School of English professor wins international prize for book on transatlantic abolitionism
The book has been praised for its richly nuanced, meticulously researched account of abolitionism
Bridget Bennett, Professor of American Literature and Culture at the School of English, has been awarded the American Studies Association’s Shelley Fisher Fishkin Prize for International Scholarship in Transnational American Studies for her book, Antislavery in the Dissenting Atlantic: Archives and Unquiet Libraries, 1776–1865.
Presented once every three years, the prize recognises exceptional original research that advances transnational perspectives within American Studies. It honours the contributions of Professor Shelley Fisher Fishkin by celebrating scholarship that brings complex, culturally and politically significant insights to the field on a global scale.
Professor Bennett’s book, Antislavery in the Dissenting Atlantic, examines the transatlantic connections forged by religious nonconformist communities in England and Pennsylvania from the American Revolution to the Civil War. Drawing on extensive archival work, it brings to light the alliances, everyday cultures and often-overlooked individuals whose commitments to dissent, social justice and education helped shape antislavery activism.
Professor Bridget Bennett (second from the left) at the unveiling of a blue plaque commemorating Quaker abolitionists Mary and Wilson Armistead
The book has been praised for its richly nuanced, meticulously researched account of abolitionism, offering an important corrective to the underacknowledged role of Moravians in British antislavery and highlighting the local and domestic – frequently women-led – initiatives that contributed materially and intellectually to the movement.
Reviewers also note the book’s original insights into the networks of people, ideas, objects and printed materials that linked Quakers, Moravians and Black abolitionists across the Atlantic, deepening understanding of dissenting communities and the interconnected nature of reform in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Reacting to the prize win, Professor Bridget Bennett said:
“I’m delighted and honoured to have had my work recognised by this prize. I could not have done it without the award of a Major Research Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust which gave me time and space to focus on the research and writing. I've also greatly benefited from the expert help of librarians and archivists and from colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic who generously gave up time to answer my repeated questions.”
The research underpinning Antislavery in the Dissenting Atlantic has led to significant public and civic engagement. Last year, Professor Bennett successfully campaigned for a blue plaque to be installed at Lyddon Hall on the University of Leeds campus, commemorating Quaker abolitionists Mary and Wilson Armistead.
The Armisteads used their home in the 1860s to gather goods and financial support for newly emancipated people in the United States. Their residence also offered sanctuary to Ellen and William Craft – formerly enslaved African Americans who escaped to freedom and were recorded as living with the Armisteads in the 1851 census.
Professor Bennett has also been working with the Knowledge Equity Network to bring historically overlooked Black stories to wider public attention. In October 2025 she was part of a panel discussion during Black History Month, along with Kate Dossett, a Professor of American History at the School of History, who works with a team of theatre makers and the British Library to increase access to the work of Black theatre makers held in British collections.
The panel was moderated by Lindsey Baker, Black Studies and English Librarian at the University of Rochester. The two universities are collaborating to unearth and make more visible records that contribute to the story of Black history. Further joint initiatives and citywide partnerships are in development.
