College Announces New Book Prize, Honors Faculty Authors at
Convocation
This year’s George Washington’s Birthday Convocation
took a decidedly literary turn, with the announcement of a national
book prize recognizing scholarship that illuminates the College’s
founding patron, a celebration of faculty authors, and a booksigning
by one of the most well-read men in America. Brian Lamb, the
founding CEO of C-SPAN and long-time host of the television
series Booknotes, received the honorary doctor of public  service
degree during the academic ceremony.
College President Baird Tipson announced the launch of the George
Washington Book Prize, an annual award of $50,000 recognizing
excellence in the study of the history of the founding era of
the nation with special importance given to the contribution
of George Washington. The prize will be administered by the
C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience in
cooperation with Mount Vernon and the Gilder Lehrman Institute
of American History. The Institute has established similar prizes
for scholarly books written about the Civil War era and African
American history. The Lincoln Prize was created in 1990 in conjunction
with the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, and the
Frederick Douglass Prize in 1999 in cooperation with the Gilder
Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition
at Yale University.
Ted Widmer, director of the C. V. Starr Center, has assembled
a jury of three distinguished scholars of American history—Phillip
Morgan of Johns Hopkins University, Barbara Oberg of Princeton,
and Don Higginbotham of the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. The judges have identified the three finalists
for the first award: Ron Chernow for Alexander Hamilton, Rhys
Isaac for Landon Carter’s Uneasy Kingdom: Revolution and
Rebellion on a Virginia Plantation, and Gordon Wood for The
Americanization of Benjamin Franklin. The first George Washington
Book Prize winner, to be announced on April 22 of this year,
will be honored with ceremonies at both Washington College and
Mount Vernon.
At $50,000, the George Washington Book Prize will be one of
the largest book prizes in the United States. (The Pulitzer
Prize and National Book Award both offer $10,000 to recipients.)
In subsequent years, the Prize will be announced each February
at Washington’s Birthday Convocation.
It was fitting that the College recognized Brian Lamb, who,
Tipson noted, during the 16-year span of his Booknotes series,
“interviewed hundreds of historians and biographers, each
bringing a unique perspective on issues that have shaped our
nation, and that matter to the American people. Few individuals
have done more to promote the reading of history and biography
than Brian Lamb.”
Lamb also read each of those 800 books, before interviewing
the books’ authors.
“The connection for me between this occasion and C-SPAN
is the book,” Lamb said, who remarked that he got through
college, served in the Navy, and then moved to Washington, DC,
without caring much about books. “When I was 45 years
old, the book came into my life,” he said. “I started
reading, and then it was the book that overtook my life. It
was something I carried with me everywhere I went, something
I did in my spare time. I didn’t know what I was missing,
but I realized that this was my ticket to learning, to broadening
my horizons.”
Lamb recalled a recent afternoon he spent in the East Room of
the White House, attending “Lincoln: Seen and Heard, ”
a presentation by Lincoln scholars Harold Holzer and Sam Waterston.
Mel Watt, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus was there,
along with Allen Guelzo, winner of the 2005 Lincoln Prize.
“I could see them mouthing the words of Abraham Lincoln,”
Lamb said, “repeating every word from his speech from
the Florida House during the Mexican War in 1847, his Peoria
speech, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address.
I’m watching all this unfold, and there on the wall of
the East Room is George Washington—the Gilbert Stuart
portrait. He literally was looking over the whole room. One
of his messages to me was, “I don’t know what you
guys think you’re talking about, but I started all this.’
“You [faculty] can repeat every word from those speeches
that represent history. I don’t think you realize the
impact you have, but [you teach] the background of the country
and how it operates, with all of its flaws.”
 During
the ceremony, several Washington College authors who published
works in 2004 were recognized (see box below). “Their
good work reflects well upon this fine institution,” commented
Jay Griswold, chair of the Board of Visitors and Governors,
“and we appreciate the time and effort it takes to undertake
these important publishing projects while also teaching and
mentoring our students.”
President Tipson also took the occasion to announce the creation
of a new scholarship for a local student. The Vincent
Hynson Scholarship honors the memory of a Washington College
graduate who led an exemplary life as a teacher, coach, pastor
and leader in the Kent County’s African-American community.
Beginning Fall 2006, the Fund will provide to a graduate of
Kent County High School the full cost of a Washington College
education, including tuition, room, board and books.
Vincent Hynson, a graduate of Kent County High School, attended
Washington College as a non-traditional student, receiving a
degree in history in 1987. At ease in a number of leadership
roles, he was also an important advocate for the College in
its diversity outreach efforts. President Baird Tipson has personally
committed $10,000 a year to support the Kent County Vincent
-Hynson ’87 Scholarship.
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