Mary Nickliss Prize in U.S. Women's and/or Gender History

In 2015, the inaugural Mary Nickliss Prize in U.S. Women's and/or Gender History was awarded, thanks to a generous gift to endow this prize fund from Alexandra M. Nickliss. The prize is named after Professor Nickliss' mother, Mary Jurich Nickliss (1920–2017), the child of Serbian immigrants, who arrived in the United States in the early twentieth century wave of immigration. Mary Jurich Nickliss always had aspirations of receiving a college education and becoming a career woman but was constrained by historical times. Her dream was realized by her daughter, Alexandra Nickliss, presently an instructor in the Department of Social Sciences at the City College of San Francisco, and a long-time OAH member. This prize acknowledges the generations of women whose opportunities were constrained by the historical circumstances in which they lived.

The Mary Nickliss Prize is given annually to an academic historian for "the most original" book in United States Women's and/or Gender History (including North America and the Caribbean prior to 1776). The OAH defines "the most original" book as one that is a path breaking work or challenges and/or changes widely accepted scholarly interpretations in the field. If no book submitted for the prize meets this criterion, the award shall be given for "the best" book in U.S. women's and/or gender history. "The best" book recognizes the ideas and originality of the significant historical scholarship being done by historians of U.S. Women's and/or Gender History and makes a significant contribution to the understanding of U.S. Women's and/or Gender History.

Each entry must be published during the calendar year preceding that in which the award is given (January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022).

The prize will be presented at the 2023 OAH Conference on American History in Los Angeles, CA, March 30–April 2.