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Langum Charitable Trust News This page is for current and upcoming news of the Trust and its work. Check back here periodically for links to news stories, upcoming deadlines, and late-breaking information.
The Langum Charitable Trust suspends prize presentations at Birmingham, Alabama and Port Townsend, Washington Due to the current economic circumstances and the somewhat tepid responses to the presentations in the localities involved, we are suspending the prize presentations at Birmingham, Alabama and Port Townsend, Washington. The prizes themselves, in American Historical Fiction, American Legal History, and in Recording Community Activism, will continue to be awarded, and the prize stipends and certificates sent to the winners by mail. Simultaneously, we hope to significantly increase the national publicity given these prizes. DJL, Sr. The Langum Charitable Trust Announces Winner of the 2008 David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction The Langum Charitable Trust is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2008 David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction is Kathleen Kent for The Heretic’s Daughter: A Novel, published by Little, Brown. This prize, which carries a stipend of $1,000, is awarded annually for the best book of excellent fiction and excellent history that helps to make the rich history of America accessible to the educated general public. This vivid novel brings to life the familiar history of the Salem Witch Trials in a compelling narrative that is at once authentic, believable, and surprising. Through vivid sensory imagery and authentic detail, Kent transports the reader to a seventeenth-century common room or a dank New England jail cell. She renders the horrific details of the trials and subsequent executions of ordinary men and women, the mundane details of everyday life, and the wrenching tale of a family in conflict through a child’s voice that is rich with the flavor and rhythm of early-American speech, yet wonderfully accessible. The Heretic’s Daughter is historical fiction of the highest order: well-researched, compelling, illuminating, and beautifully done. -- RA 2008 Honorable Mention Honorable mention is made to Elisabeth Payne Rosen for Hallam’s War, published by Unbridled Books. This well-researched and beautifully-written novel focuses on Hugh Hallam and his family, small plantation owners in antebellum Tennessee. Hallam is a progressive, in farming methods and attitudes toward slavery. He treats his slaves with decency and respect, even offering gradual emancipation. When the War comes, Hallam fights for his region as a Confederate officer. Yet the title is ironic, since Hallam fights another war within himself. He is knowledgeable about the North, and even before the fighting erupts he knows the South will lose. Hallam ultimately comes to believe that slavery itself is evil, but even with those conflicts inside him, he soldiers on. -- DJL, Sr. Director’s Mention Another 2008 book published by Unbridled Books deserves a special mention. Jack Fuller’s Abbeville is a split time work, in which nearly half of the novel is in the very near present, and therefore questionable historical fiction. A young man returns to a fictional tiny, northern Illinois town to try to discover why his grandfather, who prospered and fell there, lived such a happy and contented life. I am utterly biased because I grew up in a small northern Illinois town, larger than Abbeville but still surrounded by cornfields. So much here rings true. But that is not why I liked the book. What impressed me is the spiritual theme, developed but never pushed on the reader. It is written with a deft touch. -- DJL, Sr. The Langum Charitable Trust Announces Winner of the 2008 David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Legal History The Langum Charitable Trust is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2008 David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Legal History is Ernest Freeberg for Democracy’s Prisoner: Eugene V. Debs, the Great War, and the Right to Dissent, published by the Harvard University Press. This prize is awarded annually to the best work of American legal history or American legal biography published by a university press, that is accessible to the educated general public, rooted in sound scholarship, and has themes that touch upon matters of general concern to the American public, past or present. Freeberg will receive his award, which carries a stipend of $1,000, in a presentation held in the auditorium of the central branch of the Birmingham Public Library at 4:00PM, March 14, 2009. Professor Freeberg will make a few remarks concerning the writing of the book and will respond to questions. A reception will follow. The event is free of charge and the public is warmly invited. During American participation in World War I, the Wilson administration prosecuted and jailed war critics on the specious ground that their dissent tended to interfere with recruitment of soldiers. The federal government spied on groups thought to be critical, harassed individual dissidents, and caused them to lose their jobs. The government encouraged private vigilance groups to harass, abduct and even torture American citizens because of their failure to support Wilson’s ludicrous notion of a war to end all wars. As leader of the Socialist Party, Eugene V. Debs became a primary target of these persecutions, and Freeberg focuses most of this well-written book on Deb’s specific story, even