Distinguished Service Awards are presented to individuals or projects which have made a significant contribution to furthering the aims of the Association for Documentary Editing.

• 2016 – Mary Hackettfor her many years of service as chair of the Meetings Committee.
• 2016 – Martha J. King, for her service as list manager of the Scholarly Editing Forum (SEDIT-L) from 2004 to 2016.
• 2013 – Stanley N. Katz, in recognition of his dedicated support of documentary editions as the representative of the American Historical Association on the National Historical Publications and Records Commission from 2005 to 2012.
• 2013 – Jennifer E. Stertzer,< for her long, dedicated, and invaluable service in many roles, including ADE secretary, Camp Edit faculty member, and webmaster.
• 2012 – Penelope Kaiserlian, in recognition of the very active role that she has played in the ADE over the previous decade.
• 2007 – Philander D. Chase for his long service to the ADE, including serving as Treasurer (1994-97), his “Guide to Planning the Annual Meeting,” his report on “Institutional Relationships and Support of Documentary Editing Projects,” and his dedication to lobbying Congress for sufficient funding of the NEH and NHPRC.
• 2005 – Martha J. King, Associate Editor of the Papers of Thomas Jefferson, for serving as chair of the publications committee, moderator of SEDIT-L, and chair of the travel funds committee.
• 2003 – Cathy Moran Hajo for her exceptional service as chair of the Technology and Electronic Standards Committee, and her work in establishing the ADE’s Electronic Standard.
• 2002 – Beth Luey her years as editor of Documentary Editing.
• 2001 – Mark Mastromarino for serving as author/compiler of the Recent Editions feature of Documentary Editing.
• 2000 – Ann Gordon, editor of the Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and Associate Research Professor in the Department of History at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, for chairing last year’s meetings and arranging for a presidential address and providing leadership through this year’s NEH proposed policy changes, local arrangements and hotel challenges for the 2000 annual meeting.
• 1999 – Frank E. Grizzard, Jr., Associate Editor of the Papers of George Washington at the University of Virginia, for serving as the ADE webmaster since its inception in 1995 and for serving as a filter for various Councils and committees regarding electronic initiatives within the ADE.
• 1998 – Kevin Hayes, of the University of Central Oklahoma, in recognition of his dedicated service to the ADE as its bibliography editor for over six years.
• Joyce Appleby, Charlene Bickford, Theresa Collins, Charles T. Cullen, Linda Kerber, Page Putnam Miller, Leslie Rowland, Ray Smock, for their leadership, commitment, and fortitude during a year of struggle over federal policy.
• 1997 – Jim Taylor, for his four years service as editor of Documentary Editing.
• 1995 – Dick Sheldon, for twenty years of dedicated service to the profession. He also supervised Camp Edit from 1979 through 1995.
• 1994 – Roger Bruns, for the guidance on matters having to do with the theory and practice of documentary editing that he has unstintingly provided to numerous editorial projects.
• 1993 – Dorothy Porter Wesley, a pioneer in the preservation of African-American history sources. She served on the NHPRC‘s Special Advisory Committee on the Publications of the Papers of Blacks as well as the District of Columbia Historical Records Advisory Board.
• 1991 – Mary A. Giunta, director and editor of the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1781-1790, a documentary editing project administered by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
• 1990 – John P. Kaminski, co-editor of the Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution and director of the Center for the Study of the American Constitution at the University of Wisconsin. He served as secretary-treasurer from 1982 to 1985 and as president, 1986-1987, of the ADE.
• 1989 – Elizabeth S. Hughes, senior associate editor of The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower at the Johns Hopkins University, Hughes served as secretary-treasurer of the ADE from 1985 to 1988.
• 1988 – Frank G. Burke, professor of library science at the University of Maryland, was former director of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and was influential in the founding of the ADE.
• 1987 – Mary-Jo Kline, a vice-president of Sotheby Parke-Bernet, specializing in early American manuscripts. Author of A Guide to Documentary Editing, Kline also edited The Political Correspondence and Public Papers of Aaron Burr, and was an editor on the John Jay Papers and the Adams Papers projects.
• 1986 – Sharon R. Ritenour, for her work as assistant editor of the George C. Marshall Papers and three years as editor of Documentary Editing.
• Joel Myerson, Professor of English at the University of South Carolina, for his work in obtaining affiliated status for the ADE with the Modern Language Association, and for his committee work within the ADE since its inception.
• Raymond W. Smock, historian of the Office of the Bicentennial of the U.S. House of Representatives, and one of the ADE’s founding fathers, for his continued service and leadership on the Council.
• 1985 – Charles T. Cullen & David R. Chesnutt, to acknowledge the assistance that they provided to other editors making the transition to new computer/ word processing technology.
• 1983 – John Y. Simon, former president of the ADE and editor of The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant at the University of Southern Illinois in Carbondale, for his efforts to promote the cause of documentary editing not only through his work but in testimony before Congress.
• 1981 – Charlene Bickford & Michael Richman, co-chairs of the Coalition to Save Our Documentary Heritage, for their outstanding efforts to keep members informed about federal actions affecting documentary editing.
• Oliver Wendell Holmes, former executive director of NHPC, in recognition of his fostering interest in documentary editing.