Mia Bay, the 2021-22 Patrick Henry History Fellow at Washington College’s Starr Center, Has Won the 2022 Bancroft Prize in History

The Bancroft Prize, which is awarded annually by Columbia University, is considered one of the most prestigious honors in the field of American History.

Mia Bay, Ph.D., who is spending the 2021-22 academic year in residence at the Starr Center as Washington College’s Patrick Henry History Fellow, has been awarded the 2022 Bancroft Prize in History for her most recent book, titled Traveling Black: A story of Race and Resistance.

The Bancroft Prize, which is awarded annually by Columbia University, is considered one of the most prestigious honors in the field of American History. The prize committee lauded Bay’s book as a landmark work for understanding the history of racial domination and civil rights.

Traveling Black is also a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History, and was named among the Best Books of 2021 – in any field – by the New York Times.

Endowed in 2007 with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a major gift from the Nuttle family, descendants of the revolutionary patriot Patrick Henry, the Patrick Henry History Fellowship annually brings a leading scholar to Washington College from September through May. The Fellowship supports outstanding writing on American history and culture by both scholars and non-academic authors and is co-sponsored by the Rose O’Neill Literary House.

“It’s been a privilege to host a scholar of Mia Bay’s caliber this year,” said Adam Goodheart, the Starr Center’s Hodson Trust-Griswold Director. “Her work exemplifies the kind of books that the Starr Center seeks to support with our fellowships, since they are both groundbreaking and beautifully crafted. I’m especially happy that she’s working with our team of student curators, who are delving into primary sources ranging from Underground Railroad accounts to court records of civil-rights cases, while having the opportunity to be taught and mentored by one of America’s leading chroniclers of the African American experience.”

During the Henry Fellows’ residencies, they customarily teach classes or otherwise mentor Washington College students. This semester, Bay is curating a digital exhibition for the Starr Center based on the theme of Traveling Black, working closely with a team of Starr Center student interns.

Bay’s long-term academic affiliation is as the Roy and Jeannette Nichols Chair in American History at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a scholar of American and African American intellectual, cultural and social history and holds a Ph.D. and MPhil from Yale University. She is the author or editor of seven books, including Traveling Black: A Story of Race and Resistance, which was published in 2021 by Harvard University Press.