The Charleston Orphan House written by Dr. John E. Murray, J. R. Hyde III Professor of Political Economy at Rhodes, has been selected as the winner of the 2013 George C. Rogers Jr. Book Award. The South Carolina Historical Society presents the award annually to the author of the best book of South Carolina history published during the preceding calendar year.
Finalists for the award are selected by the editor and editorial board of the South Carolina Historical Magazine, and the winner is determined by a panel of independent judges. The award is named in memory of George C. Rogers Jr., the prominent historian of South Carolina.
The Charleston Orphan House tells the story of the first public orphanage in America, which provided care and education to thousands of children from poor white families. According to Murray, the book describes public private partnerships in the antebellum South.
Murray was recognized at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the South Carolina Historical Society in Charleston on Feb. 8.