University of Richmond School of Law Professor Wins Prestigious Book Award from American Historical Association
January 15, 2004
John R. Pagan, university professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, has received the American Historical Association's 2003 Prize in Atlantic History for his book, "Anne Orthwood's Bastard: Sex and Law in Early Virginia."
Pagan received the award at the association's 118th annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1884, the AHA is the oldest and largest professional historical organization in the United States. Its book prizes are among the most prestigious awards in the field of history. Other 2003 book-prize winners included researchers at Harvard, Yale and Stanford.
The AHA Prize in Atlantic History is given annually to recognize outstanding historical writing that explores aspects of integration of Atlantic worlds before the 20th century. According to AHA, only books of high scholarly and literary merit are considered. Research accuracy and originality also are important criteria.
Pagan's book uses a story of personal tragedy to highlight gender relations and adaptations of English law to the colonies of early modern North America. Orthwood was an indentured servant caught in an unacceptable romance. She and her caddish, young lover create an illegitimate child, a host of legal problems and a revealing portrait of a place and time. The book sheds light on how the law functioned in an early American community and on how the men who operated the legal system manipulated the law to their advantage, eventually shaping it to conform to their social and economic goals.
"Meticulous research has allowed [Pagan] to chart the separation of the two systems of law and jurisprudence at the level of the local community in the new colonial environment," noted the association's program.