Submit Nominations

THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR WORKS PUBLISHED IN 2023 IS FEBRUARY 15, 2025, FOR BOOKS, ARTICLES AND GRADUATE STUDENT WORK; FEBRUARY 15, 2025 FOR RESEARCH GRANTS.

Award winners are nominated by six committees.

1. BOOKS: In order for a book to be considered by our five-member Book Awards Committee, the publisher should mail a copy of the book to each of the committee members. Please click here for their addresses.

We prefer that the nominated books be sent directly from the publishers/presses, authors or agents to each committee member. If there is a hardship because the list price of a book is $75 or more, we ask the publisher for one hard copy (sent to the committee chair) and an electronic version of the book that can be distributed to committee members. The Book Awards Committee nominates winners in six categories. Please include a note as to which categories you believe the book is qualified to be considered for:

• Best Book
• Best Biography
• Best First Book (awarded biennially, next awarded June 2026)
• Best Personal History/Memoir (awarded biennially, next awarded June 2025)
• Best Documentary Editing/Bibliography (awarded biennially, next awarded June 2026)
• Best Book on International Mormon History (awarded biennially, next awarded June 2025)

2. ARTICLES: The four-member Article Awards Committee is chaired by Katherine Kitterman. Authors and readers are invited to submit, by email, articles for the committees’ consideration: katherine.kitterman@gmail.com. The Article Awards Committee nominates winners in three of the article categories:

• Best Article
• Best Article on Mormon Women’s History
• Best Article on International Mormon History

Additionally, the Journal of Mormon History board will choose a winner for best article published in the JMH the previous year.

3. GRADUATE STUDENT WORK: The four-member Graduate Student Work Awards Committee is chaired by Sara Patterson. Authors and readers are invited to submit by email, dissertations, theses, and unpublished graduate student papers for the committees’ consideration to patterson@hanover.edu. The Graduate Student Work Awards Committee nominates winners in three categories:

• Best Dissertation (awarded biennially, next awarded June 2025)
• Best Thesis (awarded biennially, next awarded June 2026)
• Best Unpublished Graduate Student Paper

4. BEST PUBLIC HISTORY AWARD: The four-member Best Public History Award Committee is chaired by Michael Van Wagenen. Submit nominations to Alan at mvanwagenen@georgiasouthern.edu. Examples of public history that might be considered are those that use historical methods and research in a non-academic or primarily non-academic setting; living history projects in which members of the research population are encouraged to participate as researchers, interpreters, and/or presenters; and research that uses media and channels accessible to the public as the primary presentation format. This could include but is not limited to websites, blogs, exhibits, art shows, documentaries, feature or news articles, theatrical performances, and popular books.

5. BEST INDIGENOUS STUDIES AWARD: The five-member Best Indigenous Studies Award Committee is chaired by Brenden Rensink. Submissions may include various formats of traditional scholarship such as a published book, essay, book chapter, or article. Other forms of public scholarship and engagement will also be considered and could include public history or public programming projects, digital media, events, exhibits, advocacy, and so forth. Submit nominations to Brenden at bwrensink@byu.edu. Ask Brenden for committee members’ mailing addresses if you would like to submit a book nomination.

6. B.H. ROBERTS GRANT: The three member B.H. Roberts Grant includes the MHA Board of Director’s  Awards Chair, the Executive Director of the B.H. Roberts Foundation and an unaffiliated independent committee member. Up to three such awards will be granted annually to researchers that are developing work consistent with the mission of the B. H. Roberts Foundation. The final work product should be suitable for publication in the Journal of Mormon History and/or for presentation at the MHA Conference. Preference will be given to research that utilizes previously unknown or overlooked primary source documents or statistical data. To apply or learn more about the grant, click here.