Controversial Monuments and Memorials:
A Guide from the American Association for State and Local History

In the wake of the horrific recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the ensuing move to remove monuments to white supremacy, the American Association for State and Local History Editorial Board is seeking book proposals for a work tentatively entitled Controversial Monuments and Memorials: A Guide from the American Association for State and Local History.

In order to publish the book while communities are still grappling with this part of their local history, the Board seeks proposals from authors able to complete a 40-50,000 word manuscript between now and December 29, 2017 (approximately four months). Given this short timeline, the Editorial Board will consider proposals that include some reprinted material.

The AASLH Editorial Board envisions a guide for public officials, community leaders, and historic site and museum professionals that will prepare readers to:

  1. Understand the history of racial violence that makes these monuments, memorials, and other physical markers like street signs, controversial in the United States (possibly also providing some international context and examples for comparative purposes).
  2. Discuss the events in Charlottesville and other locales as they relate to their own communities.
  3. Present their communities with practical ways to move forward in contextualizing and/or removing controversial monuments.

Proposals should address these questions:

  1. Imagine that your book is being promoted on the AASLH website or on Amazon. Begin with a title that captures the tone and spirit of your book. What would the ideal descriptive copy be? Emphasize special features or sections using bullets where appropriate.
  2. Your one to three paragraph bio. Emphasize your education and experience that’s relevant to this book topic. Please include other articles or books you’ve published related to this topic. The point here is to position yourself as an expert in this area
  3. Tentative table of contents. Please include page number estimates for each chapter. Please also include for each chapter an estimated number of photographs, figures, tables, or other graphic elements you think you would want to include in the chapter.

For questions, please contact Rebecca Shrum, Series Editor, at [email protected] or Bob Beatty, Managing Editor, at [email protected].

Rowman & Littlefield will offer a $1,000 advance against royalties to the author upon acceptance of a complete manuscript delivered by December 29, 2017.

Proposals are due Monday, September 18, to Bob Beatty ([email protected]).