Dr. Jacqueline Emery, an assistant professor in the English Department at SUNY Old Westbury, recently had her book “Recovering Native American Writings in the Boarding School Press” earn the 2018 Outstanding Academic Title award from the publishing unit of the Association of College & Research Libraries. The accolade is based on the book’s “excellence in presentation, significance in the field, originality of the material, value to students and the importance toward building undergraduate library collections.” Only about ten percent of the more than 6,000 titles reviewed over the past year were selected for this award.
"I am delighted that my book was selected for this award," stated Dr. Emery. “I hope the book enters more college libraries and spurs interest in the Native American writers and texts it features.”
The publishing unit, “Choice,” was established in 1964 as a division of the American Library Association. It is the acknowledged leader in the provision of objective, high-quality evaluations of nonfiction academic writing.
“Recovering Native American Writings in the Boarding School Press” is the first comprehensive collection of writings by students and well-known Native American authors who published in boarding school newspapers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Dr. Emery first had the idea for this collection while doing archival research on boarding school newspapers for her dissertation.
The book was awarded the Ray & Pat Browne Award for Best Edited Collection in Popular Culture and American Culture from the Popular Culture Association & American Culture Association in 2018. The 366-page hardcover book is available from the University of Nebraska Press.