Endowed Awards – Department of History

Our generous alumni have made the following awards available to current Department of History undergraduate students. Funds are competitive and notification of awards is made at the end of every spring semester. To endow a new award please contact the department chair.

Application for all scholarships are due in the middle of Spring semester and will be considered by the Undergraduate Affairs Committee of the Department of History. The exact date on which applications are due each year is announced on Professor Tabuteau’s listserv.

Please follow the specific application criteria for each individual scholarship.

BLIGHT HISTORY SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Professor David Blight is a distinguished professor and scholar of History and alumnus of the MSU History Department. The Scholarship is intended to support students in the History Department and encourage students who have demonstrated the capacity to achieve educational and professional goals, the motivation to achieve these goals, and the initiative to seek opportunities to further their progress.
Undergraduate and graduate students pursuing a degree in History with high financial need will be considered for the Scholarship. The award will rotate; Odd years for undergraduates and even years for graduate students.
For consideration: Please submit (1) a letter of application, stating your interest in and eligibility for the scholarship, (2) proof of your financial need, and (3) two letters of recommendation. At least one of the letters of recommendation should be from a professor in the Department of History; the other should be from someone who can also tell us about your academic performance.
Past Recipients: Ayden Ferris 2023, Delayne Bassett 2022, Willem Conner 2021.

THE DAVID T. BAILEY ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP IN HISTORY

The award honors the late Professor Bailey, who was a professor of American intellectual and religious history in the Department of History at Michigan State for many years. The intended recipient is a disadvantaged student from the state of Michigan who is a History major at Michigan State.
For consideration: Please submit (1) a letter of application, stating your interest in and eligibility for the scholarship, and (2) two letters of recommendation. At least one of the letters of recommendation should be from a professor in the Department of History.
Past Recipients: Alivia Young 2023, Ayden Ferris 2022, Makenzie Jacobs 2021, Makenzie Jacobs 2020, Willem Conner 2019, Allie Pail 2018.

THE SINCLAIR AND S. SUZANNE POWELL SCHOLARSHIP IN TRANSPORTATION HISTORY

Recipients shall be undergraduate or graduate students in the Department of History who have a strong interest in Transportation History.
For consideration: Please submit (1) a letter of application, stating your interest in and eligibility for the scholarship, and (2) two letters of recommendation. At least one of the letters of recommendation should be from a professor in the Department of History.
Past Recipients: Ryan Carty 2023, Joseph Konczal 2023, Katie Carline 2022, Dani Willcutt 2021, Ramon Miranda-Beltran 2020, Liao Zhang 2019, Ramya Swayamprakash 2018, Anthony Padovano 2017, and Duncan Tarr 2016.

ANTHONY AND MARY JOAN WOODS SCHOLARSHIP FOR RESEARCH

Anthony E. Woods, Sr. and his wife Mary Joan Woods are the late parents of MSU alumnus Anthony E. Woods, Jr. Tony, Sr. served in World War II. After the war, he married Mary Mary Joan, who as an English teacher with Tony at Mt. Clemens High School in Michigan. The couple later moved to Dearborn, where they both continued teaching. Anthony Woods, Jr. and Kay Samuelson Woods have established this scholarship in honor of Tony, Sr. and Mary Joan. The scholarship honors their legacy of teaching and philanthropy. It is the first established by a donor to support the History Scholars Program.
The award funds annually the research of a student in the History Scholars Program, or if determined by the department, a promising student majoring in History with a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
For consideration: Please submit (1) a letter of application, stating your interest in and eligibility for the scholarship, and (2) two letters of recommendation.; At least one of the letters of recommendation should be from a professor in the Department of History; the other should be from someone who can also tell us about your academic performance.
Past recipients: Jonah Wiegand 2023, Aaron Pap 2022, Rebecca Yeomans-Stephenson 2021, Jakob Myers 2020, Samantha Fethka 2019, Brett Binkowski 2018, Anna Cumming 2017, Haley Keefer 2016.

