2024-2025 History Department Prize Winners
History Department Prizes
Franklin and Eleanor Ford Prize
Established in 2021 by Charles Maier, Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History, Emeritus, this prize is awarded for the best senior thesis in the Department of History on the history since 1500 of one or more of the countries, territories, or societies currently in Europe—including, if appropriate, their international and global role.
Awardee: Claire Bushell for: “Beyond Munich: The Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the Forgotten Face of British Appeasement Policy, 1919-1939” – advised by Nate Grau
Department of History Prize
For the best total record as history concentrator by the end of the senior year.
Awardee: Olivia Glunz whose thesis title is: “Beyond Words: Logos and Sacramentality in the Pseudo-Dionysian Tradition” – advised by Prof. James Hankins and Prof. Jan Ziolkowski
Philip Washburn Prize
For best thesis on historical subject.
Awardees: Shruti Gautam for: “Eden in the Hinterlands: Nature, Leisure, and Governance at a Jim Crow New Orleans Beach” - advised by Prof. Walter Johnson and to Cayla Coleburn for “Behind Bars and Beyond Brown: The Naacp’s Campaign for Civil Rights in Criminal Courts, 1910 – 1964” – advised by Prof. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham
David Herbert Donald Prize
For excellence in American history.
Awardee: Kay Rollins for: “Blood and Soil and the Holy War Comes: The Farm Crisis and the Anti-government Turn of the Far Right, 1977–1995” – advised by Prof. Philip Deloria.
Colton Award
For excellence in the preparation of a senior thesis in the Department of History.
Awardee: Emily Willrich for: “The White Man’s Road? Charley Buffalo, Richard Henry Pratt, and the Making of Carlisle Indian Industrial School, 1867-1934” – advised and nominated by Prof. Jill Lepore and Prof. Philip Deloria.
Lillian Bell Prize
For student with the best paper, including non-written material, such as audio files and videos, on the Holocaust or other major 20th-century event involving human tragedy.
Awardee: Julian Giordano whose thesis title is: “Carbon Footprints: Economic and Environmental Reckoning at the Cumberland Mine, 1974-2024” – advised and nominated by Prof. Emma Rothschild
William Scott Ferguson Prize
For best History 97 essay.*
Awardees: Elena Lu for the History 97B paper: "The Successful ‘Académie Générale’: Recruiting and Organizing an Académie des Sciences" and to Frank Zhou for the History 97B paper: "On the Origins of Credibility: Ma Junwu as a Translator and Political Apologist for Revolution" – both advised and nominated by Prof. Ann Blair
Department of History Undergraduate Prize
For the best work of original historical scholarship, including non-written material, such as audio files and videos, produced before the senior year in a history department course.*
Awardee: Elizabeth Resner for the History 1957 paper: “Shepherding Progress or Compromise? Understanding the Limitations of the Sheppard-Towner Act” – advised and nominated by Prof. George Aumoithe
Cynthia Wight Rossano Prize in Harvard History
For the best essay or multimedia presentation on any aspect of Harvard history.*
Awardees: Hugo Hinze for the History of Science 2270 paper: "Perfect Imperfection: Harvard's Glass Flowers" – advised by Prof. Peter Galison, and to Cody Vasquez for the History 1975 paper: "8 Demands and A Coalition of Thousands: An Individual Perspective on the Collective 1969 Harvard Strikes" – advised and nominated by Prof. Katie Holmes
College-wide Prizes and Awards
Bernhard Blume Undergraduate Award
Awarded by the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures to the graduating senior who has written the best honors thesis and whose performance in courses offered toward the concentration is of equal merit to Brian Christopher Wuerschmidt, Class of 2025
Classical Reception Thesis Prize
Awarded by the Department of the Classics for the best senior thesis in the area of classical reception to Olivia L. Glunz, Class of 2025
Captain Jonathan Fay Prize
Awarded by the Radcliffe Institute to the graduating senior who has produced the most outstanding imaginative work or piece of original research in any field to Kay Marie Rollins, Class of 2025, for her project entitled “‘Blood and Soil and the Holy War Comes’: The Farm Crisis and the Anti-Government Turn of the Far Right, 1977–1995”
Sophia Freund Prize
Awarded annually to the students in the senior class of Harvard College who are graduating summa cum laude with the highest grade point average to Cayla Coleburn, Class of 2025, and to Kay Marie Rollins, Class of 2025
Kathryn Ann Huggins Prize
Awarded by the Department of African and African American Studies to the Harvard College senior who has written the most outstanding thesis on a topic relating to African American life, history, or culture to Shruti Gautam, Class of 2025, for her project entitled “Eden in the Hinterlands: Nature, Leisure, and Governance at a Jim Crow New Orleans Beach”
John V. Kelleher Prize
To the Lowell House student who exemplifies John Kelleher’s values, academic and intellectual interests, dependability, and loyalty to Lowell House to Aidin Robert Kamali, Class of 2025
Newbold Rhinelander Landon Memorial Scholarship Prize
Awarded by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships to students who are grounded in classical learning and who intend an active career in government service to Olivia L. Glunz, Class of 2025
Jonathan M. Levin Prize for Teaching and Social Justice
Awarded by the Department of African and African American Studies to the most promising undergraduate student who intends to become a public school teacher to Lilian Clara Smith, Class of 2025
Lowell House Franklin Ford Award
Awarded to the Lowell House student who shares Franklin Ford’s scholarly interest in academic subjects, strong intellectual ability, and dry wit to Christine Corcoran, Class of 2026
Kenneth Maxwell Thesis Prize in Brazilian Studies
Awarded by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) for the best senior thesis on a subject related to Brazil to Luísa Shida, Class of 2025, for her project entitled “Radio Silent: Assessing Electoral Performance and Media Control in the Brazilian Military Dictatorship (1964-1985)”
Richardson Scholarship Prize
Awarded by the Department of the Classics to a graduating senior for distinction in both Greek and Latin to Olivia L. Glunz, Class of 2025
Harry and Cecile Starr Undergraduate Prizes in Jewish Studies
Awarded by the Center for Jewish Studies for the best senior thesis in Jewish studies to Sage Segal Lattman, Class of 2025, for her project entitled “Descent and Dissent: Interfaith Marriage and Reform Judaism’s 1983 Resolution of Patrilineal Descent”
Selma and Lewis H. Weinstein Prize in Jewish Studies
Awarded by the Center for Jewish Studies for the best undergraduate essay in Jewish studies to Sage Segal Lattman, Class of 2025, for her project entitled “Descent and Dissent: Interfaith Marriage and Reform Judaism’s 1983 Resolution of Patrilineal Descent”