Since 1985, the Lyman H. Butterfield Award has been presented annually to an individual, project, or institution for recent contributions in the areas of documentary publication, teaching, and service. The award is granted in memoriam of Lyman Henry Butterfield, whose editing career included contributions to The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, the editing of the Adams Family Papers, and publishing The Letters of Benjamin Rush.

• 2023 – Noelle Baker, for her visionary leadership in the realm of digital editing, and for a career that models the aspiration toward greater inclusiveness within ADE and the broader documentary editing community.
• 2022 – Jennifer Stertzer, in recognition of her place at the vanguard of this discipine’s transition from print to digital, and myriad service to the field as educator, practitioner, leader, and friend.
• 2021 – David Sewell, manager of digital initiatives at the University of Virginia Press, in recognition of his creative and groundbreaking innovations in scholarly editing and documentary publication, which have made possible the widespread digital publication of scholarly editions.
• 2020 – The Dolley Madison Digital Edition, in recognition of the first comprehensive edition of a founding-era woman’s writings, the first primarily born-digital scholarly edition, and the first edition published by the Rotunda imprint of the University of Virginia Press. Holly C. Shulman and her colleagues, having developed key technologies and approaches for digital editing, now are putting the finishing touches on this pioneering edition.
• 2019 – Philander D. Chase, editor of the Papers of George Washington for thirty-five years and author of a guide for local organizers of ADE annual meetings that became a bible of sorts year after year, in recognition of his stature as “an outstanding figure in a generation of documentary editors that provided a foundation for new ventures in the twenty-first century.”
• 2018 – Raymond W. Smock, co-editor of the Booker T. Washington Papers, former historian of the U.S. House of Representatives, director emeritus of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education at Shepherd University, and until recently ADE representative on the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
• 2017 – The Princeton University Press, in recognition of its remarkable dedication as a publisher of documentary editions to a broad and deep presentation of important contributions to the study of literature, classicism, history, poetry, science, and music. The award is timely because it recognizes the distinguished leadership of Peter Dougherty, director of the Press for more than a decade, who is stepping down later this year.
• 2017 – Charlene Bangs Bickford, project director and co-editor of the Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, 1789–1791, and in many ways the face of the ADE for many years, for her leadership in the organization, especially as it relates to her role in fighting off legislative efforts to abolish the NHPRC and in other advocacy efforts for the ADE.
• 2016 – Roger Bruns, one of the founders of the ADE and originator of the term “documentary editing,” in recognition of his service on the staff of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, which he formed into a remarkably responsive and supportive agency, and in appreciation of his sense of humor—“I’m from the federal government, and I’m here to help you. . . .”
• 2015 – Esther Katz, editor and director of the Margaret Sanger Papers Project, for enhancing historical understanding through superb editorial scholarship, “setting a foundation of historical accuracy and integrity in an area beset by myth and manipulation.”
• 2014 – Elaine Weber Pascu, for her eighteen years at the Papers of Thomas Jefferson during which time volumes 28 through 41 were published.
• 2013 – The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, in recognition of the project’s high editorial standards and the importance of its materials to the study of the United States in the twentieth century. This award is a tribute as well to two key editors of the Marshall Papers, Larry Bland and Sharon Ritenour Stevens (both now deceased), who were founding members of the ADE.
• 2012 – Michael Stevens, State Historic Preservation Officer of the Wisconsin State Historical Society, in recognition of his influence on both the field of documentary editing and the ADE, stemming from his own work as an editor, his volume Editing Historical Documents (which he wrote with Steven Burg), his directing Camp Edit for ten years, and his leading our organization through a series of important changes.
• 2011 – Beverly Wilson Palmer, in recognition of her almost incredible record of editorial productivity, having launched and completed projects on Charles Sumner, Thaddeus Stevens, Lucretia Coffin Mott, Anna Cabot Lowell Quincy, and Florence Kelley, energetically tackling each new project and bringing it to a timely conclusion, as a solo editor or with only a co-editor.
• 2010 – Helen R. Deese, in recognition of her achievements as a scholar who works on both sides of our putative divide, producing acclaimed editions of both literary and historical texts through two large and original enterprises: her massive Jones Very: The Complete Poems and her ongoing edition of the journals of Caroline Healey Dall.
• 2009 – Gregg L. Lint, series editor of the Papers of John Adams, in recognition of the quality of the scholarship displayed in the volumes he has edited, the vital role he has played within the walls of his project as a mentor to junior editors within his office and as a vital aide to the project’s directors, his service as a mentor to fledgling editors of other projects who have sought his help, and his participation in outreach programs for educators at all levels and scholarly conferences that publicize the work of editors to a broader audience.
