2026 Winners 

Charles A. Beard Prize
Given by the Department for a senior thesis of distinction in any historical field or period.

Caleb Blackburn-Johnson – “When They Were Taken… They Always Returned:” The Regulator, Maritime Slavery, and Conflicting Visions of Freedom in Eighteenth-Century Bermuda and Boston

Garrett Mattingly Prize
Given by the Department for a senior thesis of distinction in any historical field or period.

Elizabeth Tamarelli – The Conditions of Liberty: Ellis Island’s Use as a World War II Internment Camp and Deportation Station

 Lily Prize
Given by the Department for the best senior thesis in history on a non-U.S. topic. Established by James P. Shenton in memory of his mother.

Sarah Bryden – At the Limits of Language: New World Artes, Indigenous Collaborators, and the Birth of Descriptive Linguistics

Herbert H. Lehman Prize
Given to a General Studies student with an outstanding record of accomplishment in history courses at Columbia.

Toma Ito-Chihaia – Ion Ghica, a Prince of Two Worlds: A Romanian Nationalist in Ottoman Service; 1848–1859

Chanler Historical Prize (two recipients awarded)
Given by the College for the best essay submitted by a senior on a topic dealing with the history of the American civil government.

Allan Hatem – Neighborhood Schools, City Politics: Parents and Taxpayers, the 1964 Campaign Against School Integration, and the Remaking of New York City’s Political Culture, 1954-1970

Grace Kaste –  “Institutional Immigrants” Deinstitutionalization and Homelessness in New York City, 1962-1982

Albert Marion Elsberg Prize 
Given by the College for a sophomore, junior, or senior who has demonstrated excellence in modern history.

Clio Grana – Rex Femineus Militarism, Devotion, and the Sacral-Symbolic Logic of Empress Maria Theresa’s Royal Representations, 1740-1780

Allen J Willen Memorial Prize 
The prize is awarded to the Columbia College student who writes the best seminar paper on a contemporary American political problem.

Kira Ratan – Forbidden Fruit: The Florida Orange Juice Boycott of 1977 and the Coalescence of a National Gay Rights Campaign

Undergraduate Education Committee Prize (two recipients awarded)
The Undergraduate Education Committee Prize is given to a thesis of excellence written in any field of history.

Leo Gerza – Corporate Geopolitics: The Baghdad Railway Company 1899-1914

Theodore Schmiedeler – It Takes A Village: Managed Integration and White Flight in Oak Park, Illinois, 1963-1980

Departmental Honors 2026

Fredrik Berg – The Bridge to Europe: Business Elites, Think Tanks, and Swedish-European Integration during the 1980s

Caleb Blackburn-Johnson – “When They Were Taken… They Always Returned:” The Regulator, Maritime Slavery, and Conflicting Visions of Freedom in Eighteenth-Century Bermuda and Boston

Christopher Brown – The Way to Golgotha: How Anarchism Persisted and Developed in Reaction to World Events, 1918- 1940

Sarah Bryden – At the Limits of Language: New World Artes, Indigenous Collaborators, and the Birth of Descriptive Linguistics

Toma Ito-Chihaia – Ion Ghica, a Prince of Two Worlds: A Romanian Nationalist in Ottoman Service; 1848–1859

Grace Kaste – “Institutional Immigrants” Deinstitutionalization and Homelessness in New York City, 1962-1982

Lara Prakash – A City Built by Labor and the Crisis that Disciplined It: New York City’s 1975 Fiscal Crisis and the Restructuring of Municipal Governance

Theodore Schmiedeler – It Takes A Village: Managed Integration and White Flight in Oak Park, Illinois, 1963-1980