The Lyman H. Butterfield Award Committee seeks nominations for the 2026 award.
Since 1985, the Association for Documentary Editing has presented the Butterfield Award annually to recognize recent contributions in the areas of documentary publication, teaching, and service. Both senior and early-career scholars are eligible, as are projects and institutions. Recipients need not be members of the ADE, and the award may be given posthumously.
The award is granted in memoriam of Lyman Henry Butterfield, whose editing career included contributions to The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, The Adams Papers, and publishing The Letters of Benjamin Rush.
The award is intended for individuals, projects, and institutions who have excelled in one or more of the following criteria:
- Outstanding and sustained service to the profession through active participation, advocacy, or leadership in the Association for Documentary Editing or related organizations.
- Outstanding and sustained service to the practice of documentary publication in a manner consistent with the highest standards of the field. These standards may be met in a variety of ways, including activity which involves exceptional creativity, innovation, intellectual or moral courage, leadership, or scholarship.
- Outstanding research and/or publication in any media or format that contributes to the further understanding and development of documentary editing.
- Outstanding and sustained performance in teaching in the field of documentary editing or a closely related field.
- Outstanding work in diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or social justice that contributes to the development of documentary editing or a closely related field.
Nomination materials should be submitted to the 2026 committee chair, Lindsey Peterson, at lindsey.r.peterson@usd.edu, by June 15, 2026:
- Applicants should provide a no more than 2-page letter of application and a CV or resume.
- Self-nominations are welcome.
- Supporting letters from members of the ADE are encouraged but not required.
- Unsuccessful nominations will remain active for a period of three years from the time of their nomination and will be reconsidered for the award during those years without having to be renominated. After this period, they may be resubmitted for nomination.
The winner will be awarded at the joint conference of the ADE and the Recovery Project in October 2026.
