The Spence School proudly announces that Amanda Vaill ’66 has been named the recipient of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Biography for her latest book, Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution, published in October 2025.

The Pulitzer committee honored Ms. Vaill’s work—a biography of two daughters of wealthy Dutch landowners—praising its use of “present tense to tell their story and past tense to chronicle the dramatic sweep of the American Revolution.”

 

In responding to the award, Ms. Vaill shared: “To borrow from one of my subjects, Angelica Schuyler Church, I’m overcome with pride and pleasure at this completely unexpected honor. It’s especially meaningful because it comes from an organization, the Pulitzer Prize Board, that’s dedicated to excellence in journalism—something about which my other subject, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, cared deeply.”

Ms. Vaill is the speaker for Spence’s 2026 Commencement on May 21, 2026. “We are incredibly proud of Amanda and her remarkable work in elevating women’s voices and highlighting the vital role women have played in our nation’s history,” Head of School Felicia Wilks shared in celebration of her achievement.

 

An accomplished journalist, critic, and biographer, Ms. Vaill’s work has appeared in publications including The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Town & Country, and New York Magazine. In addition to her most recent book, she is the author of three previous biographies: Hotel Florida, Somewhere, and the best-selling Everybody Was So Young, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. She has also co-authored, contributed to, and edited numerous books focused on arts and culture. Ms. Vaill graduated from Radcliffe College, where she earned a degree in English literature. Her career includes roles as a book editor and nonprofit executive, and she has been a fellow of the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts, and the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library.