Stellhorn & Waldron Undergraduate Research Project in New Jersey Studies Award
This award was established in 2004 to honor Paul A. Stellhorn (1947-2001), who was a distinguished historian and public servant who worked for the New Jersey Historical Commission, the New Jersey Committee (now Council) for the Humanities, and the Newark Public Library. An especially active and effective member of the New Jersey history community, he did much to expand the audience for New Jersey history and was an effective advocate for public history and a vigorous supporter of scholarship and publication about the state’s history. As a program officer and a grants administrator he helped many of our present historians and humanities scholars to achieve their goals, whether as scholars, history agency personnel, or educators. He earned a Ph.D. in American History from Rutgers University with a dissertation about Newark during the era of the Great Depression. He was the author or editor of many works about New Jersey’s past, especially about its urban history.
In 2023, the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance changed the name of the award to include the name of Richard "Dick" Waldon, the long-time chair of the committee. In addition to being the chair of this committee, he was a founding member, treasurer, and winner of the Maxine Lurie Distinguished Service Award of the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance and former Executive Director of the New Jersey Historical Commission and the American Swedish Historical Museum. It was noted by an NJSAA member that Paul Stellhorn and Richard Waldron shared an office at the New Jersey Historical Commission for years, so it is only fitting that the two now share an award.
There will be one or more awards in two categories, course or seminar research projects and senior theses. Awards will consist of a certificate and a cash award of $200. The New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance will invite the recipient(s) to speak about her, his, or their work at one of the Alliance’s meetings.
The Award’s sponsors are the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance; the New Jersey Historical Commission, New Jersey Department of State; Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries; and the New Jersey Caucus of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference.
The Stellhorn & Waldon Award Committee members are Mark E. Lender, Kean University (emeritus); Peter Mickulas, Rutgers University Press; and Bob Vietrogoski, Rutgers University Libraries.
Criteria for the award are listed here.
Nominations for the Stellhorn & Waldon Undergraduate Project in New Jersey Award are due June 1.
Past recipients of the Stellhorn & Waldon Award are:
2023
Emily Sánchez, Princeton University, “Dismantling Development: How Black Activists Spearheaded Affordable Housing in Paterson, New Jersey, 1950-1980.” Nominated by Alison Isenberg
Rachel De La Cruz and Cayla Kerekgyarto, Union College of Union County, NJ, “'I just wanted to play tennis': Ellen Magliaro and Gender Discrimination in College Sports before Title IX" Nominated by Michele Rotunda
This paper is the result of a semester-long project in Professor Michele Rotunda’s Women in American History class at Union College. Rachel De La Cruz and Cayla Kerekgyarto served as the main writers, but all of the following students in the class contributed to the research and first draft: Brian Abreu Castano, Kristen Camacho, Benjamin Castro, Carina De Simone, Lizbeth Gonzalez, Milena Guerra Gonzalez, Brianna Guzman, Stephanie Jaramillo, Olga Lopez, Shaylla Matos, Arianna Mesen, Veronica Mierzejewski, Daniela Mino-Lavariega, Andrea Murillo, Christina Sabat, Jaylenne Toro, Kiara Torres, and Victoria Valletutti.
