The Bancroft Prize was established in 1948 by the trustees of Columbia University in New York City from a bequest by historian Frederic Bancroft. This year, three scholars were awarded the Bancroft Prize, which comes with a $10,000 award. The Bancroft Prize is considered one of the most prestigious awards in the field of American history. Two of the three winners this year are women professors.
Mary Sarah Bilder is a professor at Boston College Law School. She was honored for her book Madison’s Hand: Revisiting the Constitutional Convention (Harvard University Press, 2015). Professor Bilder is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Harvard Law School. She also holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in the history of American civilization from Harvard University.
Deborah A. Rosen is the David M. ’70 and Linda Roth Professor of History at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. She was awarded the Bancroft Prize for her book Border Law: The First Seminole War and American Nationhood (Harvard University Press, 2015). Professor Rosen holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University. An earlier book was American Indians and State Law: Sovereignty, Race, and Citizenship, 1790-1880 (University of Nebraska Press, 2007).