In recognition of his exceptional role as a pioneer in both teaching and research regarding film and history, the American Historical Association has established this award in honor of John E. O'Connor, New Jersey Institute of Technology. The honorific award seeks to recognize outstanding interpretations of history through the medium of film or video.

2022
Documentary: How the Monuments Came Down, Hannah Ayers and Lance Warren, producers and directors (Field Studio, in association with Virginia Public Media)

2021
Documentary: CURED, Patrick Sammon and Bennett Singer, producers and directors (Story Center Films)

2020
Documentary: Killing Patient Zero, Laurie Lynd, writer and director, and Corey Russell, producer (Fadoo Productions)
Dramatic Feature: Harriet, Kasi Lemmons, co-writer and director, and Debra Martin Chase, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, and Gregory Allen Howard, producers (Perfect World Pictures)

2019
Documentary: Bisbee ’17, Robert Greene, director and editor; Douglas Tirola, Susan Bedusa, Bennett Elliott, producers (4th Row Films)
Dramatic Feature: Colette, Wash Westmoreland, director; Elizabeth Karlsen, Pamela Koffler, Michel Litvak, Christine Vachon, producers (Killer Content, Number 9 Films)

2018
Documentary: Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, Tracy Strain, director and producer, and Randall MacLowry, producer (Lorraine Hansberry Documentary Project, LLC)

2017
Documentary: I Am Not Your Negro, Raoul Peck, director (Velvet Film)
Dramatic Feature: Free State of Jones, Gary Ross, director (Bluegrass Films, Larger Than Life Productions, Route One Entertainment, and Vendian Entertainment)

2016
Documentary: No Más Bebés, Renee Tajima-Pena, director, and Virginia Espino, producer (Moon Canyon Films)
Dramatic Feature: Son of Saul, Laszlo Nemes, director; Gabor Rajna, producer; and Gabor Sipos, producer (Laokoon Filmgroup)

2015
Documentary: The Ghosts of Amistad: In the Footsteps of the Rebels, Tony Buba, director, and Marcus Rediker, producer (Univ. of Pittsburgh)
Dramatic Feature: 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen, director, and Brad Pitt, producer (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

2012
The Loving Story, Nancy Buirski, director, and Elisabeth James, producer (Icarus Films)

2011
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth: An Urban History, Chad Freidrichs, director and producer; Jaime Freidrichs, Paul Fehler, and Brian Woodman, producers (Unicorn Stencil Documentary Films)

2010
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, Judith Ehrlich, producer and director, and Rick Goldsmith, producer and director

2009
Herskovits at the Heart of Blackness, Llewellyn Smith, producer; Vincent Brown, producer; and Christine Herbes-Sommers, producer (Vital Pictures and Independent Television Service)

2008
Revolution '67, Marylou Tibaldo-Bongiorno, producer and director, and Jerome Bongiorno, photographer, editor, and animator (Bongiorno Productions, Independent Television Service, and P.O.V./American Documentary, in association with WSKG)

2007
Sacco and Vanzetti, Peter Miller, director and producer, and Amy Linton, editor and producer (Willow Pond Films)

2005
Proteus: A Nineteenth Century Vision, David Lebrun, producer, writer, director, and editor (Night Fire Films)

2004
Morning Sun, Geremie Barme, director, producer, and writer; Richard Gordon, director and producer; and Carma Hinton, producer (Long Bow Group)

2003
The Intolerable Burden, Chea Prince, director, and Constance Curry, producer (Blue Stream Productions)

2002
The Good War and Those Who Refused to Fight It, Judith Ehrlich, producer and director, and Rich Tejada-Flores, producer and director (Paradigm Productions, in association with Independent Television Service)

2001
Stranger with a Camera, Elizabeth Barret, producer and director (Appalshop and Kentucky Educational Television, in association with Independent Television Service)

2000
Coming to Light: Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indians, Anne Makepeace, director (Anne Makepeace Productions and WNET, in association with Bullfrog Films)

1999
Rabbit in the Moon, Emiko Omori, director and producer

1998
The War Symphonies: Shostakovich versus Stalin, Larry Weinstein, producer (Rhombus Media)

1997
A World Inscribed, Kathleen McDonough, writer, producer, and director

1996
Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press, Rick Goldsmith, co-writer and producer

1995
FDR, David Grubin, writer and producer (David Grubin Productions)

1994
Freedom on my Mind, Connie Field, director, and Marilyn Mumford, director (Clarity Film Productions)

1993
Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl, American Social History Project (Pennee Bender, Joshua Brown, and Andrea Andes Vasquez, directors)