The Sally Mitchell Dissertation Prize is awarded annually to the best Ph.D. dissertation, defended in the previous calendar year, that explores the British periodical press of the long nineteenth century (including magazines, newspapers, and serial publications of all kinds) as an object of study in its own right, not as a source of material for other historical topics. Winners of the prize receive a monetary award of $1,000.
The prize was established in 2020 to honor Sally Mitchell, a longstanding and highly valued member of RSVP who served on the organization’s board and its senior advisory committee. She was the author of five books, including the biography, Frances Power Cobbe: Victorian Feminist, Journalist, Reformer (2004), and The New Girl: Girl’s Culture in England, 1880-1915 (1995). Much of her work focused on women writers, women’s history, the social history of the period, and the role of periodicals. Sally Mitchell was a committed and ardent mentor of graduate students and worked hard to advance their careers. See the list of previous Mitchell Prize winners here.
The Mitchell Prize winner is typically announced in July or August of the prize year. See our awards calendar for all relevant deadlines. Please note that deadlines are subject to change and if needed, will be announced via our social media channels promptly.
Our Most Recent Mitchell Prize Winner
Our 2024 Mitchell Prize winner is Ellen Packham and her dissertation, “Literary Constructions: British Engineers and their Journals, c. 1760–c. 1860,” which focuses on the century-long period in which civil engineering emerged and grew (1760–1860, but primarily 1794–1856), and convincingly argues for the crucial role that periodicals played in establishing the field as a profession. It addresses an impressive array of complex historical contexts — the nature of professionalism, the role of professional institutions, intellectual property history, and periodical culture — without losing focus on a clearly delineated topic of the publishing culture and literary strategies of engineering. It provides a fine-grained and engaging account of the diversity of material in periodicals (from patents to fictionalized narratives) and their circulation, tracing publications; successes, failures, and indeed controversies as commercial ventures. Congratulations, Ellen!
Honorable mention goes to Charlotte Lauder for her dissertation, “Popular Culture Magazine Culture, 1870 – 1920: Press, Print Nation.”