2021
Emily Borowski, Rutgers University, "Eugenics in New Jersey: How the New Jersey State Village for Epileptics Perpetuated Eugenics throughout the State." Nominated by Carla Cevasco
2020
Vayne Ong, Princeton University, “Springwood Avenue Rising: Race, Leisure, and Decline in the 1970 Asbury Park Rising.” Nominated by Alison Isenberg
Sean Graham, Centenary University, “The Origins of Centenary Collegiate Institute: A Story of Industrialization, Wealth, and Natural Resources.” Nominated by Noah Haiduc-Dale
2019
Perry Arrasmith, Harvard University, “A Senator’s Resolve and the Destiny of Two Nations: A Reappraisal of New Jersey’s Theodore Frelinghuysen’s Role in the Cherokee Removal Debate of 1830”
Jordan B. Antebi, Princeton University, “Bridging the Divide: Citizen Participation Versus Urban Renewal, and the Struggle for Community in Trenton, New Jersey”
2018
Caleb Dagnall, Kean University, “Statehood and Sovereignty: A Case Study of William Livingston from Philosophe to Federalist.” Nominated by Elizabeth Hyde
E. Rosie Driscoll, The College of New Jersey, “Without the Least Provision”: Black and Desegregationist Resistance to Systemic Racial Discrimination in Private and Public Housing in Trenton, New Jersey, 1938-1965.” Nominated by Robert McGreevey
2017
Thomas Federowicz, Rutgers University, “Scarlet Knights, Red Crusade: An Analysis of the Great Red Scare at Rutgers-New Brunswick.” Nominating Professor: Richard L. McCormick
Samuel Fogelgaren, The College of New Jersey, “The Fight to Save the Last Frontier’: Exclusionary Zoning and Environmental Protection at the Pequannock Watershed, 1975-1985.” Nominating Professors: Christopher Fisher and Robert McGreevey
2016
Katharine Reed, Princeton University. “Arthur Horton’s Fight Against Coeducation at Princeton: An Unsuccessful but Crucial Battle.”
Audrey Berdahl-Baldwin, Princeton University. “Protecting the Lawful, Combating the Lawless: Racialized Police Violence and the 1967 Newark Uprising.”
2015: No Awards Given
2014
Brett Diehl, Princeton University. “The Story of Cezar Trent and Peter Scudder, Two Free Black Men in Antebellum Princeton.”
Steven Rodriguez, The College of New Jersey, “From Kingsbury to Mount Laurel II: Low-Cost Housing and Exclusionary Zoning in Trenton, NJ.”
Kellen Elizabeth Henniford, Princeton University. “Free Blacks, Freeborn Slaves, and Bondsmen in a Free State: African American Life and Black Political Action during New Jersey’s Emancipatory Period, c. 1820-1845.”
Erik Snyder, The College of New Jersey. “‘Stronger than the Storm’: Why the Great Atlantic Storm of 1962 Failed to Scare New Jersey from its Shore.”
Abigail Klionsky, Princeton University. “In the Tiger’s Lair: The Development of Jewish Student Life at Princeton University, 1915-1972.”
2013
Rebecca Russo, Rider University. "Not Having the Fear of God Before Her Eyes': Infanticide in Colonial New Jersey." Nominating professor: Brooke B. Hunter.
Rachel Mark, Columbia University. "Reputation and Reality in America's Model Town: Remembering Racial Integration in Teaneck, New Jersey, 1949-1968." Nominating professor: Hilary Hallett.
2012
Lauren A. Wells, College of New Jersey. "The Early Roots of School Desegregation: Hedgepath-Williams, Trenton, and the History Behind Brown v. Board of Education, 1943-1954."
Trevor J. McLaughlin, College of New Jersey. "A View from the Chalkboard: Trenton School Desegregation and the Struggle of Black Teachers in the Pre-Brown era, 1944-1954."
2011, First Place:
Taylor H. Desloge, Princeton University, "‘Help the Ladies!”: Public and Private Vision in Women’s Historical Preservation at the Old Barracks in Trenton, NJ, 1899-1919.” Nominating Professor: Alison Isenberg.
2011, Second Place (shared):
Emma Curran Donnelly Hulse, Columbia University. “The Black City: Remembering Newark in the Era of Black Power.” Nominating Professor: Alice Kessler-Harris.
Eric Schkrutz, Rutgers University. “Urban Development in the City of the Traveler: The Story of New Brunswick and Why It May Never Resolve Its Identity Crisis.” Nominating Professor: Alison Isenberg.
2010, First place:
Patricia L. Franchino, Rutgers University. “American in Deed; Italian at Heart: Three Generations in Raritan, N.J., in the 1940s.”
