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Geography is what we all have in common

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  • About John B. Jackson
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See All Awards

John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Deadline: December 31, 2023

The Jackson Prize was established to encourage and reward American geographers who write books about the United States which convey the insights of professional geography in language that is interesting and attractive to a lay audience. The prize, which carries an award of $500 to the author, is administered by the Association of American Geographers. In any given cycle, the J.B. Jackson Prize Committee may also select a second title from the  pool of nominations to be recognized with an Honorable Mention.

Eligibility: 

J.B. Jackson and his friends established the prize to recognize American geographers who write serious but popular books about the human geography of the contemporary United States. The prize is restricted to sole- and dual-authored books written by geographers, with preference given to those by U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Textbooks, dissertations, edited collections, and articles are ineligible. Special consideration will be given to books that are carefully designed, appropriately illustrated, and physically appealing. The Selection Committee reserves the right to make no award in a particular year. Awards are announced in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. Books published for the first time in English, in any country, in calendar year 2022 or in the period Oct. 1 – Dec. 31, 2021, are now eligible for the awards. Please submit your book for consideration for only one of the AAG’s three book awards (i.e., J.B. Jackson Prize, Globe Book Award, or Meridian Book Award).

As with all other AAG awards, eligibility also rests on the candidate being in compliance with the AAG Professional Conduct Policy. Nominations may be rescinded, and the award may also be revoked for any candidate or awardee who is found in violation of the AAG’s Professional Conduct Policy.

Submissions: 

Nomination statements (two-page maximum length) should provide full contact information for the author(s) and the nominator(s), including email addresses, and should document the ways the nominated work contributes to conveying insights of professional geography to a lay audience. Please email nomination statements to grantsawards@aag.org indicating “J.B. Jackson Prize” in the Subject Line. Please ship four copies of each nominated book to: Association of American Geographers, Attn: J.B. Jackson Prize, 2000 14th Street NW, Ste 104, #73158, Washington DC 20056.

About the Jackson Prize: 

John Brinckerhoff Jackson founded the magazine Landscape in 1951 and remained its owner and editor until 1968. After he retired as Editor he spent more than a decade writing about landscape and teaching celebrated courses in the history of vernacular landscapes at Berkeley and Harvard. The Jackson Prize of the AAG is dedicated to encouraging the kind of thinking and writing to which J. B. Jackson devoted much of his life: to encourage Americans to look thoughtfully at the human geography of their own country; to try to understand how that geography came to be and what it signifies; and to convey that understanding to the public at large.

AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize Recipients

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1
2021

John Harner

John Harner for Profiting from the Peak: Landscape and Liberty in Colorado Springs, (University Press of Colorado, 2021) triumphs as an accessibly written, wonderfully illustrated historical geography of a distinctive American place. Dedicated to Peirce Lewis, the book explores how Colorado Springs profited from its singular physical setting as well as its highly distinctive cultural evolution.

1
2021 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

John Harner

2021 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

John Harner for Profiting from the Peak: Landscape and Liberty in Colorado Springs, (University Press of Colorado, 2021) triumphs as an accessibly written, wonderfully illustrated historical geography of a distinctive American place. Dedicated to Peirce Lewis, the book explores how Colorado Springs profited from its singular physical setting as well as its highly distinctive cultural evolution.

1
2020

Adam Mandelman

Adam Mandelman for The Place With No Edge: An Intimate History of People, Technology, and the Mississippi River Delta, Louisiana State University Press

1
2020 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Adam Mandelman

2020 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Adam Mandelman for The Place With No Edge: An Intimate History of People, Technology, and the Mississippi River Delta, Louisiana State University Press

1
2019

Robert Lemon

Robert Lemon for The Taco Truck: How Mexican Street Food Is Transforming the American City, University of Illinois Press

1
2019 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Robert Lemon

2019 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Robert Lemon for The Taco Truck: How Mexican Street Food Is Transforming the American City, University of Illinois Press

1
2018

David Havlick

David Havlick for Bombs Away: Militarization, Conservation, and Ecological Restoration, University of Chicago Press

1
2018 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

David Havlick

2018 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

David Havlick for Bombs Away: Militarization, Conservation, and Ecological Restoration, University of Chicago Press

1
2017

Stephen Hornsby

Stephen Hornsby for Picturing America: The Golden Age of Pictorial Maps, University of Chicago Press

1
2017 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Stephen Hornsby

2017 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Stephen Hornsby for Picturing America: The Golden Age of Pictorial Maps, University of Chicago Press

1
2017

Terence Young

Terence Young for Heading Out: A HIstory of American Camping, Cornell University Press

1
2017 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Terence Young

2017 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Terence Young for Heading Out: A HIstory of American Camping, Cornell University Press

1
2016

Lisa Benton-Short

Lisa Benton-Short for The National Mall: No Ordinary Public Space, University of Toronto Press

1
2016 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Lisa Benton-Short

2016 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Lisa Benton-Short for The National Mall: No Ordinary Public Space, University of Toronto Press