while relating the more general history of the repression. Debs became one of the few imprisoned dissidents whom Wilson refused to release after the war was completed, and a large-scale campaign clamored for his pardon, ultimately granted by President Harding. In this campaign, Freeberg tells us, Debs the specific became the general story, since the amnesty effort did much to engender the more expansive notions of free speech that we enjoy today. This book has important lessons for today, when we are now concluding another war, in Iraq, that many people and groups opposed. Again the federal government spied on Americans and practiced torture. Before surrendering to utter discouragement, we might reflect on either the refusal or inability of President Bush to simply imprison those who strongly criticized his war, as predecessor Wilson had done. The sacrifices of Debs and the dissidents of that generation may have worked a permanent change in the rights of dissent and free speech during wartime. For that, and this fine account, we should be thankful. – DJL, Sr. 2008 Honorable Mention Honorable mention is made to Peter Charles Hoffer for the book, The Treason Trials of Aaron Burr, published by the University Press of Kansas. This fine work vividly portrays Aaron Burr’s strange intrigues in the West and provides an illuminating account of the political and legal aspects of trials that helped to establish the principle that courts will not permit the President or Congress to manipulate the law of treason for the purpose of stifling dissent. Hoffer also demonstrates how the trials made fundamental contributions to the law of evidence and criminal procedure. Hoffer provides fresh insights into the interactions among Burr, Thomas Jefferson, and John Marshall, and his book is an important addition to the on-going re-evaluation of Burr’s reputation. -- WGR Random House and Cowardly Self-Censorship Random House recently dropped its plans to publish Sherry Jones’s book The Jewel of Medina solely on the grounds that its publication might be offensive to some in the Muslim community and might lead to acts of violence by radical Muslims. While any publisher has the right if not the duty to refuse to publish books that lack literary merit, Random House had previously decided this manuscript was highly publishable. It paid a $100,000 advance, and had arranged for foreign publication, Book of the Month Club selection, and Quality Paperback Book Club selection. All that triggered Random House’s repudiation of its promise was the receipt of some fairly slight information that there might be violence. Serious ideas, even if offensive to some, flourish in books. Random House has exhibited a degree of cowardly self-censorship that seriously threatens the American public’s access to the free marketplace of ideas. While this manuscript is not in any of our prize areas, Random House’s actions represent a threat to all literature. We understand that the author’s agent is attempting to find another publisher. Meanwhile, we can not pretend that this type of cowardice will disappear without serious remonstrance. Until The Jewel of Medina is actually published, The Langum Charitable Trust will not consider submissions of any books, for any of our prizes, from Random House or any of its affiliates. We do this reluctantly, since our most recent prize in American historical fiction went to a Random House title. Nevertheless, this issue must be confronted. It is regrettable that with our national Banned Books Week only one month away, we still must concern ourselves with these issues. San Jose State University Library’s Special Collection Department Accessions a Portion of David J. Langum, Sr.’s Legal Files San Jose State University Library’s Special Collection Department, San Jose, California, is accessioning portions of the legal files of David J. Langum, Sr., who practiced law in San Jose, 1968-1978. Professor Langum has removed the factual materials, for example depositions and interrogatories, from the litigation files, themselves only a small portion of his total files. However, these materials will be of highest interest to social historians and at the same time are not in breach of any client confidence. These winnowed litigation files include 15 personal injury lawsuits, 10 domestic relations cases including post-dissolution modifications, 11 business and real property lawsuits, a massive bankruptcy matter appealed to the United States Supreme Court, and 6 criminal matters. In addition, Professor Langum has donated 17 complete files where the confidentiality issue, for varying reasons, has been resolved, including three complete personal injury cases, eight files concerning all phases of representing a weekly newspaper, including acquisition, various business disputes, and ultimate sale, and six complete files concerning a variety of business transactions and litigation. The Special Collections Department is now processing the materials, and an announcement will be made when they are available for public use. Kurt Andersen Wins 2007 Langum Prize in Historical Fiction
Andersen’s Heyday well-fits the purposes of the prize. Set in 1848, the novel begins in New York City and explores the relationship of a traveling Englishman and an American actress and clandestine prostitute, their friends and relations. As misunderstandings develop between the principal protagonists, the woman flees westward, the man pursues her, and in a sub-plot a would-be assassin chases the man. They all end up in California at the beginning of the Gold Rush.
