On May 16, 59 concentrators in History celebrated Commencement as part of Princeton University’s Class of 2021. On May 24, at Class Day, they gathered virtually 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 Acting Chair Michael Gordin.
A warm congratulations to all members of the History Undergraduate Class of 2021.
Departmental Honors
Highest Honors
Elizabeth Bailey
Alec Israeli
Jonathan Ort
Joseph Ort
Anna Vinitsky
High Honors
Peter Foster
Allison Huang
Nathaniel Hull
Adam McClain
Anne Newman
Leopoldo Solis
Emma Street
Honors
Benjamin Bollinger
Chisom Ilogu
Christian Maines
Myrha Qadir
Daniel Rim
Paige Thompson
Jackson Vail
Rosemary Vasen
Nicholas Wooldridge
Department of History Prizes
Laurence Hutton Prize in History
Awarded to the history major who has compiled the strongest record in department work.
Winners:
Alec David Israeli
Jonathan Ort
C. O. Joline Prize in American History
Awarded for the best essay by a senior on any phase of American history.
Winners:
Alec David Israeli (Professor Matthew Karp)
An American Prometheus: Labor in the Mind of Antebellum Slaveholders
Paige Thompson (Dr. Randall T. Pippenger)
A Paradox of Time: Uncovering Women’s Shifting Contributions to American Business Through the Lens of Fortune Magazine, 1956
Walter Phelps Hall Prize in European History
Awarded for the best thesis in European history.
Winners:
Peter Foster (Professor David A. Bell)
Lettres de Noblesse: The Financial and Political Ascent of the House of Orléans, 1660-1793
Ann Newman (Dr. Randall T. Pippenger)
Of Vines and Flowers: The Cistercian Order and the Cultivation of Identity in Medieval Meissen, Lusatia, and Silesia
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:
Jackson Vail (Professor Vera Candiani)
Contesting the Commons: The Rise and Fall of Hispano Land Grant Communities in New Mexico’s Upper Rio Grande
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.
Winner:
Beatrice Ferguson (Professor Regina Kunzel)
A Madness Network: Psychiatric Survivor Activism in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1972-1986
Robert L. Tignor Prize in African History
Winner:
Chisom Ilogu (Professor Emmanuel Kreike)
An Exploration of FESTAC ’77: The History and Legacy of the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture
Susan Naquin Prize in Asian History
Winner:
Myra A. Qadir (Professor Gyan Prakash)
Modernization, Manipulation, and Mass Sterilization: India’s Population Control Policies from Independence to Emergency
Barbara Hadley Stein Prize in Latin American History
Winner:
Jonathan Ort (Professor Isadora Mota)
The Day Kingston Fell: How Workers Upended Jamaica’s Colonial Order in 1938
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:
Alec David Israeli
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:
Alec David Israeli (Professor Sean Wilentz)
“A New Era in the Struggle for Freedom”: American Radicals and the Paris June Days of 1848
Prizes Awarded Outside the Department
The following History graduates received prizes from other departments:
Asher Hinds Prize for Excellence
The Program in European Cultural Studies
The Prize was established in memory of Professor Asher Hinds, one of the leaders of the Special Program in the Humanities, which later became the programs in American Studies and European Cultural Studies. Professor Hinds was remembered with particular affection by his students and colleagues, who established this prize in his memory. The Asher Hinds Prize in European Cultural Studies is awarded annually in recognition of the best senior thesis completed by an ECS certificate student.
Winners:
Peter Foster (Professor David A. Bell)
Lettres de Noblesse: The Financial and Political Ascent of the House of Orléans, 1660-1793
Alec David Israeli (Professor Matthew Karp)
An American Prometheus: Labor in the Mind of Antebellum Slaveholders
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.
Winner:
Elizabeth Darrah Bailey (Dr. Randall T. Pippenger)
“A Dragon with Nine Heads”: Muslims, Jews, and Eastern Christians in the Thirteenth-Century Kingdom of Jerusalem
Pirelli Senior Thesis Prize
Department of French and Italian
The Pirelli Senior Thesis Prize is awarded to the senior who has written the most outstanding thesis in New Media and Italian Cinema.
Winner:
Adam McClain (Professor Natasha Wheatley)
Nationalization, Homogenization, Autonomy: Alto Adige-South Tyrol as a Microcosm of International History in the Interwar Period
Global Health and Health Policy Senior Thesis Prize
Global Health and Health Policy Program
The Global Health and Health Policy Senior Thesis Prize is awarded in recognition of the most outstanding thesis written by a student earning certificate in the Global Health and Health Policy Program.
Winner:
Isabelle Rodriguez Chandler (Professor Xin Wen)
“The “Spirit of Xiaotangshan”: An Investigation into the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Use of the Xiaotangshan SARS Hospital as a Tool of Propaganda, 2003-2021
Program in African Studies Thesis Award
Program in African Studies
The Program in African Studies Thesis Award is given in recognition of exemplary research on Africa.
Winner:
Chisom Ilogu (Professor Emmanuel Kreike)
An Exploration of FESTAC ’77: The History and Legacy of the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture
Phi Beta Kappa
These History concentrators have been elected to Phi Beta Kappa:
Elizabeth Bailey
Alec Israeli
Anne Newman
Jonathan Ort
Anna Vinitsky