NEW YORK, March 24th, 2020 — The American Academy of Arts and Letters has announced the recipients of its highest honors for excellence in the arts. Architect Peter Eisenman and historian David Blight have been awarded the Gold Medals for Architecture and History, respectively. Given each year in two rotating categories of the arts, the Gold Medal is awarded to those who have achieved eminence in an entire body of work.
Read MoreDavid William Blight, newly named as the Sterling Professor of History, of African American Studies, and of American Studies, is a renowned historian who is considered one of the nation’s foremost authorities on the Civil War and its legacy. The Sterling Professorship is the highest honor bestowed on Yale faculty.
Read MoreDavid W. Blight wins the 2019 Plutarch Award for Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. Members of Biographers International Organization selected the winning book, which was announced on May 18, at the 10th Annual BIO Conference, held in conjunction with the Leon Levy Center for Biography at the Graduate Center, City University of New York.
Read MoreDavid W. Blight is awarded the 2019 Christopher Award for Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (Simon & Schuster). The Christopher Awards were created in 1949 to celebrate writers, producers, directors, authors and illustrators whose work “affirms the highest values of the human spirit” and reflects the Christopher motto, “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” The 70th annual Christopher Award winners highlight empathy, faith, and loving your neighbor.
Read MoreThe 62nd annual Francis Parkman Prize is awarded to David W. Blight for Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (Simon & Schuster).
Blight has written a biography of a “radical patriot,” who was both a fierce critic of his country and an ardent proponent of its values. This sweeping biography of one of the most complex figures in American history seems destined to be a classic of the genre.
Read MorePulitzer Administrator, Dana Canedy, announces at Columbia University's School of Journalism on Monday, April 15, that David Blight, author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (Simon & Schuster), is the winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in History.
Read MoreDavid Blight is awarded the Los Angeles Times 2018 Book Prize for Biography at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, April 13-14, 2019. The book festival was held at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
Read MoreA mammoth biography of Frederick Douglass and a new study of the 17th-century colonial American conflict known as King Philip’s War have won this year’s Bancroft Prize, which is considered one of the most prestigious honors in the field of American history.
Read MoreGettysburg College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History announces that David Blight, author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (Simon & Schuster), is the recipient of the 2019 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize.
Read MoreDavid Blight has been chosen to receive the Graduate Mentor Award for the Humanities at the Yale University Graduate School’s Convocation Ceremony the weekend before commencement.
Read MoreThe 77th annual Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards were presented to “books that have made an important contribution to society’s understanding of racism and diversity of human cultures.” Jury Chair Henry Louis Gates, Jr. presented a lifetime achievement award to Arnold Rampersad, humanities professor at Stanford University and author of biographies of Ralph Ellison and Langston Hughes.
Read MoreThe 60th annual National Book Awards ceremony was held at Cipriani in New York City with Andy Borowitz as the host. The National Book Foundation presented a Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to Gore Vidal and a Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community to Dave Eggers. Then authors spoke after their awards were announced.
Read MoreDavid W. Blight, award winning author, gives his lecture "A Slave No More: Two Recently Discovered Narratives and the Story of Emancipation" at the Dole Institute.
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