2010 Jefferson Prize
Lynn Sacco
The Jefferson Prize is awarded to Lynn Sacco, assistant professor of history, specializing in 19th- and 20th-century gender history. Her book, Unspeakable: Father-Daughter Incest in American History, combines the medical, legal, and social history of a crime whose taboo status has largely kept it out of the historical record. The book has received high praise, with one reviewer calling it the "best single volume on the subject to date and an impressive contribution." Sacco’s next project will be an examination of the role of girls in U.S. culture, specifically how films in the 1930s displayed girls as simultaneously innocent and sexually sophisticated. Through this work, she will continue to bring to light hidden aspects of history with her intensive archival research.
The Jefferson Prize, made possible by an anonymous donor, honors the principles of our nation’s third president. Thomas Jefferson not only was proud of having written the Declaration of Independence, but also of having founded the University of Virginia. He dedicated himself to the pursuit of freedom and knowledge.
The Jefferson prize is awarded to tenured or tenure-track faculty who have demonstrated excellence in research and creative activity or who have made other significant achievements that might not be recognized in the usual university reward system.