Ray Allen Billington Prize

The deadline has passed. Information on the 2024 prize will be available summer 2023.

DEADLINE: SUBMISSIONS MUST BE POSTMARKED BY OCTOBER 1, 2022
Please send as soon as possible to allow for any mail delays that might occur.

A black and white photograph of Ray Allen Billington

The Ray Allen Billington Prize is awarded biennially by the Organization of American Historians to the author of the best book on the history of native and/or settler peoples in frontier, border, and borderland zones of intercultural contact in any century to the present and to include works that address the legacies of those zones. Ray Allen Billington was president of the OAH 1962–1963.

Each entry must be published during the two-year period January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2022.

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

Submission Procedures

One copy of each entry, clearly labeled “2023 Ray Allen Billington Prize Entry,” must be mailed directly to the committee members listed below. Each committee member must receive all submissions postmarked by October 1, 2022.

Bound page proofs may be used for books to be published after October 1, 2022 and before January 1, 2023. If a bound page proof is submitted, a bound copy of the book must be sent to each member of the committee postmarked no later than January 7, 2023. (Please see “Submission Policy” at right.)

If a book carries a copyright date that is different from the publication date, but the actual publication date falls during the correct timeframe making it eligible, please include a letter of explanation from the publisher with each copy of the book sent to the committee members.

The final decision will be made by the Ray Allen Billington Prize Committee by February 2023. The winner will be provided with details regarding the OAH Conference on American History and awards presentation. By applying for this prize, you are agreeing to OAH’s use of your data however it is needed in the normal course of business if selected as winner or honorable mention. Read our privacy policy here.