CALL FOR PLEDGES FOR MEXICAN HISTORY BOOK PRIZE

The Mexican Studies Committee agreed at the Washington Committee on Latin American History meeting last January to explore the possibility of establishing an annual prize for the best book in the History of Mexico published by a member of the CLAH. The CLAH currently awards a number of book awards, but the only one for which most Mexicanists are eligible is the Bolton-Johnson Prize, awarded annually to the best English-language book on any aspect of Latin American history. Given the number and quality of books on Mexican history, many of us felt that it is a good moment to find a way to acknowledge the very best contributions.

At this point, we need to raise a total of $10,000 to endow the prize. Fortunately, even before this announcement has reached you, we have received pledges of nearly $1,000, including a generous donation of $500 by an anonymous benefactor. That leaves a bit over $9,000 to go, and I am appealing to the membership of our organization to consider making a pledge to establish this award. The suggested level for assistant professors is $50, for associates, $75, and for professors , $100. 
We all have multiple and sometimes urgent demands on our philanthropic dollar, yet I hope that you will agree that this initiative merits our support. It will help to maintain and extend the appeal of our field and raise its visibility within the discipline of history generally. In that sense, it should help to guarantee the long-term vigor of the field to which we have all dedicated so much energy.

If you are interested in supporting the establishment of a book prize in Mexican history, I ask that you send me an e-mail at crboyer@uic.edu, with a cc to CLAH executive secretary Jerry Dávila at clah@uncc.edu, giving your name, contact information, and amount you are willing to pledge. Please do NOT send money at this time. Once we are certain that we have reached the $10,000 mark, we will get back in touch to give you more details. Hopefully, we will have good news by the time of our next meeting in New York next year!

Chris Boyer
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chair, Mexican Studies Committee