Colby Prize Lecture Goes Digital
Join us May 9 for a Special Digital Event
We’re excited to announce that RSVP’s annual Colby Prize lecture will take place virtually this year as our first pre-conference digital event! Join us on Friday, May 9 at the usual time (8 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. ET / 4 p.m. UK / 5 p.m. CET) for “Nineteenth-Century Scottish Newspapers: The Importance of the Local,” a lecture by W. Hamish Fraser, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Strathclyde, Scotland.
Fraser will discuss his award-winning book, The Edinburgh History of Scottish Newspapers, 1850–1950 (Edinburgh University Press, 2023), a groundbreaking study that offers the first comprehensive examination of Scottish daily and weekly newspapers during a century of significant political, social, and cultural change.
About the Book
Fraser’s meticulously researched work draws on a wide range of sources to chart the expansion and evolution of the Scottish press, from its growth following the repeal of “taxes on knowledge” in the mid-nineteenth century to the changes wrought by group ownership in the twentieth century. Capturing both the tone and the reach of Scottish newspapers, Fraser illuminates how local weeklies and city dailies shaped — and were shaped by — debates over education, democracy, empire, and Scottish identity.
Our awards committee praised Fraser’s study as “comprehensive, meticulously researched and argued, and impressively wide in scope,” making it an invaluable resource for both specialists and general readers alike.
About the Colby Book Prize
Named in honor of Robert and Vineta Colby, the Colby Book Prize recognizes original book-length scholarship that advances our understanding of the nineteenth-century periodical press. RSVP announces a winner each year, who receives a monetary prize and an invitation to give a lecture at the annual conference.
As with all RSVP digital events, this lecture is free and open to all. Moreover, you do not need to register for the conference to attend. Come one, come all!