The reader acquires much social history from this 1848 setting. Where appropriate to the plot, the characters ruminate about political events or are in contact with actual actors on the political, economic, or cultural stage, thereby giving the reader political and economic history, especially relating to technology, in the context of the mid-nineteenth century. In short, Heyday, a novel is both excellent fiction and lavishly excellent history. The Langum Charitable Trust Announces Winner of the 2007 David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Legal History The Langum Charitable Trust is pleased to announce that the
winner of the 2007 David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Legal
History is Bruce J. Dierenfield for his book, The Battle over School
Prayer: How Engel v. Vitale Changed America, published by the
University Press of Kansas. This prize is awarded annually to the
best work of American legal history or American legal biography
published by a university press, which is accessible to the educated
general public, rooted in sound scholarship, and with themes that
touch upon matters of general concern to the American public, past
or present. The Langum Charitable Trust Sponsoring the Gene E. and Adele R. Malott Prize for Recording Community Activism The Gene E. and Adele R. Malott Prize for Recording Community Activism recognizes biannually the best literary depiction of an individual or small group of individuals whose efforts resulted in a significant improvement of their local community. Although the work of community improvement must be significant, the basis of the prize will be the skill and power of the literary or film depiction. Eligible media include books, magazine articles, series of newspaper articles, or films, published or released within the past two years of a prize cycle, e.g., published or released in 2007 or 2008 for the prize awarded in 2009. The prize for the writer, or in case of a film divided between the director and screenwriter, is $1,500. If ongoing, the underlying project of community activism will receive $1,000. The winners are asked to attend an award ceremony, ideally held in the community where the activism was accomplished, and a dinner honoring them. The Trust defrays all travel and other expenses.
Little Falls, Minnesota; Reno, Nevada, and were keen enthusiasts of their local issues and politics, as both reporters and participants. Even in their later years when travel writing required frequent international journeys, they remained, as they were throughout their lives, devoted to and enthusiastic about the communities in which they lived. Adele R. Malott established the Malott Prize through a bequest to The Langum Charitable Trust, whose founder and Director, David J. Langum, Sr., was a close friend of the Malotts since the mid-1960s. Adele Malott was convinced, in her words, that “at democracy’s heart are people who find themselves agitating for change to make things better, repair something that has broken down or create new solutions for old problems. Such changes do not come easily. Nor without pain and leadership.” Some examples include Erin Brockovich, a file clerk in an attorney’s office who shook Pacific Gas & Electric Company by the scruff of its neck and alerted Hinkley, California to the carcinogenic pollutants the company was leaching into the city’s water supply. Her successful efforts inspired the popular 2000 film, Erin Brockovich. In this case, while Erin Brockovich herself would not be eligible for the Malott Prize, the movie would be. Another example would be the work of John Champion, a machinist in Reno, Nevada, who found filth and pollution in the local Truckee River, and trash and transients along its banks. His agitation and personal example of cleanup drew media attention to these conditions and sparked renewal projects significant enough that the city named a park along the river in his honor. While Champion’s efforts themselves would not be eligible for the Malott Prize, a series of articles in the local media about his efforts would be, and ongoing river projects would be eligible for the supplemental award for the underlying project. The object of community activism could range very broadly, from corrupt officials to local crime, anything that is substantial and essentially located within a community. Adele Malott was most interested in grassroots activists. She was fascinated by the motivation of quite ordinary people who “found themselves in circumstances that pulled them out of the crowd and caused them to speak up,” even as neighbors judged them busybodies and politicians judged them troublemakers. She wrote that she wished the prize-winning accounts to show us what made the activists move, “what pushed him/her to get off the couch and spend hours at countless meetings trying to be heard, trying to persuade people to help pick up the load and move toward a solution. We should be seeing things through this activist’s eyes.” The deadline for materials published or released in 2007 is January 1, 2008, and materials published or released in 2008 must be submitted by January 1, 2009. This pattern will continue hereafter, with materials published or produced in any given year due for submission at the end of that year. We are asking for these staggered submissions, even though the prize itself is biannual, so that our selection committee can consider submissions on a rolling basis. Please submit three copies of each book, magazine article, or series of newspaper articles. We ask for three DVDs of films, together with three transcripts. Send all submissions to address indicated on our website,
www.langumtrust.org. As of
2007 that address is: The Langum Charitable Trust, P.O. Box 12643,
Birmingham, Alabama 35202-2643. Address questions to David J. Langum,
Sr., Director, at the same address, or send by e-mail to
langumtrust@gmail.com. We
