Jefferson Cowie, James G. Stahlman Professor of American History at Vanderbilt University, won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for history for his book Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power (Basic Books). The book provides a powerful account of how one Alabama county was shaped by settler colonialism and slavery across the 19th and 20th centuries. According to the New York Times’ review of the book, Dr. Cowie uses the past to “shed stark light on the present. It is essential reading for anyone who hopes to understand the unholy union, more than 200 years strong, between racism and the rabid loathing of government.”
Dr. Cowie graduated with his PhD from UNC in 1997, studying under Leon Fink. We’d like to extend our sincerest congratulations to Dr. Cowie for this incredible achievement!
You can read more about his latest book here or see the Pulitzer Prize announcement here.