William J. Rorabaugh Book Prize

Announcing the William J. Rorabaugh Book Prize

The Alcohol and Drug History Society (ADHS) Executive Committee is thrilled to announce the establishment of the William J. Rorabaugh Book Prize!

A generous supporter of the ADHS and admirer of Bill Rorabaugh has offered to match contributions to the Rorabaugh Book Prize up to an amount of $10,000. This is a tremendous and exciting opportunity for ADHS members and all alcohol and drug historians to sustain this field-transforming, ADHS-associated book prize into the future. We warmly invite the ADHS membership, alongside Bill’s friends, colleagues and former students, to commemorate his life and work by donating to the Prize Fund in order to establish a much-needed $20,000 endowment for the prize by the March 2021 match deadline.

The Rorabaugh Book Prize commemorates the life of the late William (“Bill”) Rorabaugh (1945-2020), a pioneer in the social history of alcohol and a former president and tireless supporter of ADHS. After earning his Ph.D. in history from Stanford University, Bill went on to publish The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition (Oxford University Press, 1979)–a work so far ahead of its time that it is still used in college-level history courses today. As a member of the history department faculty of the University of Washington-Seattle, Bill made his mark on the field of U.S. history with seven monographs, numerous journal articles, and a textbook. He remained active in the alcohol and drugs history field through enthusiastic participation in the ADHS leadership and conferences, devoted mentorship of junior scholars, and his most recent work, Prohibition: A Concise History (Oxford University Press, 2018). Bill passed away on March 19, 2020.

The Rorabaugh Prize will be awarded annually to the author(s) of a first or second monograph in the English language in the history of alcohol and drug studies. Prizewinning books will exhibit the high standards of scholarship, superior quality, and distinguished contribution to the field that exemplified the work of Bill Rorabaugh. The Rorabaugh Prize shall be awarded without regard to citizenship, nationality, or any protected category. We encourage submissions from all scholars, independent and university-affiliated, without regard to academic rank. The inaugural prize will be awarded in conjunction with the next conference of the ADHS, currently scheduled for Summer, 2022 in Mexico City.

Contributions to the Rorabaugh Prize fund are tax-deductible and may be made at any point prior to February 28, 2021. Notifications of the tax-deductible contribution will be sent by the treasurer in early January to coincide with most country tax documents.

You may donate online or by check.

Online donations can be made via a PayPal link on the ADHS home page or directly by clinking this link.

If you prefer to pay by check, please make them out to The Alcohol and Drugs History Society. Checks should be sent to:

Dr. Robert Stephens
3861 Mountain Laurel RDG
Blacksburg, VA 24060

Thank you for your support and for your effort to build a suitable memorial to a very fine scholar and a very fine friend.