The Melvin E. Bradford & Theodore C. Delaney Dissertation Prize is an annual award that recognizes the best dissertation written on any aspect of the American South.

The award was established in 1993 in honor of the late Mel Bradford, Professor of Literature at the University of Dallas. Bradford completed his PhD at Vanderbilt University under the direction of Donald Davidson, the Fugitive Poet. Bradford was best known, however, as a conservative political theorist. He participated in the first two St. George Tucker Society meetings.

In early 2021, the society honored the late Theodore C. Delaney, Professor of History & Africana Studies at Washington & Lee University by adding his name to the award. An alumnus of Washington & Lee (1985), Delaney completed his PhD at The College of William & Mary in 1995 and returned thereafter to his undergraduate alma mater full time where he remained until his retirement in 2020. Widely noted for his passion for justice and inclusion in both his teaching and scholarship, Delaney taught courses on colonial North America, comparative slavery in the Western Hemisphere, African American history, civil rights, and gay and lesbian history, while his scholarship focused on the untold histories of African Americans in Virginia, including especially important work on John Chavis as well as recorded oral histories of western Virginians directly involved in the battle over school desegregation 15 years after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling. As a longtime and dedicated member of the St. George Tucker Society, Delaney proved equally passionate in his commitment to providing professional mentorship for graduate students and early career scholars.

The M.E. Bradford & T.C. Delaney Prize recognizes the best dissertation focused on the South, any time period and any discipline. The prize includes a $1,000 award and the opportunity to discuss the project at the Society’s annual meeting in order to receive substantive feedback in preparing for publication. Attendance at the 2025 annual meeting at Clemson University is mandatory for receipt of the prize

Eligible dissertations will have been completed and defended in the 2024 calendar year and must be written in English. Self-nominations accepted. Please submit a letter of application, CV, dissertation abstract, and an electronic copy of the dissertation in a single, combined PDF by March 1, 2025 to Dr. Tina Irvine (Assistant Professor of History, Purdue University) via email: tirvine@purdue.edu . Award recipients will be notified by the prize committee chair in April, in advance of the annual meeting in July.

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