Each year, the Public Programs Section of the American Folklore Society joins with the AFS Executive Board to award the Benjamin A. Botkin Prize of $1000 to an individual for significant lifetime achievement in public folklore.
This prize is given in recognition of the work of Benjamin A. Botkin (1901–75). Eminent New Deal-era folklorist, national folklore editor of the Federal Writers’ Project in 1938–39, advocate for the public responsibilities of folklorists, author and compiler of many publications on American folklore for general audiences, and head of the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress from 1942 to 1945, Botkin has had a major impact on the field of public folklore and on the public understanding of folklore.
How to Apply
The review criteria are:
- Engagement of a broad public audience in the materials of folklore
- Impact on the field of public folklore: development of models, methodology, visibility, advocacy
- Impact on communities/constituents and their traditional culture
- Contributions to the body of materials of folklore/public folklore
- Quality of artistry in presentation: writing, photography, stagecraft, etc.
- Quality of scholarship
- Impact on the discipline of folklore, its theories and methodology
- Quality/adequacy of nomination package itself
- Breadth of support, as evidenced by letters from community members and non-folklorists in addition to folklore colleagues
The deadline for nominations is September 15. Please submit your nomination via the AFS prize application form. You should direct questions to Botkin Prize Committee via sections@afsnet.org.
Nominations must be submitted through the application form and the complete packet must be submitted as a single PDF as a supporting document, including a letter of nomination, a one- or two-page biography or resume of the nominee, and three to five letters of support from a broad range of people, including community members who have benefitted from the nominee’s work and people from outside the folklore field in addition to colleagues. Letters should specifically address the review criteria listed above and should explain how the nominee has taken folklore to a broad public audience.
Nominations remain active for five years. Previous nominators should contact AFS staff to ensure that their nominations are still in the pool and to arrange to make any additions or updates to previous nominations.
2025 Botkin Award Committee
Vanessa Navarro Maza, South Florida Folklife Center (1 year left)
Karen Abdul-Malik (1 year left)
Mark Miyake, Western Washington University (1 year left)
Lisa Rathje, Local Learning (2 years left)
Kiran Singh Sirah, Independent (2 years left)
Past Prize Recipients
- Jon Kay, Indiana University (2025)
- Betty Belanus and Joey Brackner (2024)
- Charles Seemann and Jill Linzee (2023)
- Simon Lichman, Centre for Creativity and Education in Cultural Heritage (2022)
- Varick A. Chittenden and Teresa Hollingsworth (2021)
- Marsha MacDowell, Michigan State University Museum (2020)
- Amanda Dargan, City Lore (2019)
- Maggie Holtzberg, Boston, Massachusetts (2018)
- Kathleen Mundell, Camden, Maine (2017)
- Andrea Graham, University of Wyoming (2016)
- Maida Owens, Louisiana Division of the Arts (2015)
- Roby Cogswell, Tennessee Arts Commission (2014)
- Paddy Bowman, Local Learning, Alexandria, Virginia, and Kay Turner, Brooklyn Arts Council (2013)
- Bob Gates, formerly of the Kentucky Folklife Program, and Ethel Raim, Center for Traditional Music and Dance (2012)
- Peggy A. Bulger, formerly of the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, and Amy Skillman, Independent Folklorist, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (2011)
- Carol Edison, Independent Folklorist, Salt Lake City, Utah (2010)
- Elaine Eff, Independent Folklorist, Baltimore, Maryland (2009)
- Yvonne Lockwood, formerly of the Michigan State University Museum (2008)
- Steve Zeitlin, City Lore (2007)
- Elaine Thatcher, Independent Folklorist, Logan, Utah (2006)
- James P. Leary, University of Wisconsin (2005)
- Jens Lund, Independent Folklorist, Olympia, Washington (2004)
- Alan Jabbour, Washington, DC, formerly of the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress (2003)
- Robert Baron, New York State Council for the Arts, and Nick Spitzer, Tulane University (2002)
- Hal Cannon, Western Folklife Center (2001)
- Bobby Fulcher, Tennessee State Parks (2000)
- Richard Kurin, Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999)
- Jim Griffith, formerly of the Southwest Folklife Center at the University of Arizona (1998)
- Dan Sheehy, formerly of the National Endowment for the Arts (and now of the Smithsonian Institution), and Joe Wilson, National Council for the Traditional Arts (1997)
- Jane Beck, founder of the Vermont Folklife Center (1996)
- Archie Green, folklore scholar and advocate-at-large (1995)
- Bess Lomax Hawes, folklore scholar, performer, and advocate, formerly of the National Endowment for the Arts (1994)