Tyler D. Parry Receives 2022 Wayland D. Hand Prize

The History and Folklore Section awarded Tyler D. Parry (Assistant Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies, University of Nevada–Las Vegas) the 2022 Wayland D. Hand prize for his book Jumping the Broom: The Surprising Multicultural Origins of a Black Wedding Ritual (University of North Carolina Press, 2020). The biennial prize honors the eminent folklorist Wayland D. Hand (1907-1986) and recognized the best book combining historical and folkloristic methods and materials.

Tyler Parry deftly uses historical and folkloristic sources to unravel the multicultural origins of the “broomstick wedding.” His analysis of the complexities of cultural exchange between peoples of African and European descent in the eighteenth century offers profound insight into contemporary practices and the psychology behind ethnic perceptions of them.