1
2015

Andrew Sluyter, Case Watkins, James P. Chaney and Annie M

Andrew Sluyter, Case Watkins, James P. Chaney and Annie M. Gibson for Hispanic and Latino New Orleans: Immigration and Identity since the Eighteenth Century, Louisiana State University Press

1
2015 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Andrew Sluyter, Case Watkins, James P. Chaney and Annie M

2015 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Andrew Sluyter, Case Watkins, James P. Chaney and Annie M. Gibson for Hispanic and Latino New Orleans: Immigration and Identity since the Eighteenth Century, Louisiana State University Press

1
2014

Randall K. Wilson

Randall K. Wilson for America’s Public Lands: From Yellowstone to Smokey Bear and Beyond, Rowman & Littlefield

1
2014 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Randall K. Wilson

2014 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Randall K. Wilson for America’s Public Lands: From Yellowstone to Smokey Bear and Beyond, Rowman & Littlefield

1
2013

Anne Kelly Knowles

Anne Kelly Knowles, Mastering Iron: The Struggle to Modernize an American Industry, 1800-1868, University of Chicago Press

1
2013 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Anne Kelly Knowles

2013 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Anne Kelly Knowles, Mastering Iron: The Struggle to Modernize an American Industry, 1800-1868, University of Chicago Press

1
2012

James "Pete" Shortridge

James “Pete” Shortridge for Kansas City and How it Grew, 1822-2011, University Press of Kansas

1
2012 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

James "Pete" Shortridge

2012 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

James “Pete” Shortridge for Kansas City and How it Grew, 1822-2011, University Press of Kansas

1
2011

Jan Nijman

Jan Nijman for Miami: Mistress of the Americas, University of Pennsylvania Press.

1
2011 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Jan Nijman

2011 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Jan Nijman for Miami: Mistress of the Americas, University of Pennsylvania Press.

1
2010

Paul F. Starrs and Peter Goin

Paul F. Starrs and Peter Goin for Field Guide to California Agriculture, University of California Press.

1
2010 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Paul F. Starrs and Peter Goin

2010 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Paul F. Starrs and Peter Goin for Field Guide to California Agriculture, University of California Press.

1
2009

Patrick McGreevy

Patrick McGreevy for Stairway to Empire: Lockport, the Erie Canal, and the Shaping of America, State University Press of New York (Albany).

1
2009 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Patrick McGreevy

2009 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Patrick McGreevy for Stairway to Empire: Lockport, the Erie Canal, and the Shaping of America, State University Press of New York (Albany).

1
2008

Blake Gumprecht

Blake Gumprecht for The Los Angeles River: Its Life, Death, and Possible Rebirth, Johns Hopkins University Press.

1
2008 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Blake Gumprecht

2008 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Blake Gumprecht for The Los Angeles River: Its Life, Death, and Possible Rebirth, Johns Hopkins University Press.

1
2007

Eric D. Olmanson

Eric D. Olmanson for The Future City on the Inland Sea: A History of Imaginative Geographies, Ohio University Press.
1
2007 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Eric D. Olmanson

2007 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize
Eric D. Olmanson for The Future City on the Inland Sea: A History of Imaginative Geographies, Ohio University Press.
1
2006

Arthur J. Krim

Arthur J. Krim for Route 66: Iconography of an American Highway, George Thompson Publishers.

1
2006 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Arthur J. Krim

2006 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Arthur J. Krim for Route 66: Iconography of an American Highway, George Thompson Publishers.

1
2005

Craig Colten

Craig Colten for An Unnatural Metropolis: Wresting New Orleans from Nature, Louisiana State University Press.

1
2005 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Craig Colten

2005 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Craig Colten for An Unnatural Metropolis: Wresting New Orleans from Nature, Louisiana State University Press.

1
2004

Donald W. Meinig

Donald W. Meinig for Global America, 1915-2000. volume four of The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History, Yale University Press

1
2004 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Donald W. Meinig

2004 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Donald W. Meinig for Global America, 1915-2000. volume four of The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History, Yale University Press

1
2003

Peirce F. Lewis

Peirce F. Lewis for New Orleans: The Making of an Urban Landscape, Center for American Places in association with University of Virginia Press.

1
2003 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Peirce F. Lewis

2003 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Peirce F. Lewis for New Orleans: The Making of an Urban Landscape, Center for American Places in association with University of Virginia Press.

1
2002

Daniel D. Arreola

Daniel D. Arreola for Tejano South Texas: A Mexican American Cultural Province, University of Texas Press.

1
2002 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Daniel D. Arreola

2002 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Daniel D. Arreola for Tejano South Texas: A Mexican American Cultural Province, University of Texas Press.

1
2001

John A. Jakle

John A. Jakle for City Lights: Illuminating the American Night, Johns Hopkins University Press.

1
2001 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

John A. Jakle

2001 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

John A. Jakle for City Lights: Illuminating the American Night, Johns Hopkins University Press.

