Announcing the 2026 Winners of the Undergraduate Archival Research Project Prize

Northwestern University Libraries are pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Undergraduate Archival Research Project Prizes.

The Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections and University Archives awards these prizes to undergraduate students who present a significant and well-researched analysis on a historical topic using primary sources. The Undergraduate Archival Research Project Prize began in 2025 with the intention of encouraging and engaging with undergraduates performing primary source research, particularly research using the rare materials from the McCormick Library. Projects submitted for the prize are typically related to undergraduate coursework. Use of the McCormick Library’s collections is not required for all prizes.

The 2026 prize cycle considered three categories: best long form project (2,001-5,000 words), best short form project (800-2,000 words), best use of McCormick collections. A fourth honorable mention was recognized this year, as well.

The 2026 Awardees

Best Long Form Project:

Catherine Ndovu ’27, “U.S. Medical Intervention in Kenya: The Walter Reed Project”
Originally submitted to History 319: History of U.S. Foreign Relations, Daniel Immerwahr

Ndovu’s project explores how medicine became an avenue for militarism and surveillance in Kenya and abroad, expertly employing a wide variety of primary sources to support her arguments, including government archival records, historical newspapers, East African magazines and literature, and papers from the National Library of Medicine. Her project presents a clear, organized and compelling analyses of historical documents.

Best Short Form Project:

Margaret Sprigg-Dudley ’26, “Collectivization Narratives in the 1930s: An Economic, Not Ideological, Battle”
Originally submitted to Environmental Policy & Culture 309: American Environmental History, Keith Woodhouse

Sprigg-Dudley’s paper, written for American Environmental History (Environmental Policy & Culture 309), was also inspired by coursework for Cold War Mirrors (History 300, New Lectures in History). She digs into 1930s discussions of  the Soviet system of agriculture in American agricultural periodicals, in conversation and critique of Shane Hamilton's Supermarket USA. Her project has a clear point of view and cites primary sources as a counterpoint to present a strong critique of secondary source claims.

Best Use of McCormick Collections:

Jessica Dean ’26, “Widening The Gateway: Community Formation and Institutional Power in Trans Print Culture”
Originally submitted to History 300: Histories of the Trans Present, Zavier Nunn

Dean’s paper situates The Gateway, a Bay Area newsletter, within the broader development of trans identity and consciousness via print media. The original printing of the October 1980 issue of The Gateway is held the McCormick Library Femina Collection. By adeptly employing archival and primary sources, Dean expresses a clear point of view and compelling interpretation of print materials.

Honorable Mention Project:

Jennyfer Park ’26, “Defining Midwifery: Standardization, Its Challenges, and the Role of TBAs, from 1961–1980”
Originally submitted to Global Health 310: Maternal Health in the 20th Century, Sarah Rodriguez

With seamless application of and interpretation of primary sources, Park traces how midwifery was standardized and professionalized over time. The primary source research is building on a weeklong archival research trip to the Wellcome Library in London.

Last year, the inaugural prize recognized only two submissions, a winner and an honorable mention. The success of the pilot led the prize committee to increase the number of submission categories for 2026.

Since then, nominations have more than doubled, reflecting the program’s growing reach.

Dana Lamparello, who chairs the committee, says the increased engagement is an exciting signal that the program can continue to grow. The committee is eyeing new submission categories and new campus collaborations.

“We’re looking at the ways we can encourage and assess different uses of primary sources, beyond a research paper – as a source for a creative project, for example, or using primary sources as data for a data science project.”

The next call for project nominations will be posted later in Fall Quarter, with submissions due the following Spring Quarter.