Ansley, Mount Vernon Regent.
Lesley Herrmann with Robert Wilson, editor of The American Scholar, and his wife, Martha.
Associate Justice Samuel Alito with Richard Beeman.
Mary Drabkin, wife of Board of Visitors and Governors member Murray Drabkin.
Mt. Vernon Regent Boyce Ansley presents Book Prize medal to Richard Beeman.
Attendees enjoy a formal dinner in the Ford Orientation Center.
The assembled guests await the announcement.
Book Prize jury chair Ted Crackel congratulates the winner.
The Washington Scottish Pipe Band.
Ever practical, Richard Beeman kept his medal out of his dinner.
Associate Justice Samuel Alito congratulating finalist RB Bernstein and his mother, Marilyn.
