The Loubat Prize was a pair of prizes awarded by

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

every five years between 1898 and 1958 for the best social science works in the English language about

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

. The awards were established and endowed by Joseph Florimond, Duc de Loubat in 1893. The awards were given "in recognition of the best works printed in the English language on the

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsc ...

ethnology Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). ...

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

, or

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inc ...

of North America." Note that Loubat Prizes were also awarded to acknowledge outstanding social science works about

in a number of European countries from e.g. The

Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities also called simply the Royal Academy of Letters or Vitterhetsakademin abbreviated KVHAA ( sv, Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien Historie och Antikvitets Akademien or or ) is the Swedish roy ...

and the Royal

Prussian Academy of Sciences The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (german: Königlich-Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin ...

. {, class="wikitable" , +Winners of the Loubat Prize , - ! width="10%" , Year ! width="75%" , Awardee ! width="15%" , Award , - ! , 1898 , William Henry Holmes for ''Stone Implements of the Potomac-Chesapeake Tidewater Provinces'' , $1,000 , - , - 1898 , - Dr. Franz Boaz for ''The Social Organization and Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians'' , - $400 , - ! rowspan=2 , 1913 ,

George Louis Beer George Louis Beer (July 26, 1872 – March 15, 1920) was a renowned American historian of the "Imperial school". Early life and education Born in Staten Island, New York, to an affluent family that was prominent in New York's German-Jewish co ...

for ''The Origins of the British Colonial System, 1578-1660'' , $1,000 , - , John Reed Swanton for ''Tlinget Myths and Texts'' and ''Indian Tribes of the Lower Mississippi Valley and Adjacent Coasts of the Gulf of Mexico'' , $400 , - ! rowspan=2 , 1918 ,

Clarence Walworth Alvord Clarence Walworth Alvord (May 21, 1868 – January 27, 1928) was an American history professor, and winner of the 1918 Loubat Prize for his book ''The Mississippi Valley in British Politics''. Alvord spent most of his career at the University of I ...

for ''The Mississippi Valley in American Politics'' , $1,000 , - , Herbert Ingram Priestley for ''José de Galvez, Visitor-General of New Spain, 1765-1771'' , $400 , - ! rowspan=2 , 1923 ,

Justin Harvey Smith Justin Harvey Smith (born January 13, 1857, Boscawen, New Hampshire; died March 21, 1930, Brooklyn, New York) was an American historian and specialist on the Mexican–American War. Smith was educated at Dartmouth College (B.A. 1877; M.A. 1881) an ...

for ''The War with Mexico'' , $1,000 , - , William Henry Holmes for ''Handbook of American Aboriginal Antiquities'' , $400 , - ! rowspan=2 , 1933 , Charles O. Paullin and

John Kirtland Wright John Kirtland Wright (1891–1969) was an American geographer, notable for his cartography, geosophy, and study of the history of geographical thought. He was the son of classical scholar John Henry Wright and novelist Mary Tappan Wright, and the ...

for ''Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States'' , $1,000 , - , Walter Prescott Webb for ''The Great Plains'' , $400 , - ! rowspan=2 , 1938 ,

Samuel E. Morison Samuel Eliot Morison (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history and American history that were both authoritative and popular. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, and tau ...

for ''The Founding of Harvard College'' and ''Harvard College in the Seventeenth Century'' , $1,000 , - ,

Samuel Kirkland Lothrop Samuel Kirkland Lothrop (July 6, 1892 – January 10, 1965) was an American archaeologist and anthropologist who specialized in Central and South American Studies. His two-volume 1926 work ''Pottery of Costa Rica and Nicaragua'' is regarded as a ...

for ''Cocle: An Archaeological Study of Central Panama, Part I'' , $400 , - ! rowspan=2 , 1943 , Sylvanus G. Morley for ''The Inscriptions of Peten'' , $1,000 , - , Edmund Cody Burnett for ''The Continental Congress'' , $400 , - ! rowspan=2 , 1948 ,

Lawrence H. Gipson Lawrence Henry Gipson (December 7, 1880 – September 26, 1971) was an American historian, who won the 1950 Bancroft Prize and the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for History for volumes of his magnum opus, the fifteen-volume history of "The British Empire Be ...

for ''The British Empire Before the American Revolution'' , $1,000 , - , Hans Kurath for '' Linguistic Atlas of New England'' , $400 , - ! rowspan=2 , 1953 , James G. Randall for ''Midstream–Lincoln the President'' , $1,000 , - , Ralph H. Brown for ''Historical Geography of the United States'' , $500 , - ! rowspan=2 , 1958 ,

Douglas S. Freeman Douglas Southall Freeman (May 16, 1886 – June 13, 1953) was an American historian, biographer, newspaper editor, radio commentator, and author. He is best known for his multi-volume biographies of Robert E. Lee and George Washington, for both ...

for ''George Washington: A Biography'' , $1,200 , - , Henry A. Pochmann for ''German Culture in America, 1600-1900'' , $600

References

* "Among The Colleges ... Columbia." "New York Tribune" "December 30, 1895: 13 ("Two prizes, one of not less than $1000 and the other of not less than $400, will be awarded in 1898 to the authors of the best works on the history, geography, archeology, ethnology, philology or numismatics of North America. They are to be known as the Loubat Prizes, ..."). * "Awarded Loubat Prize - Dr. John R. Swanton Honored for Books on Indians." Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) May 11, 1913: 15 ("The prize, which carries with it $400, was founded in 1893 by the Duc de Loubat, formerly of New York City, but now a resident of Paris, to encourage researches in the history, geography, archeology, ethnology, philology or numismatics of North America."). * "Mr. Holmes' Honors. Washington Scientist Receives An Important Prize." "Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) June 10, 1898:10 (“The award of the Le Duc de Loubat prizes, founded by Columbia College of New York, to be awarded one in five years, for the most noteworthy works in American anthropology, has been made, and the first grand prize of $1000 was captured by Mr. William Henry Holmes of Washington, head curator of anthropology at the United States National Museum, and formerly curator of the department of ethnology in the Field Museum in Chicago.”). * "2 Awards Posthumous". ''New York Times'' 3 May 1953: 113. * "Announce Loubat Prizes". ''New York Times'' 9 May 1918: 11. * "He Is to Receive $1,000 of Columbia Loubat Prize". ''New York Times'' 27 May 1948: 26. * "Literary Awards Made". ''New York Times'' 23 Sept. 1958: 30. * "Loubat Prize Won by Dr. S. G. Morley". ''New York Times'' 20 Apr. 1943: 21. * "March of Nations on Columbia Green". ''New York Times'' 7 Jun. 1923: 14. * "Paullin and Wright Win Loubat Award". ''New York Times'' 11 Apr. 1933: 16. * "Prof. S.E. Morison Wins Loubat Prize". ''New York Times'' 9 May 1938: 2. Awards established in 1898 Awards disestablished in 1958 Social sciences awards Awards and prizes of Columbia University American awards 1913 establishments in New York (state) 1958 disestablishments in New York (state)

See also

References