expect to announce the winners on our website. The Langum Charitable Trust Deeply Laments the Suspension of Publication of American Heritage The Langum Charitable Trust Deeply Laments the Suspension of Publication of American Heritage, the high quality-journal of American history that successfully brought the richness of their nation's history to two generations of Americans. The same issue (May 17, 2007) of the New York Times which announced this news also reported the results of a 2006 federal survey of student performance on history exams. The statistics showed that the percentage of students who had a basic understanding of American history, not proficient or advanced, measured by performance on a national history test, was 70% for fourth graders, but declined to 65% for eighth graders and then to 47% for high school seniors. Commented David J. Langum, Sr., Director of the Langum Trust, "There are many theories about the cause for this decline over the course of students' education, but the ultimate fact is that the majority of American high school graduates lack even a basic knowledge of American history. College will usually not help those who continue their education because American history is no longer generally a required part of universities' curricula or has been reduced to a single course." The demise of the American Heritage and the continued historical illiteracy of American high school seniors, emphasize the important role of historical fiction in bringing history to the educated general public. Santayana's jeremiad that a people "who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," is a gross over-simplification, yet, notes Langum, "history does teach valuable cautionary lessons, and the United States now and in the past ignores them to the nation's and her people's great peril." Beginning with the 2007 prize, awarded in 2008, commercial trade press publications will be eligible for the Langum Prize in American Historical Fiction, as well as university presses and small presses. Self-published and subsidized books will continue to be ineligible. "This does not represent a change in substance or standards from our previous practices," said David J. Langum, Sr, the Director of the Langum Charitable Trust. "We will continue to seek books that are both excellent history and excellent literature and that will allow the educated general reader access to the richness of American history. The addition of trade press publications will simply make the competition more robust." The Langum Prize in American Historical Fiction is the only annual prize honoring American historical fiction for adult readers and across all geographic regions of America. The anticipated increase in submissions has necessitated an increase in the size of the selection committee and also a change in venue for the awarding of the prize. The new selection committee for the American history prize consists of: Peter Donahue, Associate Professor of English, Birmingham-Southern College, and author of, among other works, Madison House: A Novel and The Cornelius Arms. David J. Langum, Sr., Research Professor, Samford University, founder of The Langum Charitable Trust, and author of, among other works, Crossing Over the Line: Legislating Morality and the Mann Act and William M. Kunstler: The Most Hated Lawyer in America. Virginia E. Langum, M.A., Trinity College, Dublin, M.S. Columbia School of Journalism, M.Phil candidate, Cambridge University. Katherine Vaz, Briggs-Copeland Lecturer in Fiction, Harvard University, 2006-7 Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute, and author of, among other works, Mariana and Saudade. Of the new selection committee, David J. Langum, Sr. noted that “Katherine Vaz and Peter Donahue have academic interests in historical fiction and at the same time are published writers in that genre. They are talented writers with a great deal of respect for historical verisimilitude. We are fortunate to have their assistance.” Beginning in 2008, in respect to the 2007 winner, the Langum Prize in American Historical Fiction will be awarded every July in Port Townsend, Washington, in a ceremony held in cooperation with the Centrum Foundation’s annual Port Townsend Writers’ Conference. The Langum Charitable Trust and Centrum are completely different foundations, and The Langum Charitable Trust will be solely responsible for the selection of its winners and the financing of its award and ceremony. “Nevertheless,” noted Langum, “there will advantages to each organization to awarding this prize in conjunction with the Port Townsend Writers’ Conference, a major conference enjoying the idyllic summers of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.” The Langum Charitable Trust will continue to award the Langum Prize in Legal History and Legal Biography in March of each year at the Birmingham Public Library in Birmingham, Alabama. Books from Small Presses Now Eligible for Historical Fiction Prize Books published by small presses as well as university presses are now eligible for the historical fiction prize. A small press is defined as one that in the preceding year has published no fewer than five and no more than 50 books by itself or through affiliates, and has accepted no subsidy or payment from the author of the book submitted. Because of the difficulty of contacting small presses, we will rely primarily upon author submissions. Travel to Collections Grants Now Available Grants are now available for the Travel to Collections initiative. See the Travel to Collections page for details. |
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Kurt Andersen, author of Turn of the Century, columnist
for New York magazine, and host of public radio’s Studio 360, has
won the 2007 David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical
fiction for his Heyday, a novel. He will receive the $1,000
prize and make remarks concerning the writing of the book on Friday,
July 18, 2008, 4:00PM, at Wheeler Theatre, Fort Worden State Park,
Port Townsend, Washington. The presentation ceremony is held in
conjunction with Centrum Foundation’s annual writers conference, and
is free and open to the public.
In this engaging novel, Andersen immerses the reader in rich
quotidian details of life in New York City and California. The chase
across the entire continent allows Andersen to portray the middle of
the country, its history and prospects as of 1848, an area often
neglected by historical fiction. The Midwestern utopian communities
of the mid-nineteenth century are particularly well-described.
Meditations on American inventiveness run throughout the book.
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