2010, Second place (shared):
Brian J. Thomas, Monmouth University. "Shore Points: The Expanding Influence of New Jersey's Garden State Parkway.”
Felicia Norott, Monmouth University. “The North American Phalanx and the Raritan Bay Union.”
2009: Amisha Patel, Rutgers University. "The Science of George Washington Honed in New Jersey."
2008: John Rocco Calabro, Seton Hall University. "An Economic History of the City of Paterson."
2007: no award given
2006: Christopher Antanaitis, Rider University. "Chambersburg and North Trenton: Varieties in the Experiences of Italians in Trenton, N.J., c. 1900-1980."
2005: Rebecca Karol, Rowan University. "Martin Luther King, Jr., Mary's Cafe, and the Forgotten Beginning of the Civil Rights Movement."
2004: Laura Granett, Rutgers University. "The Boy Scouts of America vs. James Dale: The Court of Law vs. the Court of Public Opinion."
Past recipients of the Stellhorn & Waldon Award are:
2023
Emily Sánchez, Princeton University, “Dismantling Development: How Black Activists Spearheaded Affordable Housing in Paterson, New Jersey, 1950-1980.” Nominated by Alison Isenberg
Rachel De La Cruz and Cayla Kerekgyarto, Union College of Union County, NJ, “'I just wanted to play tennis': Ellen Magliaro and Gender Discrimination in College Sports before Title IX" Nominated by Michele Rotunda
This paper is the result of a semester-long project in Professor Michele Rotunda’s Women in American History class at Union College. Rachel De La Cruz and Cayla Kerekgyarto served as the main writers, but all of the following students in the class contributed to the research and first draft: Brian Abreu Castano, Kristen Camacho, Benjamin Castro, Carina De Simone, Lizbeth Gonzalez, Milena Guerra Gonzalez, Brianna Guzman, Stephanie Jaramillo, Olga Lopez, Shaylla Matos, Arianna Mesen, Veronica Mierzejewski, Daniela Mino-Lavariega, Andrea Murillo, Christina Sabat, Jaylenne Toro, Kiara Torres, and Victoria Valletutti.
2021
Emily Borowski, Rutgers University, "Eugenics in New Jersey: How the New Jersey State Village for Epileptics Perpetuated Eugenics throughout the State." Nominated by Carla Cevasco
2020
Vayne Ong, Princeton University, “Springwood Avenue Rising: Race, Leisure, and Decline in the 1970 Asbury Park Rising.” Nominated by Alison Isenberg
Sean Graham, Centenary University, “The Origins of Centenary Collegiate Institute: A Story of Industrialization, Wealth, and Natural Resources.” Nominated by Noah Haiduc-Dale
2019
Perry Arrasmith, Harvard University, “A Senator’s Resolve and the Destiny of Two Nations: A Reappraisal of New Jersey’s Theodore Frelinghuysen’s Role in the Cherokee Removal Debate of 1830”
Jordan B. Antebi, Princeton University, “Bridging the Divide: Citizen Participation Versus Urban Renewal, and the Struggle for Community in Trenton, New Jersey”
2018
Caleb Dagnall, Kean University, “Statehood and Sovereignty: A Case Study of William Livingston from Philosophe to Federalist.” Nominated by Elizabeth Hyde
E. Rosie Driscoll, The College of New Jersey, “Without the Least Provision”: Black and Desegregationist Resistance to Systemic Racial Discrimination in Private and Public Housing in Trenton, New Jersey, 1938-1965.” Nominated by Robert McGreevey
2017
Thomas Federowicz, Rutgers University, “Scarlet Knights, Red Crusade: An Analysis of the Great Red Scare at Rutgers-New Brunswick.” Nominating Professor: Richard L. McCormick
Samuel Fogelgaren, The College of New Jersey, “The Fight to Save the Last Frontier’: Exclusionary Zoning and Environmental Protection at the Pequannock Watershed, 1975-1985.” Nominating Professors: Christopher Fisher and Robert McGreevey
2016
Katharine Reed, Princeton University. “Arthur Horton’s Fight Against Coeducation at Princeton: An Unsuccessful but Crucial Battle.”
