The Hillman Foundation presents The Sydney Prize monthly to outstanding investigative journalism that promotes social justice. Winners receive $500 and an Edward Sorel certificate, designed for them by New Yorker cartoonist. You can learn more about this prize and its past recipients at AJL’s Sydney Taylor Book Award blog.
Since 1946, the Hillman Foundation is a left-of-center organization offering financial prizes to writers and journalists. Named in honor of former Amalgamated Clothing Workers union President Sidney Hillman, its board of directors includes leaders from Workers United and SEIU; additionally it features an advisory council made up of celebrities including actor Danny Glover.
Richard Ho and Lynn Scurfield for Two New Years; Mari Lowe for The Dubious Pranks of Shaindy Goodman; and Elana K Arnold for Blood Years have won this year’s Sidney Award. For more information, listen to a podcast interview with our committee chair or read reviews of winning titles on The AJL Bookshelf or in our mock awards blog The Sydney Taylor Shmooze; Sydney Taylor seals can also be purchased to place on copies of worthy works!
Tony Judt, professor of history at New York University and frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books, takes an in-depth look at how the AIDS crisis unfolded in America and affected both individuals and society alike. Additionally, he explores how media coverage was affected by political forces of the day.
Dr Clare Jackson has received multiple accolades since 2014 when she won the Bruton Award for her research into royalist ideas in late-17th-century Scotland. A graduate of Sidney and former Junior Research Fellow, Jackson is widely seen as one of the most promising historians of her generation.
This prize is supported by the Irving Oberman Memorial Fund, created to commemorate its founder by an estate bequest from Isabel B. Oberman A.B 1917. Each year, its proceeds support an award presented by the dean of the School for an outstanding paper written by one or more students on any one of seven current legal topics: bankruptcy; constitutional law and equal justice under law; environmental law; family law; intellectual property law and legal history.
AJL is delighted to support the Hillman Prize, an annual award which recognizes outstanding investigative journalism in service to the common good. It recognizes writers whose journalism exposes social and economic injustices while drawing attention to our freedom to inform and engage – we’re excited to partner with the prestigious Hillman Foundation to offer this prize honoring ethical, independent journalism that advances public interest! Please consider supporting this important effort! For more information about the prize and selection criteria please click here.