History Club Service and Leadership Award

Greta Davis

“As President, Greta has made the History Club an active student organization that has attracted students from across the university with various events for students who love History no matter their major. I [Dr. Haug] would like to especially commend her work during Black History Month, during which she worked with Prof. McGee to support three different events, including a tour of Union Baptist Cemetery, the Douglass Day Digitization project, and Black Family Fun Night, where Greta and the History Club organized a Black History scavenger hunt.”

Freshman Seminar Prize

Madison Closson , “American Antisemitism and the Ignorance of the Holocaust”

“Madison’s paper tackles an intense and emotional topic with great maturity and insight. Her analysis of the press and their reactions to the Holocaust during the event not only confronts a well-trod myth that Americans did not know what was happening in Europe but also confronts the ugly Antisemitic elements of American society. Perhaps most impressively, Madison turned to the Jewish press to compare and contrast how different Americans wrote about and considered the mass murder in Europe. This paper stands out for her skill in constructing this multi-level argument and her precise and fluid writing.” 

Hilda L. Smith Prize, Best Essay in Women’s History

Alivia Miller, “Forbidden: An Exploration of the ‘Abbasid Harem.”

“In this paper, Livvy explores the Abbasid Harem, the private quarters of the caliphal palace, not only as a space of female seclusion but also as a space of female agency where both royal and enslaved women engaged in political and economic activities within the palace and beyond. Alivia’s analysis shines a light on the internal hierarchy of the harem and the ways the women of the harem were integrated into the larger political dynamics of the Abbasid Caliphate despite their physical seclusion. “

Anji Patel , “Systematic Oppression and Subordination of Hindu Women in the Caste System.”

“Patel’s creative capstone research which blends diaries, the law, religious accounts, and travelogues, resulted in an insightful paper on gender dynamics within the caste system. She argues that the caste system has upheld not only socioeconomic disparities but gender disparities as well. She pays specific attention to how the caste system was used as a mechanism of social control for widows.” 

George B. Engberg Capstone Prize, Best Research Essay (non-US History)

Grant Gerlinger, “Holodomor: How Media Contributed to Stalin’s Coverup of the Soviet Ukrainian Famine.”

“Gerlinger already had his topic chosen when he joined the history capstone. What he didn’t have were Gareth Jones’ diaries. Only two print versions are available in the country, and after weeks of steadfast perseverance, Gerlinger finally tracked one down. His persistence in the Great Diary Hunt carried on into his writing. He is a natural writer but also understands the power of revision. He wove such a seamless tale that I [Dr. Wingo] found myself having to backtrack to check on the citations because I was just caught up in the story!”

George Newberger Capstone Prize , Best Research Essay (U.S. History)

Abigail Crabtree, “Grabbing the Third Rail: Lyndon B. Johnson’s Policy Concerning Mexico and the Alliance for Progress.”

“Building on materials gathered in person at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library in Austin, Texas, along with an impressive analysis of the extant historiography on U.S.-Mexican relations during the 1960s, this essay examines the role played by Mexican nationalism in U.S.-Mexican relations during the Lyndon Johnson presidency. Crabtree adeptly argues that Lyndon Johnson’s personal feelings for Mexicans and Mexico, and his famous personal touch in diplomacy, helped to ensure that these years would be an era of good feelings between the two nations.” 

Emma Hynes, “Not Your Mother’s Birth Control: A History of Cincinnati’s Vasectomy Services, Inc.”

“Hynes’ work on this research project began nearly two years ago when I [Dr. Wingo] recruited them to join Professor Emeritus Bert Huether and myself on a little research venture into the history of an organization Huether founded called Vasectomy Services, Inc., or VSI. This led Hynes to the attic of Planned Parenthood, where they generated the very first finding aids for PPAC’s archives; to Heuther’s house, where they rifled through papers and interviewed both he and his wife; and to countless phone calls to locate more materials in people’s homes and interview other founding members of VSI. The result is this meticulously researched capstone that chronicles the history of VSI, placing it into context both regionally and nationally and within movements like Zero Population Growth, second-wave feminism, and abortion rights. Hynes has worked hard throughout the semester to hone their writing craft, which shows.”

George Newberger Capstone Prize , Best  Digital, Public History, or Media Project

Divya Kumar, “I don’t have a good education. Should I be afraid to be treated in a hospital?”: An Analysis of Informed Consent in the Cincinnati Radiation Experiments: 1960-1972.

“This paper results from two years of steady research and activism, including mining previously understudied patient records in the medical campus archives, interviews with whistleblowers and lawyers, and painstaking efforts to revise the commemoration of the Cincinnati Radiation Experiments of the 1960s and 70s. Ms. Kumar’s passion for this project extends beyond the historical. Her advocacy for the patients who are long since deceased and their descendant family members is commendable and has already produced results. In addition to this paper, she wrote about UC’s problematic commemoration of the victims of these experiments for a peer-reviewed historical blog, Nursing Clio, spoke to the incoming class of medical students about the experiments and the issue of informed consent and is working with the administration to reconsider how they commemorate and discuss this troubling history.” 

