The History and Folklore Section has awarded the Wayland D. Hand Prize for an outstanding book that combines historical and folkloristic perspectives on a biennial basis since 2006. Beginning in 2023, the Prize will be awarded annually. A change in the guidelines for the annual Prize is the consideration of books in two categories: (1) single or co-authored book and (2) edited volume(s). A work submitted for consideration would have been published between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023. Submissions can be from authors or publishers. Submit three copies or a single PDF file of the ebook for judges on or before June 1, 2023 to: Simon J. Bronner, Dean of the College of General Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,1500 North University Drive, Waukesha, WI 53188, [email protected].
The prize honors Wayland D. Hand (1907-1986) who as president of the American Folklore Society (AFS) and in his teaching and scholarship encouraged the integration of historical and folkloristic research. The winner of the Wayland D. Hand Prize in each category will receive 200 USD and an accolade from the AFS. The prize-winning book will be publicized at the annual meeting of the American Folklore Society in October and receive notice in the pages of the Folklore Historian, the annual publication of the History and Folklore Section of the AFS.
- The 2022 prize was awarded to Tyler D. Parry for his book Jumping the Broom: The Surprising Multicultural Origins of a Black Wedding Ritual (University of North Carolina Press, 2020).
- The 2020 prize was awarded to Guy Beiner for his book Forgetful Remembrance: Social Forgetting and Vernacular Historiography of a Rebellion in Ulster (Oxford University Press, 2018). Honorable Mention went to Daniel C. Swan, and Jim Cooley for their book Wedding Clothes and the Osage Community: A Giving Heritage (Indiana University Press. 2019).
- The 2018 prize was awarded to Margarita Marín-Dale, Decoding Andean Mythology (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2016) and Stacy I. Morgan, Frankie and Johnny:Race, Gender, and the Work of African American Folklore in 1930s America (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2017).
- The 2016 prize was awarded to Daisy Turner’s Kin: An African American Family Saga by Jane C. Beck (University of Illinois Press). Honorable Mentions went to City of Neighborhoods: Memory, Folklore, and Ethnic Place in Boston by Anthony Bak Buccitelli (University of Wisconsin Press), Folksongs of Another America: Field Recordings from the Upper Midwest, 1937-1946 by James P. Leary (University of Wisconsin Press and Dust-to-Digital), and The Amazing Crawfish Boat by John Laudun (University Press of Mississippi).
- The 2014 prize was awarded to Burley: Kentucky Tobacco in a New Century by Ann K. Ferrell (University Press of Kentucky).
- The 2012 prize was split between The Irresistible Fairy Tale: The Cultural and Social History of a Genre by Jack Zipes (Princeton University Press) and A Lark for the Sake of Their Country: The 1926 General Strike Volunteers in Folklore and Memory by Rachelle H. Saltzman (Manchester University Press).
- The 2010 prize was split between Out of the Northwoods: The Many Lives of Paul Bunyan by Michael Edmonds (Wisconsin Historical Society Press) and Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South by Patrick Huber (University of North Carolina Press).
- The 2008 recipient of the Hand Prize was Guy Beiner, for Remembering the Year of the French: Irish Folk History and Social Memory (University of Wisconsin Press, 2006). Honorable mention went to Simon J. Bronner (ed.) for The Meaning of Folklore: The Analytical Essays of Alan Dundes (Utah State University Press, 2007).
- The Hand Prize for 2006 was awarded to Wolfgang Mieder of the University of Vermont for his Proverbs are the Best Policy: Folk Wisdom and American Politics(Utah State University Press, 2005). An honorable mention was awarded to Folklore in Utah: A History and Guide to Resources, edited by David Stanley of Westminster College in Utah (Utah State University Press, 2004).