4:03 p.m., June 6, 2008--The 2008 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in the nonfiction category has been presented to Jean Pfaelzer, University of Delaware professor of English, for her much-acclaimed work Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans.

The award was presented by the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, which noted that the book “brings to light forgotten events from 19th-century American history.”

The citation continues that “drawing upon a number of sources,” Pfaelzer “details the racial tensions that forced many Chinese immigrants from California and the Pacific Northwest. The Chinese were targeted by white laborers, who burned down their homes, banished residents, and drove them from their shops. However, the Chinese fought back and resisted. They asked for reparations, organized strikes and demanded civil rights. Pfaelzer's research is an important contribution, and she sheds light on a history that has been perhaps too little-known."

The book was published by Random House last year and since was named one of the 100 Notable Books of the Year by The New York Times, one of Choice magazine's top academic books of the year, and one of The Bloomsbury Review's favorite books of the year.