Audrey Berdahl-Baldwin, Princeton University. “Protecting the Lawful, Combating the Lawless: Racialized Police Violence and the 1967 Newark Uprising.”
2015: No Awards Given
2014
Brett Diehl, Princeton University. “The Story of Cezar Trent and Peter Scudder, Two Free Black Men in Antebellum Princeton.”
Steven Rodriguez, The College of New Jersey, “From Kingsbury to Mount Laurel II: Low-Cost Housing and Exclusionary Zoning in Trenton, NJ.”
Kellen Elizabeth Henniford, Princeton University. “Free Blacks, Freeborn Slaves, and Bondsmen in a Free State: African American Life and Black Political Action during New Jersey’s Emancipatory Period, c. 1820-1845.”
Erik Snyder, The College of New Jersey. “‘Stronger than the Storm’: Why the Great Atlantic Storm of 1962 Failed to Scare New Jersey from its Shore.”
Abigail Klionsky, Princeton University. “In the Tiger’s Lair: The Development of Jewish Student Life at Princeton University, 1915-1972.”
2013
Rebecca Russo, Rider University. "Not Having the Fear of God Before Her Eyes': Infanticide in Colonial New Jersey." Nominating professor: Brooke B. Hunter.
Rachel Mark, Columbia University. "Reputation and Reality in America's Model Town: Remembering Racial Integration in Teaneck, New Jersey, 1949-1968." Nominating professor: Hilary Hallett.
2012
Lauren A. Wells, College of New Jersey. "The Early Roots of School Desegregation: Hedgepath-Williams, Trenton, and the History Behind Brown v. Board of Education, 1943-1954."
Trevor J. McLaughlin, College of New Jersey. "A View from the Chalkboard: Trenton School Desegregation and the Struggle of Black Teachers in the Pre-Brown era, 1944-1954."
2011, First Place:
Taylor H. Desloge, Princeton University, "‘Help the Ladies!”: Public and Private Vision in Women’s Historical Preservation at the Old Barracks in Trenton, NJ, 1899-1919.” Nominating Professor: Alison Isenberg.
2011, Second Place (shared):
Emma Curran Donnelly Hulse, Columbia University. “The Black City: Remembering Newark in the Era of Black Power.” Nominating Professor: Alice Kessler-Harris.
Eric Schkrutz, Rutgers University. “Urban Development in the City of the Traveler: The Story of New Brunswick and Why It May Never Resolve Its Identity Crisis.” Nominating Professor: Alison Isenberg.
2010, First place:
Patricia L. Franchino, Rutgers University. “American in Deed; Italian at Heart: Three Generations in Raritan, N.J., in the 1940s.”
2010, Second place (shared):
Brian J. Thomas, Monmouth University. "Shore Points: The Expanding Influence of New Jersey's Garden State Parkway.”
Felicia Norott, Monmouth University. “The North American Phalanx and the Raritan Bay Union.”
2009: Amisha Patel, Rutgers University. "The Science of George Washington Honed in New Jersey."
2008: John Rocco Calabro, Seton Hall University. "An Economic History of the City of Paterson."
2007: no award given
2006: Christopher Antanaitis, Rider University. "Chambersburg and North Trenton: Varieties in the Experiences of Italians in Trenton, N.J., c. 1900-1980."
2005: Rebecca Karol, Rowan University. "Martin Luther King, Jr., Mary's Cafe, and the Forgotten Beginning of the Civil Rights Movement."
2004: Laura Granett, Rutgers University. "The Boy Scouts of America vs. James Dale: The Court of Law vs. the Court of Public Opinion."