The W.J. Eccles Prize is to be awarded annually to the graduate student or recent post-graduate student judged to have presented the best paper at the annual meeting of the French Colonial Historical Society and subsequently published in the society's journal French Colonial History.  The prize is meant to encourage beginning academics in the field of French Colonial History and to honour the career of one of French Colonial History's greatest historians.  Bill Eccles was an outstanding supporter of graduate students and this prize is meant to continue his work by encouraging those at the beginning of their careers in our field.  For past winners of the Eccles Prize click here.
 

2009 W. J. Eccles Prize Winner   

The prize was granted to Marie Rodet for her excellent, very well researched article entitled "'Le délit d'abandon du domicile conjugal' ou l'invasion du pénal colonial dans les jugements des "tribunaux indigènes" au Soudan Français (1900-1947)," which examines the way in which colonial policies influenced local traditions, including in very private family matters. The well-written article was praised for its originality, for the quality of the research it presents, and for highlighting rarely discussed topics in the history of colonial Africa.