Hedley Donovan Scholarship

The Donovan scholarship program was established by a generous bequest from the family of Hedley Donovan. Mr. Donovan graduated with a history major in 1934 from the University of Minnesota. After a long career in journalism, Mr. Donovan became editor-in-chief of Time, Inc. Following his retirement from this position, Mr. Donovan served as an advisor to President Jimmy Carter. Mr. Donovan died in 1990. The scholarship was founded because Hedley Donovan credited much of his success in life to his education at the University of Minnesota.

The Donovan scholarship annually rewards up to three exceptional history majors who demonstrate the potential for the kind of leadership Mr. Donovan displayed. The scholarship provides major funding ($8,000), which permits the Donovan scholar to undertake an exceptional program of study, research, or work in Minnesota or elsewhere. Projects might include conducting research in regional, national, or international archives or libraries; serving an internship with a government, cultural, or social service agency here or abroad; or working with an international scholar.

Application Procedure & Eligibility Requirements

Applications for the Donovan scholarship must meet the general department requirements for scholarships as well as these additional requirements as noted below:

  • A 5-page detailed plan of study for the scholarship and a description of its importance to the applicant's career. This is the most significant part of the application and should demonstrate the importance and feasibility of the proposed plan of study. Please include a proposed budget.
  • A biographical statement (500-1000 words) including a brief statement of your accomplishments as a student of history.
  • A letter of reference from a historian at the University of Minnesota
  • The Donovan Scholarship is due First Monday in March.

Please contact the undergraduate advisor David Perry, or consult the advice from past participants, if you have any questions. 

Past Recipients

  • Ruthie Allgood (2022 - 2023)

    • "Women in the Age of Revolution: Therese Huber in Letters"

  • Peter Grace (2022-2023)

    • “To Antidesign a Utopia: The Intersection of Futuristic Imagination and Class-Conscious Solutions in the Designs of Joe Colombo”

  • Rowan Wylie (2022 - 2023)

    • “Rationalizing the Irrational: Understanding Early Modern European Ideas of Witchcraft

      and Demonic Possession in the Modern Age”

