Harvard University’s Laurel Thatcher Ulrich Awarded the Evans Biography Award

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, the 300th Anniversary University Professor, Emerita of history at Harvard University, received the Evans Biography Award from the Mountain West Center for Regional Studies at Utah State University. The Evans Awards honor the best books that focus on the stories of people who shaped the character on the interior West. The biography award comes with a $10,000 prize.

Professor Ulrich was honored for her book A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women’s Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870 (Alfred A. Knopf, 2017). Dr. Ulrich worked on the book for 10 years. In 1991, Dr. Ulrich won the Pulitzer Prize for her book A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 (Alfred A. Knopf, 1990).

Professor Ulrich joined the faculty at Harvard University in 1995. Earlier she served on the faculty at the University of New Hampshire for 15 years.

A native of Idaho, Dr. Ulrich is a graduate of the University of Utah, where she majored in English. She holds a master’s degree in English from Simmons College in Boston and a Ph.D. in history from the University of New Hampshire.