On May 31, 73 concentrators in History graduated as part of Princeton University’s Class of 2020. On May 29, at Class Day, they gathered with faculty, friends, and family to celebrate their many achievements.
The following seniors received distinguished awards and prizes during Class Day, which were presented by Chair Keith Wailoo.
A warm congratulations to all members of the History Undergraduate Class of 2020.
These History concentrators have been awarded honors by the department:
Honors
Avanti Divan
Theodore Goldstein
Jasper Jarecki
Maximillian Kim
Laura Charlotte Kirkland
Daniel T. Koch
Grace Koh
An Lanh Le
Leo E. Li
Elizabeth S. Lilly
Vayne Ong
High Honors
Yasmin AlKhowaiter
Leila Ben Halim
Sarah Catherine Benedict
William Hill Brown, V
Amy Elizabeth Cass
Caroline Castleman
C. Luke Henter
David Hutzley
Raphael Y. Lehmann
Alexandra Spensley
Adam Teece
Highest Honors
Kenji Cataldo
Bhadrajee S.Hewage
Jeremy A. Nelson
Benjamin G. Press
Audrey Spensley
Laurence Hutton Prize in History
Awarded to the history major who has compiled the strongest record in department work.
Winner:
Kenji Cataldo
Walter Phelps Hall Prize in European History
Awarded for the best thesis in European history.
Winners:
Audrey Spensley (Professor David N. Cannadine)
Machinery of the Law: Edmund Du Cane and the English Prison System, 1850-1895
C. O. Joline Prize in American History
Awarded for the best essay by a senior on any phase of American history.
Winners:
Sarah Kate Barnett (Professor Philip G. Nord)
“Behind Glass”: War in the Short Fiction of J.D. Salinger
Jeremy A. Nelson (Professor Sean Wilentz)
“Our Task”: The New Deal and Meteorological Catastrophe in 1936
Alexandra Spensley (Dr. Meg Jacobs)
Knowing the Neighborhood: Social Science and Urban Reform at the South End House, 1892-1914
The Prize in American History, Established by the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of New Jersey
Awarded for the best essay by an undergraduate upon a theme of United States Colonial History.
Winner:
Henry Evans (Professor Michael A. Blaakman)
"Navigating the Indian World: The Impact of Indigenous Personal and Political Wills on the Exploration of the North American West, 1797-1809"
Horace H. Wilson '25 Senior Thesis Prize in the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology
Awarded for the best thesis in the field of History of Science, Medicine and Technology.
Winners:
Amy Elizabeth Cass (Professor Angela N. H. Creager)
A Theistic Naturalism: The Union of Science and Religion in the Work of Dr. William Benjamin Carpenter
Charlotte B. Champ (Professor D. Graham Burnett)
Man, Machine, and Monitor: The Militarization of Attention Through Vigilance in the Twentieth Century
Prize for the Best Senior Thesis in African History
Winner:
Matthew Stewart Fuller (Professor Emmanuel Kreike)
Destructive Linkage: The Decade-Long Disruption of Namibian Independence 1978-1988
Prize for the Best Senior Thesis in Asian History
Honorable Mentions:
Yasmin AlKhowaiter (Dr. Randall Todd Pippenger)
Western Fantasy, Ottoman Reality: Tourism in the Holy Land in the Nineteenth Century
Avanti Divan (Professor Gyan Prakash)
An Empire of Textbooks: A History of History in Colonial India
An Lanh Le (Professor Michael Laffan)
Migrants, Coolies, Possibly Communists: Stories from Rubber Plantations in Interwar Indochina
Winner:
Grace Koh (Professor Thomas Donald Conlan)
The Origins of a Nation: Constructing a “Korean Nation” from the Three Kingdoms of Korea
Prize for the Best Senior Thesis in Latin American History
Winner:
Kenji Cataldo (Professor Jeremy Adelman)
"Somos Más”: Decolonization and Environmental Activism in Contemporary Puerto Rico
William Koren, Jr., Memorial Prize in History
This prize is given annually by Henry Lloyd Thornell Koren, Class of 1933, in memory of William Koren Jr., Class of 1930. The prize is awarded to the student(s) in the department who attain the best record in the departmental work of the junior year.
Winner:
Kenji Cataldo
Carter Kim Combe '74 History Prize
A prize established in memory of Carter Kim Combe, Class of 1974, awarded annually to the student who writes the best second-term junior independent work paper in history.
Winner:
Benjamin Press (Professor Stanley Katz)
Upon Account of His Complexion: Slave Conspiracies, Fear, and the Racialization of Suffrage in Colonial Virginia
Prizes Awarded Outside the Department
The following History graduates received prizes from other departments:
Moses Taylor Pyne Honor Prize
The Pyne Honor Prize, established in 1921, is awarded to the senior who has most clearly manifested excellent scholarship, strength of character and effective leadership. Previous recipients include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, former U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes and the late Princeton President Emeritus Robert F. Goheen.
