Historian Kathleen DuVal wins Pulitzer Prize
The late Chuck Stone, former Carolina journalism professor, was also honored with a special citation.
Kathleen DuVal, a historian in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her book “Native Nations: A Millennium in North America” (Random House). The prizes were announced on May 5 by Columbia University on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board.
“I am thrilled to win this incredible honor and to bring it home to Carolina, which has been an amazing home for me my entire career,” Duval said of winning the prize.
The Pulitzer Prize citation called the book a panoramic portrait of Native American nations and communities, “a vivid and accessible account of their endurance, ingenuity and achievement in the face of conflict and dispossession.”
DuVal tied in the history category with Carnegie Mellon University historian Edda L. Fields-Black, who wrote “COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom During the Civil War” (Oxford University Press).
DuVal, the Carl W. Ernst Distinguished Professor, is a historian of early America with a focus on the interactions of various Native American, European and African individuals from the 16th century through the early 19th century. “Native Nations” is also the winner of the 2024 Cundill History Prize, the largest award for a book of nonfiction in English. In addition, DuVal received the Bancroft Prize, one of the most prestigious awards among scholars of American history and the Mark Lynton History Prize.
“This is a well-deserved honor for Kathleen Duval, capping a series of accolades for her sweeping book,” said Jim White, the Craver Family Dean of the UNC College of Arts and Sciences. “We are incredibly proud of Kathleen and grateful that she shares her immense knowledge with our campus and with the world through this book.”
Stone citation
The Pulitzer Prize Board also honored the late Charles Sumner “Chuck” Stone Jr., former Walter Spearman Professor of journalism at Carolina, where he taught until his retirement in 2004.
“A special citation is awarded to the late Chuck Stone for his groundbreaking work as a journalist covering the Civil Rights Movement, his pioneering role as the first Black columnist at the Philadelphia Daily News — later syndicated to nearly 100 publications – and for co-founding the National Association of Black Journalists 50 years ago,” according to the news release from the board.
Chuck Stone (Submitted photo)
