Samuel W. Thomas book award
Samuel W Thomas
Sam Thomas was a distinguished Louisville historian. Trained as a chemist, he worked for the Courier-Journal for many years. Passionate about Louisville history, Sam authored over 20 local history books, including books on Louisville neighborhoods, such as "Crescent Hill" and "Cherokee Triangle." Sam lost his valiant battle with cancer in October, 2012.
2025 Book Award
"Lakeside" by Brigid Kaelin
2024 Book Award
2024 Book Award
"Soulful Sounds of Derbytown"
2023 Book Award
2024 Book Award
"Waverly Hills Sanatorium: A History" by Lynn Pohl
2022 Book Award
"Gideon Shryock: His Life and Architecture, 1802 - 1882" by Winfrey P. Blackburn, Jr., and R. Scott Gill
2021 Book Award
No book award was given in 2021 due to the Covid Pandemic
2020 Book Award
2020 Book Award
2020 Book Award
"Walter H Kiser's Neighborhood Sketches Revisited" by John David Myles
2019 Book Award
2020 Book Award
2020 Book Award
"Louisville Street Railways" by Martin Biemer, George Yater, and James Calvert.
2018 Book Award
2020 Book Award
2018 Book Award
"Two Lives & One Passion of Louise Marshall" (founder of the Cabbage Patch Settlement House) by authors Bill Ellison and Linda Raymond
2017 Book Award
2017 Book Award
2018 Book Award
"Shelby County Architecture" by John David Myles
2016 Book Award
2017 Book Award
2016 Book Award
"Irrepressible: The Jazz Age Life of Henrietta Bingham" by Emily Bingham
2015 Book Award
2015 Book Award
2015 Book Award
"Louisville Jug Music" by Michael L. Jones
2014 Book Award
2015 Book Award
2015 Book Award
Two books were awarded this year:
Tracy K’Meyer for
“From Brown to Meredith:
The Long Struggle for School Desegregation
in Louisville, Kentucky, 1954-2007”
and to
Sarah Garland for
“Divided We Fail:
The Story of an African American Community
That Ended the Era of School Desegregation”
2013 Book Award
2015 Book Award
2013 Book Award
"George Keats of Kentucky" by Lawrence Crutcher