The New Jersey Historical Commission, in collaboration with the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance, has announced Dr. Jean Soderlund as the recipient of the 2023 Richard P. McCormick Prize for her book "Separate Paths: Lenapes and Colonists in West New Jersey."
This award-winning book explores the history of West Jersey in the 1600s, focusing on how Lenape men and women managed relations with Swedish and Finnish settlers compared to incoming Quaker colonists. While Swedish and Finnish settlers allied with Lenape tribes to defend against English rule, Quaker colonists took Lenape territory following the West Jersey Concessions of 1676-77. "Separate Paths" examines these differing systems of colonization and their enduring impacts.
“Dr. Soderlund’s scholarship shines a light on our state’s early history helping us better understand our present and better plan for our future,” said Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way, who oversees the New Jersey Historical Commission as Secretary of State.
“In 'Separate Paths,' Dr. Soderlund takes centuries-old primary sources and weaves them into a comprehensible story about an under-researched aspect of New Jersey’s past,” stated Sara Cureton, executive director of the New Jersey Historical Commission. “The quality of her research and the importance of her topic makes Dr. Soderlund well-deserving of the Richard P. McCormick Prize.”
Dr. Soderlund is Professor Emerita in the Department of History at Lehigh University. Her research focuses on 17th and 18th century British America, with particular interest in ethnicity, gender, religion, and class.
The Richard P. McCormick Prize is an annual award recognizing outstanding scholarly books on New Jersey history. For more information about the New Jersey Historical Commission’s awards and prizes, visit history.nj.gov.