1
2000

David B. Lowenthal

David B. Lowenthal for George Perkins Marsh: Prophet of Conservation, University of Washington Press.

1
2000 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

David B. Lowenthal

2000 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

David B. Lowenthal for George Perkins Marsh: Prophet of Conservation, University of Washington Press.

1
1999

Blake Gumprecht

Blake Gumprecht for The American College Town. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.

1
1999 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Blake Gumprecht

1999 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Blake Gumprecht for The American College Town. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.

1
1998

Charles S. Aiken

Charles S. Aiken for The Cotton Plantation South Since the Civil War, Johns Hopkins University Press.

1
1998 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Charles S. Aiken

1998 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Charles S. Aiken for The Cotton Plantation South Since the Civil War, Johns Hopkins University Press.

1
1997

Kenneth E. Foote

Kenneth E. Foote for Shadowed Ground: America’s Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy, University of Texas Press.

1
1997 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Kenneth E. Foote

1997 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Kenneth E. Foote for Shadowed Ground: America’s Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy, University of Texas Press.

1
1996

Richard Francaviglia

Richard Francaviglia for Main Street Revisited: Time, Space, and Image-Building in Small Town America, University of Iowa Press.

1
1996 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Richard Francaviglia

1996 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Richard Francaviglia for Main Street Revisited: Time, Space, and Image-Building in Small Town America, University of Iowa Press.

1
1995

David J. Wishart

David J. Wishart for An Unspeakable Sadness: The Dispossession of the Nebraska Indians, University of Nebraska Press.

1
1995 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

David J. Wishart

1995 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

David J. Wishart for An Unspeakable Sadness: The Dispossession of the Nebraska Indians, University of Nebraska Press.

1
1994

Paul Groth

Paul Groth for Living Downtown: The History of Residential Hotels in The United States, University of California Press.

1
1994 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Paul Groth

1994 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Paul Groth for Living Downtown: The History of Residential Hotels in The United States, University of California Press.

1
1993

John B. Wright

John B. Wright for Rocky Mountain Divide: Selling and Saving the West, University of Texas Press

1
1993 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

John B. Wright

1993 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

John B. Wright for Rocky Mountain Divide: Selling and Saving the West, University of Texas Press

1
1992

Wilbur Zelinsky

Wilbur Zelinsky for Cultural Geography of the United States (Revised & Enlarged Edition), Prentice-Hall Publishers.

1
1992 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Wilbur Zelinsky

1992 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Wilbur Zelinsky for Cultural Geography of the United States (Revised & Enlarged Edition), Prentice-Hall Publishers.

1991

John Fraser Hart

John Fraser Hart for The Land That Feeds Us, W.W. Norton Publishers.

1991 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

John Fraser Hart

1991 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

John Fraser Hart for The Land That Feeds Us, W.W. Norton Publishers.

1990

David Buisseret

David Buisseret for Historic Illinois from the Air, University of Chicago Press

1990 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

David Buisseret

1990 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

David Buisseret for Historic Illinois from the Air, University of Chicago Press

1
1989

James R. Shortridge

2000 James R. Shortridge, Our Town on the Plains: J.J. Pennell’s Photographs of Junction City, Kansas 1893-1922 University of Kansas Press

1
1989 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

James R. Shortridge

1989 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

2000 James R. Shortridge, Our Town on the Plains: J.J. Pennell’s Photographs of Junction City, Kansas 1893-1922 University of Kansas Press

1988

James Paul Allen & Eugene James Turner

James Paul Allen & Eugene James Turner for We the People: An Atlas of America’s Ethnic Diversity, Macmillan Press

1988 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

James Paul Allen & Eugene James Turner

1988 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

James Paul Allen & Eugene James Turner for We the People: An Atlas of America’s Ethnic Diversity, Macmillan Press

1988

Gary B. Peterson & Lowell C. Bennion

Gary B. Peterson & Lowell C. Bennion for Sampete Scenes: A Guide to Utah’s Heart, Basin/Plateau Press.

1988 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Gary B. Peterson & Lowell C. Bennion

1988 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

Gary B. Peterson & Lowell C. Bennion for Sampete Scenes: A Guide to Utah’s Heart, Basin/Plateau Press.

1987

John R. Borchert

John R. Borchert for America’s Northern Heartland, University of Minnesota Press

1987 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

John R. Borchert

1987 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

John R. Borchert for America’s Northern Heartland, University of Minnesota Press

1986

John A. Alwin

John A. Alwin for Between the Mountains: A Portrait of Eastern Washington, Northwest Panorama Publishing.

1986 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

John A. Alwin

1986 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

John A. Alwin for Between the Mountains: A Portrait of Eastern Washington, Northwest Panorama Publishing.

1985

John C. Hudson

John C. Hudson, Plains Country Towns, University of Minnesota Press.

1985 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

John C. Hudson

1985 AAG John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize

John C. Hudson, Plains Country Towns, University of Minnesota Press.

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