Class of 1889 Memorial Prize

This paper competition commemorates the first class of history majors to graduate from the University of Minnesota by awarding up to three cash prizes annually.

Application Procedure & Eligibility Requirements

Eligibility is limited to undergraduate history majors only.

In order to be eligible for prize submission, papers must:

  • Be completed in the previous Fall, Summer, or Spring Semester (i.e. for the Spring 2021 prize, the paper must be from Fall, Summer, or Spring 2020).
  • Be accompanied by an appropriate cover sheet (contact histugs@umn.edu for a copy).
  • Be at least 20 pages in length and based on research in primary sources.
  • The Class of 1889 Prize is due the First Monday in March.

Past Recipients 

  • Meixu Ye (2022 - 2023)
    • “The Misunderstood Women’s Group: The Aesthetic Standards of Tang Dynasty Women and the Reasons for Their Formation”
  • Kendra Anderson (2021-2022)
    • “Land as Lifeblood: The Involvement of the University of Minnesota and its Board of Regents in Dakota, Ojibwe and Ho-Chunk Removal”
  • Juliet Paulson (2020-2021)
    • “Three Women’s Tales of Gender Transgression and Transformation: An Analysis of Women’s Fiction in Late Imperial China” 
  • Celia Commers (2019-2020)
    • "Culture as State Building: Cultural Institutions and Absolutism in Eighteenth Century Russia" 
  • Sofia Logan (2018-2019)
    • "State Repression and Street Resistance in the Kingdom of Samba" 
  • Makiki Reuvers (2015-2016)
    • A Walk with the Devil: Expressions of Cultural Tensions on the American Frontier through Religious Narrative in 1785"
  • Maria Brekke (2014-2015)
    • "Refugee and Asylum Policy Post-9/11: The Redefinition of Asylum Policy as an Issue of National Security"
  • Rose Miron (2013-2014)
    • "Hearing Their Stories: The Stockbridge-Muncee Band of Mohicans Tribal Nation of Wisconsin"
  • Renae Rodgers (2012-2013)
    • "Transitions in Textbooks: National Identity in the Volksschule History Texts, 1939-1949"
  • Alyssa Miller (2011-2012)
    • "Not the Time to Play Games:  Sport and the Spirit of Britain, From Triumph to Tragedy, in WWI"
  • Yuridia Ramirez (2011-2012)
    • "Idealizing Independence: Guanajuato, Mexico, and Sites of Memory"
  • Joe Whitson (2011-2012)
    • "Coal Miner's Blues: Folk Music and Class-Consciousness in the Southern Appalachians"
  • Kimberly Scriver (2010-2011)
    • "Preserving Patriarchy: Young Women of the South and the American Civil War"
  • Rowan Morbey (2009-2010)
    • "Islam in Turkestan: A Report by Governor-General Sergei Mihailovich Dukhovskoi"
  • Alisha Santoorjian (2009-2010)
    • "Hot Pants Take the Field: Media Representations of the 1971 Women’s Soccer World Championship in Mexico"
  • Emma O'Brien (2008-2009)
    • "Mapping the City One Rap at a Time: Place and Hip Hop in Minneapolis, Minnesota"
  • Maria Moncur (2007-2008)
    • "Our Brave Fathers: The War of 1812 and the Development of Public Historical Narratives in Ontario, 1812-1900"
  • Grant Grays (2006-2007)
    • "Artistic Expression, Political Participation, and African-American Identity in the Third Black Renaissance"
  • Timothy Hulett (2006-2007)
    • "Travel, Place, and Social Mores in Early Modern England"
  • Ryan Mulholland (2006-2007)
    • "The Runaway Presidency: A Judicial Theory of Presidential Power"
  • Amanda Dlouhy (2005-2006)
    • "The Role of Historic Preservation in Neighborhood Revitalization: Milwaukee Avenue"