The Stuart Thayer Prize
The Circus Historical Society encourages the highest quality of research, scholarship and writing about American circus history. The Stuart Thayer Prize, awarded annually, recognizes a superior work of circus history scholarship. This award is named in honor of Stuart Thayer, the author of numerous foundational and insightful works published about the antebellum American circus and menagerie. The selection and awarding of the Stuart Thayer Prize is managed by a committee of Circus Historical Society members who are appointed every two years by the newly-elected Circus Historical Society president during his or her initial three months in office.
Past Winners
| YEAR | NAME | TITLE | TYPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Richard Georgian | Cossacks, Indians, and Buffalo Bill | Book |
| 2013 | Frederik Schodt | Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe: How an American Acrobat Introduced Circus to Japan and Japan to the West | Book |
| 2014 | Kevin Duncan Wall | The Ordinary Acrobat | Book |
| 2015 | No Prize | – | – |
| 2016 | David Carlyon | The Education of a Circus Clown: Mentors, Audiences, Mistakes | Book |
| 2017 | Alex Albright | Mose McQuittya’s Band and Minstrel Days 1899-1937 | Bandwagon, Vol. 60 Issue 3 |
| 2018 | Circus World Museum | Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Homecoming (Employee Reunion) | Audio Archive |
| 2019 | Micah Childress | Circus Life, Performing and Laboring Under America’s Big Top Shows, 1830 – 1920 | Book |
| 2020 | Chris Berry | “The Greatest SHOWS on Earth” | Bandwagon, Vol. 63, Issue 4 |
| 2021 | Dawn Rogala | When the Circus Came to Town! An American Tradition in Photographs | Book |
| 2022 | Lane Talburt | “John Pugh: A Lifetime With the Circus” | Bandwagon article series 2021-22 |
| 2023 | Danise Payne |
Elbows in My Ears: My Life with Little People, Tigers, and Wardrobe Trunks |
Book |
| 2024 |
Maureen Brunsdale
|
In the Shadow of the Big Top: The Life of Ringling’s Unlikely Circus Savior |
Book |