Bancroft Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 77 (2024) Winner
Elliott West
エリオット・ウェスト
Eliotto Wesuto
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1945-04-19
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Austin, Texas (student years) → Colorado (graduate study and early teaching) → New Mexico (teaching) → Fayetteville, Arkansas (faculty)
Career
- Occupations
- historian, author, university professor
- Active Years
- 1970-
- Affiliations
- University of Arkansas (faculty), Western History Association (past president)
- Memberships
- Western History Association, Society of American Historians, Organization of American Historians
- Influenced By
- Richard White
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Texas at Austin | — | Journalism | BA (Journalism) | — | United States |
| University of Colorado | — | History | MA/PhD (History) | — | United States |
University of Texas at Austin
Journalism
Degree:
BA (Journalism)
Country:
United States
Undergraduate degree in journalism.
University of Colorado
History
Degree:
MA/PhD (History)
Country:
United States
Completed master's and doctoral degrees.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Francis Parkman Prize | The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado | — | Society of American Historians | Winner |
| 1999 | Ray Allen Billington Prize (shared) | The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado | — | Organization of American Historians | Winner (shared) |
| — | Western Heritage Award | — | — | National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, etc. | Winner (複数回) |
| 2024 | Bancroft Prize | Continental Reckoning: The American West in the Age of Expansion | — | Columbia University (awarding) | Winner |
| 2024 | Pulitzer Prize for History | Continental Reckoning: The American West in the Age of Expansion | — | Pulitzer Prize Board | Finalist |
| 2009 | Cherry Award for Great Teaching | — | — | Baylor University | Finalist |
Francis Parkman Prize
1999
Work:
The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado
Organization:
Society of American Historians
Result:
Winner
Ray Allen Billington Prize (shared)
1999
Work:
The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado
Organization:
Organization of American Historians
Result:
Winner (shared)
Western Heritage Award
Organization:
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, etc.
Result:
Winner (複数回)
Bancroft Prize
2024
Work:
Continental Reckoning: The American West in the Age of Expansion
Organization:
Columbia University (awarding)
Result:
Winner
Pulitzer Prize for History
2024
Work:
Continental Reckoning: The American West in the Age of Expansion
Organization:
Pulitzer Prize Board
Result:
Finalist
Cherry Award for Great Teaching
2009
Organization:
Baylor University
Result:
Finalist
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado
1998 history / non-fictionA regional history examining the Colorado gold rush and its resulting conflicts between Native peoples and goldseekers, told from local and human perspectives.
Native peoples and colonial pressurescompetition for resourcesfrontier social history
The Last Indian War: The Nez Perce Story
2009 history / non-fiction 397 pagesA detailed narrative history of the Nez Perce conflict often described as the last Indian war, exploring events and consequences.
Native American resistancemilitary conflict and displacementmemory and narrative
Continental Reckoning: The American West in the Age of Expansion
2023 history / comprehensive studyA continental-scale reassessment of the American West during the age of expansion, examining political, social, and environmental consequences.
impacts of territorial expansionenvironmental historyinteraction between indigenous peoples and settlers
Bibliography
- The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado
- The Last Indian War: The Nez Perce Story
- Continental Reckoning: The American West in the Age of Expansion
- Other essays and articles (details omitted)
Adaptations
- Documentary appearance: The American Buffalo
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- scholarly, narrative-driven proseblending primary sources with storytelling
- Recurring Motifs
- Native perspectivescontest over land and resourcesreassessment of expansion's consequences
Legacy
Regarded as a leading scholar of the American West, West has won major awards for work that connects regional and environmental history. He is also known as an accomplished teacher having taught at several universities.
Academic Societies
- Western History Association
- Society of American Historians
- Organization of American Historians
In Popular Culture
- Appeared in Ken Burns's documentary 'The American Buffalo' (2023)
Quotes
-
"the best historian of the American West writing today."
Source: Praise by Richard White
Trivia
- Grew up in a family of journalists; his father was an editor at the Dallas Morning News.
- Undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin; completed graduate study at the University of Colorado.
- Longtime faculty member at the University of Arkansas (Alumni Distinguished Professor of History).
- Won the Francis Parkman Prize in 1999 for The Contested Plains.
- Won the Bancroft Prize in 2024 for Continental Reckoning and was a 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist in History.