Stanford Historical Society presents Bartholomew, Presidential, and Schofield awards

The Stanford Historical Society (SHS) celebrated exemplary volunteer service and an important oral history project by presenting the Karen Bartholomew Award, the Presidential Awards, and the Susan W. Schofield Oral History Award at the annual members' meeting on May 21, 2026. 

Charles Junkerman, Associate Provost and Dean of Continuing Studies, Emeritus, was the recipient of the 2026 Karen Bartholomew Award for Exceptional Service to the Stanford Historical Society. He was honored for his nearly twenty years of leadership and service on many of the committees and as the society’s president in 2010-2012; for contributing thoughtful ideas and efforts to projects and publications and conducting important oral history interviews; for delivering informative and engaging presentations on Stanford sandstone and the Creative Writing Program; and for organizing the Stanford Songbook concert in April that was a memorable highlight of the society’s 50th anniversary programming.

The Karen Bartholomew Award was established in 2005 to recognize significant and distinguished volunteer service to the Stanford Historical Society (SHS) over a number of years. The annual award’s first recipient and its namesake was Karen Bartholomew ('71), who joined as a member of the society at its founding in 1976 and has been a volunteer for the society since, actively involved in the writing, editing, and production of many SHS publications.

A new award, Presidential Award, was created this year to recognize additional volunteers for their outstanding contributions to the society. Sapna Marfatia and Susan Sweeney, co-chairs of the 50th Anniversary Task Force, were honored for their leadership in guiding the task force to develop and execute the anniversary programs and projects while "fostering a spirit of collaboration and fun." 

Henry Segal (Class of 2026), who served on and initiated projects for the Membership & Development Committee and was a presenter at the 2025 and 2026 annual meetings of the society, was honored "for his energy, hard work, and accomplishments, and for his enthusiasm for Stanford history." 

Kathy Schniedwind and Sunny Scott, designers and, in the case of Scott, photographer, were honored for their many beautiful and illustrative works that enhanced the society's publications, web pages, program slides, and videos. 

Natalya Leyden (Class of 2026) received the 2026 Susan W. Schofield Oral History Award for her work in coordinating the Graduate Workers Unionization at Stanford Oral History Project. Comprised of eleven interviews with Stanford graduate students involved in organizing the graduate worker union, the project provides first-person accounts of key moments in the campaign, illuminates specific organizing tools and strategies, and documents concrete wins as well as the debates, tensions, and disappointments of the process. The interviews were conducted by Leyden and other SHS Oral History Program student interns.

The award committee commended Leyden for "her skill in developing and coordinating a project that traces the formation and growth of the Stanford Graduate Workers Union, her commitment to documenting the experiences of those who fought for collective bargaining rights during a transformative period in labor organizing at universities, and for her attention to oral history best practices in the archival preservation of the interviews."  

The Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program is processing the interviews for inclusion in the Stanford University Archives and the entire collection will be available online after an embargo period. 

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.

The Beyers Prize for Excellence in Historical Writing, another annual award sponsored by the Stanford Historical Society, has an extended deadline of June 21 and will be presented on a later date.

For information about future award submission deadlines, please visit the Opportunities page on the Stanford Historical Society website.