2025-2026 Undergraduate Prizes
Department of History Prizes
Colton Award
For excellence in the preparation of a senior thesis in the Department of History.
Awardee: Kashish Bastola for: “The Cia’s Young Turks: Tibetan Nationalists In The Cold War University” — advised and nominated by Prof. Erika Lee
Cynthia Wight Rossano Prize in Harvard History (for the best essay or multimedia presentation on any aspect of Harvard history).**
Awardee: Shayna Leng for the History 16S paper and multimedia presentation: “Yearbook entry for Siok-An Chiu, Radcliffe College ‘19” — nominated by Prof. Erika Lee
David Herbert Donald Prize
For excellence in American history.
Awardee: Joshua Rosenblum whose thesis title is: “What We Worked For And Lost” American Claim-Making After The Collapse Of The Freedman’s Savings And Trust Company, 1874–1924” — advised by Prof. Vincent Brown
Department of History Prize
For the best total record as history concentrator by the end of the senior year.
Awardee: Kendall Carll whose thesis title is: “Limits Of Liberty: The United States, China, And The Rise of Democratic Taiwan, 1989–1998” — advised by Prof. Erez Manela
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: Victoria Rengel for the History 1927 paper: “En Route to National Integration: Overcoming Two Ecuadors Through the Guayaquil and Quito Railway” — nominated by Prof. Sven Beckert
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: Elise Guerrand for: “Renaissance Natural History And The Pursuit Of Wonder: Assimilating The Marvels Of Nature In Claude Duret’s Histoire Admirable Des Plantes (1605)” — advised by Prof. Ann Blair
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: Talia Natterson whose thesis title is: “Just An Airplane? Enola Gay and the National Air and Space Museum, 1994-95” — advised and nominated by Prof. Alison Frank Johnson
Philip Washburn Prize
For best thesis on historical subject.
Awardee: Elena Lu for: “From Authority to History: Comparison and its Limits in 17th- and 18th-Century Homeric Scholarship” -- advised by Professor Ann Blair, and to Arjun Purohit for: “Epistemic Vulnerability, Atrocity Politics, and the Transformation of Humanitarian Knowledge: Britain and the Bulgarian Crisis of 1876” — advised by Yasemin Bavbek (Social Studies)
William Scott Ferguson Prize
For the best History 97 essay.**
Awardee: Stephanie Chen for the History 97S paper: “To Believe, to Obey, to Survive: Temporal Rationalization in Red Guard Diaries” — nominated by Professor Mary Lewis
**The Ferguson Prize (For the best History 97 essay), the Dept. of History Undergraduate Prize (For the best work of original historical scholarship produced before the senior year in a history department course), and the Cynthia Wight Rossano Prize (for best essay or multimedia project on Harvard History) will be awarded in the fall term for papers from the previous academic year. Thus, papers from the 2025-2026 academic year will be considered in the fall of 2026.
Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize Winners
Kashish Bastola for his submission entitled “The CIA’s ‘Young Turks’: Tibetan Nationalists in the Cold War University” — supervised and nominated by Professor Erika Lee
Kathleen Margaret Benson for her submission entitled “From Civil War to Safe Haven: Salvadoran Refugees and the Making of the Sanctuary Movement in Cambridge, Massachusetts” — supervised and nominated by Mr. Jesse Robertson
Francesco Efrem Bonetti for his submission entitled “‘As Light as a Goose Feather’: Violence and the Public in Late Qing China” — supervised and nominated by Professor Mark Elliott and Mr. William Sack
Kendall Edward Carll III for his submission entitled “Limits of Liberty: The United States, China, and the Rise of Democratic Taiwan, 1989–1998” — supervised and nominated by Professor Erez Manela
Alexander Jacob Posner Gerstenhaber for his submission entitled “Everything and Its Price: The World Bank, China, and Global Development, 1980–2000” — supervised and nominated by Professor Emma Rothschild and Professor David Yang
Elise Martine Guerrand-Hermès for her submission entitled “Renaissance Natural History and the Pursuit of Wonder: Assimilating the Marvels of Nature in Claude Duret’s Histoire admirable des plantes (1605)” — supervised and nominated by Professor Ann Blair
Allison Elizabeth Jones for her submission entitled “By Any Means Necessary: Land Dispossession, Forced Removal, and Cultural Survival in the Scottish Highlands and the Cherokee Nation, 1807–1839” — supervised and nominated by Professor Emma Rothschild
Elena Ke Lu for her submission entitled “From Authority to History: Comparison and Its Limits in 17th-and 18th-Century Homeric Scholarship” — supervised and nominated by Professor Ann Blair and Professor David Elmer