The University of Alabama’s Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South will be giving out a newly created award to an author who, it claims, exemplifies the best account of southern history.
The first Deep South Book Prize is being awarded to the book “Boll Weevil Blues: Cotton, Myth, and Power in the American South” by James Giesen, an associate professor of history at Mississippi State University.
The book examines how the boll weevil, a small beetle that feeds on cotton buds and flowers, became a widespread issue for the southern region of the United States in the early 20th century. The insect infested and destroyed much of the South’s most valuable crop: cotton.
Giesen’s book was chosen from more than three dozen books nominated by nearly a dozen different presses. It stood out to the award committee which determined the finalists for the prize, Joshua Rothman, director of the Summersell Center, said.
“I’m honored and humbled by the award,” Giesen said. “It took me more than six years to write this book, and to have it selected by the Summersell Center for this prize is very meaningful.”
The idea for the Deep South Book Prize originated as a means to recognize the top scholarship in the Southern American history field and to spread knowledge of the Summersell Center.
“As a work that allows us to see and understand the South, its past and its culture in new ways, [“Boll Weevil Blues”] fits with the Center’s goals perfectly,” Rothman said.
According to the Summersell Center’s website, its mission is to investigate and promote understanding of the history and culture of the American South through research and public programming.
“Mostly what we do is try to use the Center’s resources to explore the American South and its past in as many different forums as possible,” Rothman said. “We invite speakers, sponsor films and concerts, support researchers and research fellowships and help underwrite publications of various kinds. And, of course, beginning this year, we will be awarding a book prize biennially.”
