Langum Prizes
The David J. Langum Sr. Prizes are American literary awards for biography, legal history, community activism, and formerly, historical fiction, awarded annually since 2001 by the Langum Charitable Trust.
The Langum Prize for American Historical Fiction was awarded for historical fiction between 2003 and 2022. The prize was for $1,000 and was awarded annually at Wheeler Theater, Port Townsend, Washington, in conjunction with Centrum Foundation’s annual Writers Conference. The prize was discontinued in 2024.
The David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Legal History or Biography is awarded for legal history or biography and given since 2001. The prize is $1,000 and is awarded annually at the Birmingham Public Library, Birmingham, Alabama. The ceremony is sponsored by the Friends of the Birmingham Public Library and the Birmingham Public Library.
Honorees
Past winners and honorees of the David J. Langum Sr. Prizes.- 2001 : No Award
- 2001 : Elizabeth Urban Alexander, Notorious Woman: The Celebrated Case of Myra Clark Gaines
- 2002 : No Award
- 2002 : Stuart Banner, The Death Penalty: An American History
- 2002 : Lawrence M. Friedman, American Law in the 20th Century
- 2003 : Robert J. Begiebing, Rebecca Wentworth’s Distraction: A Novel
- 2003 : Robert J. Cottrol, Raymond T. Diamond, and Leland B. Ware, Brown v. Board of Education: Caste, Culture, and the Constitution
- 2004 : Linda Busby Parker, Seven Laurels: A Novel
- * : Sanora Babb, Whose Names Are Unknown: A Novel
- 2004 : John M. Ferren, Salt of the Earth, Conscience of the Court: The Story of Justice Wiley Rutledge
- 2005 : Peter Donahue, Madison House: A Novel
- 2005 : Richard J. Ellis, To the Flag: The Unlikely History of the Pledge of Allegiance
- * : John W. Johnson, Griswold v. Connecticut: Birth Control and the Constitutional Right of Privacy : Sheldon Russell, Dreams to Dust: A Tale of the Oklahoma Land Rush
- 2006 : Saul Cornell, A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America
- * : Carolyn N. Long, Mapp v. Ohio: Guarding against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures
- 2007 : Kurt Andersen, Heyday
- 2007 : Bruce J. Dierenfield, The Battle over School Prayer: How Engel v. Vitale Changed America
- 2008 : Kathleen Kent, The Heretic’s Daughter
- * : Elisabeth Payne Rosen, Hallam’s War
- * : Jack Fuller, Abbeville
- 2008 : Ernest Freeberg, Democracy’s Prisoner: Eugene V. Debs, the Great War, and the Right to Dissent
- * : Peter Charles Hoffer, The Treason Trials of Aaron Burr
- 2009 : Edward Rutherfurd, New York: The Novel.
- * : Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, In the Lion's Den: A Novel of the Civil War
- * : Jamie Ford, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
- 2009 : No Award
- 2010 : Ann Weisgarber, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree
- * : Robin Oliveira, My Name is Mary Sutter
- * : Kelli Carmean, Creekside: An Archeological Novel
- * : Jackson Taylor, The Blue Orchard
- 2010 : Stephen C. Neff, Justice in Blue and Gray: A Legal History of the Civil War
- 2011 : Julie Otsuka, The Buddha in the Attic
- * : Geraldine Brooks, Caleb's Crossing
- * : John M. Archer, After the Rain: A Novel of War and Coming Home
- * : James Hoggard, The Mayor’s Daughter
- * : Hugh Nissenson, The Pilgrim: A Novel
- * : Sheila Ortiz-Taylor, Homestead
- * : Shirley Reva Vernick, The Blood Lie
- 2011 : Stuart Banner, American Property: A History of How, Why, and What We Own
- 2011 : Joanna L. Grossman and Lawrence M. Friedman, Inside the Castle: Law and the Family in 20th Century America
- 2012 : Ron Rash, The Cove
- *: Steve Wiegenstein, Slant of Light: A Novel of Utopian Dreams and Civil War
- 2012 : Samuel Walker, Presidents and Civil Liberties from Wilson to Obama: A Story of Poor Custodians
- *: R. Kent Newmyer, The Treason Trial of Aaron Burr: Law, Politics, and the Character Wars of the New Nation
- 2013 : Gary Schanbacher, Crossing Purgatory
- *: Christine Wade, Seven Locks
- 2013 : Whitney Strub, Obscenity Rules: Roth v. United States and the Long Struggle over Sexual Expression
- *: Alexander Wohl, Father, Son, and Constitution: How Justice Tom Clark and Attorney General Ramsey Clark Shaped American Democracy
- 2014 : Kimberly Elkins, What is Visible
- *: Catherine Bell, Rush of Shadows
- *: Laila Lalami, The Moor's Account
- 2014 : Nathaniel Grow, Baseball on Trial: The Origin of Baseball's Antitrust Exemption
- *: Lori Sturdevant, Her Honor: Rosalie Wahl and the Minnesota Women's Movement
- 2015 : Faith Sullivan, Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse
- *: Meg Waite Clayton, The Race for Paris
- 2015 : Leonard L. Richards, Who Freed the Slaves? The Fight over the Thirteenth Amendment
- *: Nancy Woloch, A Class by Herself: Protective Laws for Women Workers, 1890s-1990s
- 2016 : Michele Moore, The Cigar Factory
- *: Chad Dundas, Champion of the World
- 2016 : Risa Goluboff, Vagrant Nation: Police Power, Constitutional Change, and the Making of the 1960s
- *: Edward B. Foley, Ballot Battles: The History of Disputed Elections in the United States
- *: Charles F. Hobson, The Great Yazoo Lands Sale: The Case of Fletcher v. Peck