The Sidney Prize is awarded annually for journalism that illuminates the great issues of our day. From the search for a basis for lasting peace, to the need for housing, medical care and employment security for all people, to the fight against discrimination based on race, nationality or religion, to the pursuit of civil rights, democracy and the battles over the environment, the Foundation hopes the work it supports will inspire a new generation of journalists and readers.
The judging panel for the 2024 prize was chaired by AJL Deputy Editor, Suzanne Snook. The prize will be presented at the AJL 2024 conference in New York City on January 29. The winning entry will be published in AJL and will receive a $25,000 award from the Sidney and Arthur Berger Foundation.
Each year, a group of judges from across the country selects one book that makes a contribution to understanding the American experience in history and culture. The prize is named after a former president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America labor union, who led his organization through two controversies that rocked the structure of American unions. The foundation is run by a board that includes the president emeritus of Workers United and left-leaning celebrity Danny Glover.
In the spirit of the late author, the Sidney Black Memorial Engineering Scholarship was created to inspire and support a female undergraduate engineering student. The prize is open to students who have passed their BEng on any of our engineering programmes and who demonstrate a combination of academic achievement, personal attributes or a contribution to society/student life.
Founded in 1946, the Hillman Foundation is a left-of-center family-run philanthropy that awards monetary prizes to writers, scholars and artists who seek social justice and public service. The foundation is headed by Bruce Raynor, who served as president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers and later was elected the first president of Unite Here (now known as Workers United). The Hillman Foundation also runs the monthly Sidney Prizes for journalism in service to the common good.
Mercer University’s Southern Studies Program is pleased to announce that Elizabeth Spencer has been selected as the winner of the 2014 Sidney Lanier Prize for Southern Literature. The prize, which was inaugurated in 2012, honors Middle Georgia’s rich literary heritage and the long tradition of writing about the region. The selection committee, composed of Mercer professors and eminent scholars of Southern literature, made its decision following an extensive review of the nominees’ works.
The Foundation is seeking nominations for the 2025 Sidney Prize in U.S and Canada. Nominations are due on the last day of each month. To nominate a piece, please fill out this form. To be eligible for a nomination, the nominated piece must have appeared in print or online in the previous month. The judging panel will consider the article’s overall quality, its ability to illuminate the great issues of our time, and its relevance to contemporary concerns.