  • Britney Chino (2021-2022)
    • "Donde El Pueblo Manda y El Gobierno Obedece: Zapatista Historiography"
  • Alex Kincaid-Beal (2021-2022)
    • "Native Nations, the Spanish Empire, and the Influence of Goats in Santa Fe, New Mexico"
  • Darby Ronning (2021-2022)
    • "16th-Century Herbal Books"
  • Brayden Rothe (2021-2022)
    • "Burgeoning Consumerism: An Analysis of Capitalism and Consumerism at the World's Columbian Exposition"
  • Kendra Anderson (2020-2021)
    • “The Land on Which We Live, Learn and Work: The University of Minnesota’s Involvement in the Forced Removal of the Dakota People” 
  • Luke Dykowski (2020-2021)
    •  “Misunderstood Magnificence: Examining the Forgotten Renaissance in Burgundy and the  Holy Roman Empire”
  • Katherine Zeman (2020-2021)
    • “Illusions of Improvement: An Environmental History of Ideas, Land Use, and the Great Famine in Ireland”
  • Lydia Larson (2020-2021) 
    • “Women and Population: Neocolonialism and Bodily Control During Two Conferences of the Second United Nations Development Decade”
  • Cristina Craig (2019-2020)
    • "Competing Childhoods: An Analysis of Children's Work In British Colonial Kenya"
  • Ian Fuchs (2019-2020)
    • "As Long as It's 'Not Grotesque': Sanctioned and Punished Queerness in the Great War"
  • Kate Beaudry (2019-2020)
    • "How Germanic Tribes Can Affect Modern Political Identity"
  • Benjamin Reis (2019-2020)
    • "City on Fire: Survival in Charleston during the Civil War"
  • Joselin Navarro-Cano (2018-2019)
    • "Chicanx/Latinx People Surviving and Challenging the US Education System" 
  • Benjamin Halom (2018-2019)
    • "Banditry and Sovereignty in 19th Century California: The Case of Joaquin Murrieta"
  • Robert Moss (2018-2019)
    • "Under the Bombs: German Civilians and the Allied Air War over Europe" 
  • Shannon Delahanty (2018-2019)
    • "Before the Split: Cultural Understanding and Colonial Thought in WW1"
  • Henry Carras (2016-2017)
    • "Love Canal: An Environmental History"
  • Michaela Bunke (2016-2017)
    • "Impact on Liberal Vienna"
  • Edward Chappell (2015-2016)
    • "Antonio Nardi and the Scene of the New Science"
  • Brian Donarski (2015-2016)
    • "English Anarcho-Punk"
  • Noah Hummel-Hall (2015-2016)
    • "Investigating Public Opinion on Napoleon Bonaparte"
  • Natalie Wright (2015-2016)
    • "Riot Grrrl: A Musical and Political Movement that Inspired Modern Feminism"
  • Amanda Farag (2014-2015)
    • "Transition of Nineteenth Century French Nationalism through Clothing"
  • Keith Kallmes (2014-2015)
    • "The Silchester Archaeological Field School"
  • Luke Wolf (2014-2015)
    • "East German Peace Movements"
  • Kevin Kallmes (2013-2014)
    • "Silchester Field School--Summer Excavation Opportunity"
  • Samuel Neisen (2013-2014)
    • "Citizen Schools and Public Achievement"
  • Rebecca Whitmore (2013-2014)
    • "Senegalese Elementary Education in the Shadow of International Presence"
  • Cara Berger (2012-2013)
    • "Women's Devotion in Medieval England"
  • Elizabeth Greenlee (2012-2013)
    • "Investigating Factors that Influence Representation"
  • Rose Miron (2012-2013)
    • "Hearing Their Stories: The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans Tribal nation of Wisconsin"
  • Sophie Wallerstedt (2012-2013)
    • "From necessary Evil to Social Evil: Commercialized Sex and Progressive Reform in Minneapolis, 1880-1920"
  • Andrew Larkin (2011-2012)
    • "Franco-Cameroonian Economic Cooperation"
  • Maria May (2011-2012)
    • "Artists and Dissidents’ Lives after the October 1956 Hungarian Revolt"
  • Joseph Whitson (2011-2012)
    • "Appalachian Music and Folklore"
  • Yuridia Ramírez (2010-2011)
    • "Centennial to Bicentennial: One Hundred Years of Mexican Press Coverage"
  • LaReina Adams (2009-2010)
    • "Family and Gender in Ancient Rome"
  • Jessica Hobson (2009-2010)
    • "The Hermit Kingdom’s Children: Korea’s Role in Shaping U.S. Nationalism"
  • Paige Patchin (2009-2010)
    • "The ‘Cocalero’ Movement in Feminist-Environmentalist Terms"
  • Chelsie McGuire (2008-2009)
    • "Privateers in the American Revolution"
  • Rowan Morbey (2008-2009)
    • "A Challenge to Non-Intervention: Dukhovskoi and his Assessment of Islam in 19th Century Turkestan"
  • Jennifer Stiles (2008-2009)
    • "Placed-Out in Clinton County"
  • Bonnie Bigalke (2007-2008)
    • "Hazel Grace"
  • Kevin Malloy (2007-2008
    • "Siege of Beziers"
  • Emma O'Brien (2007-2008)
    • "The Historical/Cultural Geography of Twin Cities Hip Hop"
  • Stephanie Cox (2006-2007)
    • "A Historical Look into the Challenges Facing Native Tribes Seeking Federal Acknowledgement"
  • Amanda Dlouhy (2006-2007)
    • "Immigration, Housing, and Urban Change in the Twin Cities"
  • Maria Moncur (2006-2007)
    • "Who Burned the White House Down"
  • Andrew Dach (2005-2006)
    • "A Philosophe at Versailles: Quesnay and the Court of Louis XV"
  • Lisa Lillie (2005-2006)
    • "Teaching Across Continents: Proposed Plan of Study"
  • Mercedes Tuma-Hansen (2005-2006)
    • "Historical Re-enactment as Public History"

 

What can you do with the Donovan?

  • Shannon Delahanty - "After returning to the U in the fall, I have begun to incorporate my research from the Imperial War Museum and the National Army Museum into my Honors Thesis. I have taken my investigation into the interactions between the British and Imperial forces with the local populations as a precursor to the British Mandate system, and more specifically the creation of Iraq by a British gentlewoman named Gertrude Bell. In addition to my thesis, my experience in the archives had vastly improved my understanding of archival gaps and disparities."
  • Benjamin Halom - "Thanks to the Donovan Scholarship, I was able to travel to the Bancroft Library in Berkeley, California, and use their extensive archive of California history to research lynching in the Antebellum west. I ended up drawing on some of the materials I found there, especially the scrapbook of Judge Benjamin Ignatius Hayes, for my summa thesis on lynching, law, and sovereignty in 1850s Los Angeles."
  • Joselin Navarro-Cano - "I studied Chicanx and Latinx people surviving and challenging the U.S Education system. I traveled to Los Angeles, California, and Austin, Texas to explore their Chicanx/Latinx archives. I was able to interview some activists that were part of the Chicano Student Movement. I am also working on an Oral History Project in which I am documenting the stories of Latinx people in Minnesota and their experiences in U.S schools."
  • Robert Moss - "I traveled to Germany for a month during the summer of 2019. I visited four different cities including Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden, and Frankfurt, in order to perform my research about the lives of German citizens during the bombing of Germany by the US and Great Britain during the Second World War. I visited institutions such as the Military History Museum in Dresden and the State Archives of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. The documents I found included reports by journalists of the damage done to German cities like Hamburg, stories of people who traveled around Germany trying to alleviate the burdens faced by hundreds of thousands of people affected by bombings, and the relocation of children from urban and industrial centers." 

Advice from Past Recipients 

Kendra Donovan (2020-21)

     

     

     

    • Luke Dykowski

     

     

     

     

     

    • Katherine Zeman

     

     

     

     

     

    • Lydia Larson