University Press of Kentucky Honored With Lillian Smith Book Award
LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 26, 2020) — University Press of Kentucky release “John Hervey Wheeler, Black Banking, and the Economic Struggle for Civil Rights,” written by author Brandon K. Winford, is the winner of the 2020 Lillian Smith Book Award.
The Lillian Smith Book Award is presented to a book representing the ideals of a racially just society. The book is part of University Press’ Civil Rights and the Struggle for Equality in the Twentieth Century series.
“I’m extremely thankful and honored to receive this award, especially given how central the work of the Southern Regional Council, and by extension that of Lillian Smith, has been to my research in the area of black business and civil rights in the South,” Winford said. “I am happy to join a long and distinguished list of past winners, many of whom are historians whose work continues to inform my own.”
The Lillian Smith Book Awards are sponsored by the Southern Regional Council, University of Georgia Libraries, DeKalb County Public Library, Georgia Center for the Book and Piedmont College.
Winford’s work focuses on John Hervey Wheeler — a banker, lawyer and visionary who was one of the civil rights movement’s most influential leaders — who played a vital role in the fight for racial and economic equality throughout North Carolina. Utilizing previously unexamined sources, this biography examines the black freedom struggle through the life of North Carolina's most influential black power broker.
“It is truly an honor for the University Press of Kentucky to be awarded the Lillian Smith award,” said Ashley Runyon, press director. “Brandon Winford’s critically acclaimed biography is a worthy addition to UPK’s Civil Rights and the Struggle for Equality in the Twentieth Century series, which illuminates our understanding of the black struggle for political, economic and social equality.”
Winford is a historian of the late-19th- and 20th-century United States and African American history with areas of specialization in civil rights and black business history. He is currently an assistant professor of history at the University of Tennessee.
The University Press of Kentucky is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, representing a consortium that includes all of the state universities, five private colleges and two historical societies. The press’ editorial program focuses on the humanities and the social sciences. Offices for the administrative, editorial, production and marketing departments of the press are found at the University of Kentucky, which provides financial support toward operating and publishing expenses.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
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