Congratulations to History Honors student Hannah Charak on winning the James Z. Rabun Prize in American history, given by the History Department each year to the graduating senior with the best record in that field.  Hannah’s Senior Honors thesis, “Terror from the Top Down: Violence & Voter Suppression in the Postwar South,” was directed by Prof. Jason Ward.  She was among the Spring 2022 inductees to the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

She writes that “Professor Hank Klibanoff’s class [on Civil Rights Cold Cases] was very formative for me.” She continued her work with him through research on the Ahmaud Arbery case (which became Season 3 of Buried Truths podcast). In the Fall of 2021, she was a teaching assistant for his Cold Cases class. She found the “TA role was really interesting, as it allowed me to get a glimpse of what teaching a class would be like.”  She also “enjoyed Dr. Joseph Crespino’s and Dr. Maria Montalvo’s classes very much.” She did research for both of their projects at various points over the past couple of years. She praises Dr. Jason Ward, her adviser, who “has probably influenced me the most during my time at Emory. I’ve been taking his classes since freshman year, which have inspired me to consider history as a profession.”

This prize was established in 1981 on the occasion of the retirement of Professor James Z. Rabun after thirty-four years’ service in the Department of History. In awarding this prize, the department also honors Professor Rabun’s distinctive traits of courtesy, integrity, wisdom, and unselfish devotion to his students and colleagues. The Rabun Prize consists of a book in the field of American history.

The prize was awarded on April 27 at the History Department’s Senior Celebration.

Many congratulations, Hannah!