December 14, 2002

Prize for Book Is Taken Back From Historian

olumbia University said yesterday that its trustees had voted to rescind the Bancroft Prize awarded last year to a book by an Emory University historian, citing accusations of scholarly misconduct.

The prize had been awarded to Michael A. Bellesiles for "Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture," published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2000.

This is the first revocation of a Bancroft Prize since it was first awarded in 1948.

The prize is awarded for works in American history "of enduring worth and impeccable scholarship that make a major contribution to our understanding of the American past."

The trustees have also asked that the $4,000 prize money be returned, a university spokeswoman said.

The book, which argued that only a small percentage of people owned working firearms in colonial America, was hailed as a groundbreaking work after its publication. Advocates of gun rights criticized the book, seeing it as an effort to suggest that the Second Amendment right to bear arms did not apply to individuals.

But other scholars who tried to replicate the research of Professor Bellesiles soon began to make accusations of errors and possible misconduct.

Professor Bellesiles resigned from Emory in October after an independent panel of scholars strongly criticized his work. Their 40-page report accused him of "unprofessional and misleading work" and said that at times it "does move into the realm of falsification."

Professor Bellesiles acknowledged errors and apologized for them. But he also wrote, "I have never fabricated evidence of any kind nor knowingly evaded my responsibilities as a scholar."

Reached by phone at his home last night, Professor Bellesiles said, "I have nothing to say."

The Columbia trustees reached their decision after reviewing other scholars' assessments, and they "concluded that he had violated basic norms of scholarship and the high standards expected of Bancroft Prize winners," according to a statement released yesterday.

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