SUNY Old Westbury Associate Professor of American Studies Llana Barber has received the 2017 Kenneth Jackson Award for Best Book in North American Urban History from the Urban History Association. Presented at the Association’s Biennial Conference in Columbia, South Carolina, Barber earned the award for her book “Latino City: Immigration and Urban Crisis in Lawrence, Massachusetts, 1945-2000.” The award is given annually to an original scholarly work that exhibits quality research, effective arguments, and contributes to urban history.
“I hope the award will serve to amplify the voices and stories in the book, and to emphasize the importance of documenting the history of Latinx communities in the United States,” said Barber.
This isn’t the first national recognition “Latino City” has earned for Barber. In the summer, she was named the co-winner or the Lois P. Rudnick Book Prize by the New England American Studies Association, which is given to the best academic book in American Studies written by a New England scholar or about New England over a two-year period. “Latino City,” published by UNC Press, delves into New England’s first primarily Latino city as well as its transformation and difficulties during the late twentieth century.
Barber, who currently resides in Jackson Heights, N.Y., teaches several courses at the undergraduate level at SUNY Old Westbury. She obtained her Ph.D. at Boston College and received her B.A. at the University of California at Berkeley.