The Friend of History Award is an

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

given by the

Organization of American Historians The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad inc ...

(OAH). The award was first presented in 2005. It is not a monetary award and is granted annually.

Purpose

Friend of History Award "recognizes an individual, who is not a professional

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

, or an institution or organization for outstanding support for the pursuit of historical research, for the public presentation of history, or for the work of the OAH."

Recipients

Source
Organization of American Historians
*2005: Seymour G. Sternberg,

New York Life Insurance Company New York Life Insurance Company (NYLIC) is the third-largest life insurance company in the United States, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and is ranked #67 on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United State ...

*2005:

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History was founded in New York City by businessmen-philanthropists Richard Gilder and Lewis E. Lehrman in 1994 to promote the study and interest in American history. The Institute serves teachers, studen ...

*2006: Geoffrey C. Ward, Independent Scholar *2007: Senator

Robert C. Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A ...

*2007: Libby O'Connell and

The History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

*2008:

Ruth J. Simmons Ruth Simmons (born Ruth Jean Stubblefield, July 3, 1945) is an American professor and academic administrator. She is president of Prairie View A&M University, a historically black university. Simmons previously served as the 18th president of ...

, president,

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

*2009: Brian P. Lamb, founder and CEO,

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

, host of ''

Booknotes ''Booknotes'' is an American television series on the C-SPAN network hosted by Brian Lamb, which originally aired from 1989 to 2004. The format of the show is a one-hour, one-on-one interview with a non-fiction author. The series was broadcast at ...

'' *2010:

Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities and located on Washington Square in Chicago, Illinois. It has been free and open to the public since 1887. Its collections encompass a variety of topics rela ...

*2011: Jay S. Goodgold, Independent Investor *2012: ''No award given'' *2013: The almost 85,000 participants in the U.S. Department of Education's Teaching American History Program *2014: Stephen A. Briganti, president and chief executive officer,

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...

Foundation *2015:

Colin G. Campbell Colin Goetze Campbell (born November 3, 1935) is an American who served as the thirteenth president of Wesleyan University and the President of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Early life He is the son of Jos ...

, chairman emeritus,

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has 7300 employees at this location and ...

*2016: NASA Johnson Space Center History Office *2017: Lonnie G. Bunch III,

National Museum of African American History and Culture The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in December 2003 and opened its permanent home in ...

*2018:

Civil War Trust The American Battlefield Trust is a charitable organization ( 501(c)(3)) whose primary focus is in the preservation of battlefields of the American Civil War, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 through acquisition of battlefield land. Th ...

*2019:

Natasha Trethewey Natasha Trethewey (born April 26, 1966) is an American poet who was appointed United States Poet Laureate in 2012 and again in 2013. She won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for her 2006 collection ''Native Guard'', and she is a former Poet L ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

*2020: Ulysses S. Grant Association

References

{{Reflist History awards American awards Awards established in 2005

Purpose

Recipients

See also

References