Lepage Center Award for Historical Work in the Public Interest

Established in 2025, the Lepage Center Award is offered annually by the American Historical Association to recognize outstanding historical work in the public interest that informs how the past shapes the present. The award was originally created in 1984 in honor of Herbert Feis, a public servant and historian of American foreign policy. Historical work in the public interest is defined as work created according to the disciplinary standards of historical thinking and primarily directed at audiences outside of schools and academic contexts. Those audiences could be very broad such as television viewers or highly specialized such as policymakers. The award may recognize the cumulative results of historical work in the public interest or a singular contribution of major importance, such as a pathbreaking museum exhibit. Eligible work might include administration of a public history group or the creation or production of a public history project. Although the audience should be primarily outside of academia, the recipient(s) of the award could be employed at a college or university.