Stanford Historical Society presents 2024 Bartholomew, Schofield, and Beyers awards
The Stanford Historical Society (SHS) celebrated exemplary volunteer service, a visionary oral history project, and well-written historical essays by presenting the Karen Bartholomew Award for Exceptional Service, the Susan W. Schofield Oral History Award, and the Beyers Prize for Excellence in Historical Writing at the annual members' meeting on May 1. SHS President Larry Horton presented Michele Marincovich, Alison Carpenter Davis, Abigail Kahn, and Mahina Kaomea with the awards.
The Karen Bartholomew Award, created in 2005, is given annually for exceptional service to the Stanford Historical Society. Michele Marincovich has served in leadership roles in the society as a board member and committee co-chair for many years. She is currently a member of the Program Committee. As Program Committee co-chair previously, she organized and produced numerous programs—including a 50-year retrospective on Stanford’s 1971 prison experiment, the video of which has been viewed 15,000 times since 2021. With the breadth and depth of her Stanford knowledge, and the personal relationships formed during her long career, her service benefits SHS programs and oral histories. She is a thoughtful historian, completing nine truly excellent faculty oral histories, while contributing insights and efforts to improve Stanford’s oral history program.
Alison Carpenter Davis received the 2024 Susan W. Schofield Oral History Award for her work on the Disability at Stanford Oral History Project. Comprised of more than two dozen interviews, the project sheds light on the personal histories and lived experiences of members of the Stanford community living with disabilities, and contributes to the archival record on the history of student activism and institutional efforts regarding disability at Stanford.
The award committee commended Davis for her vision for the project, her dedication as project coordinator, and her skill and sensitivity in carrying out thirteen multi-session interviews. With the support of the Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program, the Disability at Stanford interviews are being deposited in the Stanford University Archives and the entire collection will be available online in the coming months. Stay tuned for an event next academic year celebrating the project.
Established in 2018, the Susan W. Schofield Oral History Award is given annually by the Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program for excellence in the practice of oral history. Its purpose is to encourage oral history at Stanford University, to strengthen the collections of the Stanford Historical Society and the Stanford Libraries, and to recognize excellent quality in oral history work.
Abigail Kahn, winner of the 2024 Beyers Prize for Excellence in Historical Writing (Graduate Division), compared the community school model developed by Stanford Professor of Education Paul Hanna and his students to more contemporary models of community schools in her essay “The Community School Movement, Past and Present: A Discussion of the ‘Proposed Curriculum Procedures for Japanese Relocation Centers,’ 1942”.
Relying in part on primary sources in the Stanford University Archives, Kahn’s essay provides an insightful and well-considered perspective on the complicated history of the role of Stanford’s faculty and students in designing the curricula of Japanese Relocation Centers.
Mahina Kaomea is the winner of the 2024 Beyers Prize for Excellence in Historical Writing (Undergraduate Division). Her beautifully written and moving essay “Genealogies of Belonging: A Narrative History of Native Student Activism at Stanford University, 1894-1974” focused on the history of Native student activism at Stanford. Kaomea used archival materials and first-person recollections as revealed through oral histories with participants in that history, as well as rich documentation contained within the Native American Cultural Center’s own archival records. She deftly interweaves the historical record with a personal account of how that history encourages her to help shape the future.
Established in 2002, the Beyers Prize for Excellence in Historical Writing is named in honor of Robert W. Beyers, director of Stanford News Service from 1961 to 1990. Stanford undergraduate and graduate students are invited to seek the award presented annually by the Stanford Historical Society. In addition to a cash prize, successful entries will be considered for publication in future issues of Sandstone & Tile, published three times a year by the society.
For information about future Schofield and Beyers award submission deadlines, please visit the Opportunities page on the Stanford Historical Society website.