Co-Winner:
Benjamin G. Press
Joseph R. Strayer Prize
Medieval Studies Program
The Joseph R. Strayer Prize is awarded to the senior who, in the judgment of the faculty, has done outstanding work in some area of Medieval Studies.
Co-Winner:
Elizabeth S. Lilly (Professor William Chester Jordan)
When Fine Words Fail: War, Peace, and the Administration of the Negotium pacis et fidei in Languedoc, 1208-1249
Stephen Whelan ’68 Senior Thesis Prize
James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions
The Stephen Whelan ’68 Senior Thesis Prize is awarded to the senior whose thesis in the area of constitutional law or political thought is judged to be of superlative quality.
Co-Winner:
Benjamin G. Press (Professor William Chester Jordan)
The Most Grieving Grievance That Ever Was”: Billeting and the Democratization of England’s Governance Crisis, 1625-162
Urban Studies Thesis Prize Award
The Program in Urban Studies
Awarded to the senior whose thesis makes an outstanding contribution to this interdisciplinary area of study and is based on the student’s creative ability, persuasiveness and systematic way of doing research.
Winner:
Raphael Y. Lehmann (Professor Alison Isenberg)
Urban Engravings: Space, Place, and Catastrophe in Twentieth-Century Jewish Vilna
The Asher Hinds Thesis Prize
Program in American Studies
The Asher Hinds Thesis Prize was established in memory of Asher Hinds, professor of English and one of the leaders of the Special Program in the Humanities, which later became the programs in American Studies and European Cultural Studies. It is awarded to the student who does the most outstanding work in the humanities.
Winner:
Grace Koh (Professor Thomas Donald Conlan)
The Origins of a Nation: Constructing a “Korean Nation” from the Three Kingdoms of Korea
The Princeton Prize in Race Relations Senior Thesis Prize
Program in American Studies
The Princeton Prize in Race Relations Senior Thesis Prize is endowed by the Princeton University Class of 1966 and awarded annually to a member of the senior class, irrespective of academic concentration, whose senior thesis adds significantly to our understanding of issues of race and race relations in the United States, broadly defined.
Winner:
Vayne Ong (Professor Alison Isenberg)
Springwood Avenue Rising: Race, Leisure, and Decline in the 1970 Asbury Park Uprising
Near Eastern Studies Department Prize for an Outstanding Senior Thesis
The Program in Near Eastern Studies
Awarded to the senior who, in the judgment of the interdepartmental committee, submits the best senior thesis on the Near East.
Winner:
Yasmin AlKhowaiter (Dr. Randall Todd Pippenger)
Western Fantasy, Ottoman Reality: Tourism in the Holy Land in the Nineteenth Century
Carolyn L. Drucker '80 Memorial Prize
Program in Judaic Studies
The Carolyn L. Drucker '80 Memorial Prize is offered to the best senior thesis related to Judaic Studies, broadly defined.
Winner:
Raphael Y. Lehmann (Professor Alison Isenberg)
Urban Engravings: Space, Place, and Catastrophe in Twentieth-Century Jewish Vilna
Dean Hank Dobin Prize in Community-Engaged Independent Work
Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES)
The Dean Hank Dobin Prize in Community-Engaged Independent Work is presented to students whose outstanding thesis best engages a community audience, whether through extensive research, policy recommendations, or new information and analysis.
Third Place:
Vayne Ong (Professor Alison E. Isenberg)
Springwood Avenue Rising: Race, Leisure, and Decline in the 1970 Asbury Park Uprising
J. Welles Henderson ’43 Senior Thesis Prize
Program in Law and Public Affairs
Created by the late Federal Judge Arlin M. Adams in honor of his friend, the J. Welles Henderson ’43 Senior Thesis Prize is awarded to the Princeton senior who has written the most outstanding thesis on a law-related subject in international, comparative or American law.
An eligible thesis deals centrally with a question related to law, and may be from any discipline. The prize committee considers theses in international, comparative or American law, as well as theses primarily about the law of any country other than the U.S.
Co-Winner:
Benjamin G. Press (Professor William Chester Jordan)
"The Most Grieving Grievance That Ever Was”: Billeting and the Democratization of England’s Governance Crisis, 1625-1628
Isabelle Clark-Decés Prize
Program in South Asian Studies
The Isabelle Clark-Decés Prize is awarded for the best senior thesis in South Asian Studies.
Winner:
Avanti Divan (Professor Gyan Prakash)
An Empire of Textbooks: A History of History in Colonial India
Phi Beta Kappa:
These History concentrators have been elected to Phi Beta Kappa:
Sarah Catherine Benedict
William Hill Brown, V
Amy Elizabeth Cass
Bhadrajee S. Hewage
Raphael Y. Lehmann
Jeremy A. Nelson
Benjamin G. Press
Alexandra Spensley
Audrey Spensley
Adam C. Teece