In addition to all the above, as early as 2021, Kumar developed a website to build a better monument for the victims of the Cincinnati Radiation Experiments. And this term, she shared her research in a talk sponsored by the Center in the City, the director of which is Dr. Anne Steinert.  

The Lenore F. McGrane Prize for the Most Promising Student in History (This is a faculty-nominated award)

Note: Starting in 2023-2024, this award will be a scholarship rather than an end-of-year prize.

Ava Gyurcsik

To quote Dr. Campos, “Ava is an extremely bright, highly-motivated student with enormous potential. [In his Cold War in Latin America Class] she gained my attention when she began turning in writing assignments. Her first paper just stood out for its fluidity and higher-level analysis… She continued to show that potential through various writing assignments and an oral presentation on her research. She capped off the course with a very good [18 page!] paper on the history of OPS [a controversial US police training program in Latin America] in which she argued compellingly that, during the 1960s, in the midst of “the Alliance for Progress”, the US understood that capitalist development, or “modernization” in the language and theory of the day, would require considerable coercion that went beyond what was normally allowed in a democracy.”

Emma Hynes

To quote Dr. Wingo, “Throughout all their coursework, they demonstrated the utmost maturity, the complexity of thought, an unbounded eagerness for revision, and brought with them unbridled joy for learning. So when Bert Huether (Biology, emeritus) approached me to see if I had a student in mind who would be willing to research the history of his local non-profit, Vasectomy Services, Inc., and its relationship with Planned Parenthood, the choice was obvious. It was Emma. Emma spent an entire year organizing the Planned Parenthood archives, conducting oral histories with former VSI founders, and writing the first-ever timeline of VSI’s local activities and impact. They presented their research to the Emeriti Faculty Association mere months before Dr. Heuther died. Emma continued their research into VSI for their capstone, which I was delighted to oversee. Watching Emma’s career trajectory has been absolutely magical. They have such an indefatigable zest for learning.”

Austin Neville

To quote Dr. Phillips’ nomination. “Since the first week of the term, Austin has been head and shoulders above every other student in my HIST 4000 – American South to 1865. In this writing-intensive hybrid class, his writing has been exceptional, his analysis keen, and his willingness to do more than the exercise requirements has been consistent. He is quiet in class, but his intellectual abilities leap from the screen when he submits anything in his writing. He comes to my office nearly every week to discuss concepts he feels he hasn’t quite grasped, a rarity for undergrads in this day. His annotated bibliography project received by far the highest in the class. I cannot be more pleased with his investment, interest, and abilities demonstrated in this required course.” 

The Emma Louis Parry for a Top History Student in History (This is a faculty-nominated award)

Note: Starting in 2023-2024, this award will be a scholarship rather than an end-of-year prize.

Dillon Jackson

To quote Dr. O’Conner, “Dillon ranks among the top 5% of undergraduates whom I have taught at UC. He also compares very favorably to the best of the MA students I have worked with. He is very smart, well-read, and possesses excellent analytical and interpretive skills. He can persuasively sustain an argument. He writes cogently and with a level of sophistication in terms of his analysis that stands out among his peers. He deeply appreciates historiography and can synthesize material with great skill and confidence. I have taught him in several classes, and he was one of the strongest students in my global capitalism class last fall semester; this is saying much because the class itself was exceedingly talented [including other award winners here today]. Dillon is terrific in class discussions and possesses a distinct maturity and intellectual curiosity that makes him fun to have in class. I have learned much from him, as have the other students in the class. He has a lovely manner with his fellow students at the same time. Dillon Jackson is an exemplary and talented undergraduate student.” 

Kathryn Siemer

To quote Dr. Haude, “Kathryn took two of my courses this semester (Methods and History of Christianity I) and excelled in both of them. Even though she is shy, she is one of the most reliable participants in class. She is always prepared, which obviously helps, but she also has a keen, analytical mind, and her contributions unfailingly move discussions forward and upward. Her papers are A+ papers — all of them! They reflect an experienced graduate student’s intellectual maturity, and she is still an undergraduate. Her papers are not only well constructed with a sure sense of arguments and evidence, they are also wonderfully written in a lucid, thoughtful style.” 

Grace Suhadolnik

To quote Dr. Longfield Karr, “I am nominating Grace Suhadolnik for the Parry Prize because she asks excellent questions. These questions get at the heart of the significance of arguments and the connections between worlds and texts, inviting innovative history papers, research projects, and discussions. This skill has served her well as an undergraduate and exemplifies what the Parry Prize for the Top Student in History ultimately recognizes: past performance and future potential.  She has been the top student in the classes she’s taken with me. Throughout each course, Grace’s contributions to the in-class discussion and out-of-class forums were thoughtful and insightful; they showed a high level of critical analysis and engagement with the materials—visual and textual—of the course. Moreover, her primary source analysis essays, research papers, and interpretive papers were outstanding. She consistently showed a solid understanding of the courses’ broader issues and complex contexts overall, as well as how they related to contemporary issues.