SANDRA SAGESER CLARK ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP IN HISTORY

Sandra Sageser Clark is the Director of the Michigan Historical Center, a state agency that includes ten museums, the State Archives of Michigan and historic preservation, archeology and publications programs. She is the former editor of Michigan History Magazine and has served as president of the American Association for State and Local History. She is particularly interested in assisting students majoring in history who plan careers that will help the public discover, enjoy and find inspiration in their heritage through museums, archives, publications, historical preservation, and other public history programs.
Applicants should be History majors who will be juniors or seniors during the following academic year. Preference will be given to “students interested in careers in public history.”
For consideration: Please submit (1) a statement–approximately one page, typed, double-spaced–of the applicant’s interest in and engagement with public history and (2) two letters of recommendation. At least one recommendation must be from a professor of history at Michigan State. The second recommendation may be either from a professor of history at Michigan State or from the applicant’s supervisor in a public history activity.
Past Recipients: Rebecca Yeomans-Stephenson 2023, Katherine Denzin 2022, Thomas Crain 2021, Jon-Claude Howd 2020, Brett Binkowski 2019, Samantha Fethke 2018, Zachariah Torrey 2017, Dylan Border 2016.

ROBERT AND CATHERINE WORKMAN ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP IN HISTORY

This award is intended for students who have demonstrated financial need as determined by the University’s criteria, who are enrolled in the College of Social Science with a major in History, and who have achieved a minimum grade point average of 2.5, both cumulatively and in the last semester completed at MSU.
For consideration: To apply for the Workman scholarship, please submit (1) a letter of application, stating your interest in and eligibility for the scholarship, (2) proof of your financial need, and (3) two letters of recommendation. At least one of the letters of recommendation should be from a professor in the Department of History; the other should be from someone who can also tell us about your academic performance.
Past Recipients: Kendall Brach 2023, Alivia Young 2022, LiChail Gaines 2021, Willem Connor 2020, Ashley Highland 2019, Allie Pail 2018, Manon Steel 2017, Dylan Border 2016.

HARRY REED ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP IN HISTORY

This award is intended for undergraduate history juniors with either African American history or American history as their major area of emphasis. Harry Reed is an Emeritus Professor of History at Michigan State.
For consideration: Please submit (1) a letter of application, stating your interest in and eligibility for the scholarship, and (2) two letters of recommendation.; At least one of the letters of recommendation should be from a professor in the Department of History; the other should be from someone who can also tell us about your academic performance.
Past Recipients: Megan Smejkal 2023, Rebecca Yeoman-Stephenson 2022, Wisdom Henry and Leah Welch 2021, Wisdom Henry 2020, Brett Binkowski 2019, Matthew Brazier 2018, Zachariah Torrey 2017, Haley Keefer 2016.

THE J. MORGAN SWEENEY MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

This award honors the late Professor Sweeney, who led MSU Study Abroad Programs to Great Britain for many years. The award is for History students participating in the Department’s Study Abroad Programs. Applicants should have an overall GPA of 2.75 and a History GPA of 3.25.
For consideration: Please submit a 250-500 word essay discussing reasons for wishing to study abroad and a letter of recommendation from a member of the History Department faculty.
Past Recipients: Rashad Bates 2023, Evan Coberly 2020, Wisdom Henry 2019, Billy Wetzel 2018, Allie Pail 2017, Elizabeth Schondelmayer 2016.

THE IRENE STEINDLER ENDOWMENT IN HISTORY

This honor gives an award to an undergraduate or graduate student with initiatives to promote diversity programs or activities related to the History Department’s participation in or collaboration with the university’s Jewish Studies Program.
For consideration: Please submit, (1) a letter of application, stating your interest in and eligibility for the scholarship and (2) submit two letters of recommendation, at least one from a member of the History Department faculty.
Past Recipients: McKayla Sluga 2022, Robin Crigler 2021, Leah Welch 2020, Ashley Highland and Sean Wright 2019, Janelle Edwards 2018, Anna Cumming 2017, Bradley Isakson & Micaela Procopio 2016.

THE LOROMER SCHOLARSHIP

The David LoRomer Prize, which is awarded to the best paper written by an undergraduate in a History course during the past year.
For consideration: Please submit your paper for consideration.
Past Recipients: Sophie Alegi 2023, Michael Schiestel 2022, Jakob Myers 2021, Brett Binkowski 2020.

THE ROUT-WILLIAMS SCHOLARSHIP

The Rout-Williams Award in history remembers Dr. Les Rout, one of the first African American professors in the department, and Dr. Frederick Williams, former chair of the department, honors an outstanding history sophomore.
Past Recipients: Jared Visser 2023, Josh Morrisey 2022, Sophie Alegi 2021, Leah Welch & Evan Coberly 2020, Michael Vorwald 2019, Rachel Lawrence 2018, Alyse Arnold 2017, Trenton Koch 2016.