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Starr Center Donates 78 New Washington-Era History Books to Miller Library

Chestertown, MD — Miller Library is awash in the latest books about George Washington and the Revolutionary era, thanks to a gift from the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience of 78 volumes being considered for this year's George Washington Book Prize.

George Washington Book Prize Coordinator Joan Smith and College Librarian Ruth Shoge stand amidst the donated books.
George Washington Book Prize Coordinator Joan Smith and College Librarian Ruth Shoge stand amid scores of donated books.

Books about everything from the men and women who founded the new nation to the Native Americans who were displaced in the process will be on display at the library until the winner of the $50,000 award is announced at Mount Vernon on May 29.

Now in its fourth year, the George Washington Book Prize honors work that contributes to a greater public understanding of the life and career of George Washington and/or America's founding era. Conceived and administered at the Starr Center (in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and George Washington's Mount Vernon), the prize is awarded annually by a panel of distinguished historians. It is one of the largest literary awards in the nation.

Every year, publishers are asked to submit five copies of each book they enter—three are forwarded directly to the jurors, one is kept at the Starr Center, and one is set aside for Miller Library. As a result, nearly every major book published about the founding period over the past four years is now part of the College's collection.

The number of George Washington Prize entrants continues to grow—this year, the total retail value of the donated books is about $2,700, a 50 percent increase over last year's cache.

"It certainly strengthens our collection on George Washington, the Founders, and the whole founding era," says an appreciative Dr. Ruth Shoge, Director of Miller Library. "I'm impressed with the wide variety of subjects on the era ... the financial aspects, slavery, gender ... I think the scholarship is really opening up on that period, beyond the Founders to other issues we still grapple with."

Publishers have been showing an increased interest in the period, and the result is more diversity—books that go beyond Washington and other household-name heroes of early America, and even beyond the borders of the United States, reflecting on how our own country's revolution has affected the rest of the world. "These are not just a bunch of biographies of dead white males," said Adam Goodheart, the Starr Center's Hodson Trust-Griswold Director. "Collectively, they provide a vivid and broad portrait of an entire period of history, as well as address many questions that still confront the 21st century."

Meanwhile, this year's panel of jurors is reading and discussing each of those 78 books—not a job for the faint-hearted—and narrowing the field. Washington College President Baird Tipson will announce the three finalists at Convocation on George Washington's Birthday.

Books Donated

January 21, 2008

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