• 2008 – Mary-Jo Kline, a veteran editor of documentary editions known for her work on John Jay, John Adams, Aaron Burr, and Alexander Hamilton, in recognition of “her unstinting work on behalf of the ADE and documentary editing in general in seeing three editions of the Guide to Documentary Editing through press.”
• 2007 – Beth Luey, director of the Scholarly Publishing Program at Arizona State University, in recognition of a long history of involvement with the Association for Documentary Editing, during which she has been an enthusiastic advocate for the profession and “perhaps more than any other member of the ADE, has most profoundly influenced a generation of younger scholars to think seriously about editing.”
• 2006 – Mary Hackett, Associate Editor of the Papers of James Madison, for her eighteen years of dedicated service and scholarly understanding in the editing and publishing of four volumes in the Secretary of State Series of the Madison Papers.
• 2005 – no award made.
• 2004 – Ken Bowling for the recent publication of three volumes of the Papers of the First Federal Congress. He has also served the field of scholarly editing through his work on Washington History, the Journal of the Early Republic and numerous ADE Committees.
• 2003 – Ron Bosco, for his scholarly editing in the field of Colonial and Nineteenth-Century American Literature. He is also regarded as the leading editor of the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
• 2002 – C. James Taylor, currently editor in chief of the Adams Papers, for his over twenty years at the Henry Laurens Papers which completed its final volume in 2002 and his five years as editor of Documentary Editing.
• 2001 – Margot Backus for her twenty years of dedicated service to scholarly editors on behalf of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
• 2000 – Elaine Forman Crane for her landmark edition of the Elizabeth Drinker diary, celebrated for intellectual depth, scholarly impact, and educational value. These volumes will stand the test of time and are already a testimony to the lasting legacy and impact of volumes well edited and a project well run.
• 1999 – Mary Gallagher and Betty Nuxoll for the completion of the Robert Morris Papers.
• 1998 – Joseph R. McElrath, Jr., of the Centennial Edition of the Writings of Frank Norris, in recognition of his achievements in textual and bibliographic studies and editing and his generosity in service to the profession.
• 1997 – Massachusetts Historical Society, which, since 1792, has published historical documents in order to preserve and circulate them for the benefit of researchers. In 1990 the Society completed its edition in sixty-five volumes of the Journals of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, 1715-1779, and its ambitious plan, launched in 1954, to edit the Adams Papers has resulted in thirty-six volumes to date.
• 1996 – Ann Gordon, editor of the Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony at Rutgers University, for bringing a public profile to documentary editing, lending her expertise to events commemorating the anniversary of Women’s Suffrage.
• 1995 – Joel Myerson, an English professor at the University of South Carolina and editor of Studies in the American Renaissance, was the first literary editor to win the award.
• 1994 – Eugene R. Sheridan, for his work with the Letters of Delegates to Congress project and as senior associate editor of the Papers of Thomas Jefferson. He also edited Congress at Princeton: Being the Letters of Charles Thomson to Hannah Thomson, June-October 1783.
• 1993 – Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, for setting an example of excellence in editing.
• 1992 – Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, edited by Robert A. Hill and Barbara J. Bair and published by the University of California Press.
• 1991 – Yale University Press, in recognition of the Press’s long and distinguished record of publishing editions such as the Papers of Benjamin Franklin, the Papers of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the Papers of Charles Willson Peale, and the Frederick Douglass Papers.
• 1990 – David R. Chesnutt, editor of the Papers of Henry Laurens at the University of South Carolina, for his selfless service to the profession and to the ADE as president-elect.
• 1989 – Sharon Ritenour Stevens, associate editor of the George C. Marshall Papers and editor of Documentary Editing from 1983 to 1989, guiding the expansion and development of the journal from its early incarnation as the ADE’s newsletter.
• 1988 – Paul H. Smith, editor of the Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789, for his early devotion to the defining and funding of the Letters project and to the outstanding editorial leadership he provided.
• 1987 – David W. Hirst, senior associate editor of The Papers of Woodrow Wilson, to which he has given over 30 years of service, helping to edit over 60 volumes.
• 1986 – The Papers of George Washington, for its exemplary role in the publication of outstanding volumes in a timely fashion.
• 1985 – Johns Hopkins University Press, in recognition of its commitment to the publication of documentary editions and for the support that the press has given to the six editions under its wing.