The J. C. Harrington Award was established in 1981 (43 years ago) (1981) by the Society for Historical Archaeology and is named in honor of J. C. Harrington (1901–1998), a pioneer founder of historical archaeology in North America. The award is presented for a "life-time of contributions to the discipline centered on scholarship". The award is an inscribed medal. No more than one Harrington Award is presented each year.^[1]

Source: Society for Historical Archeology

• 1982 J. C. Harrington
• 1983 Charles H. Fairbanks
• 1984 John L. Cotter
• 1985 Kenneth E. Kidd
• 1986 George I. Quimby
• 1987 Arthur Woodward*, Stanley South
• 1988 Edward B. Jelks
• 1989 Bert Salwen* Carlyle Shreeve Smith
• 1991 Ivor Noël Hume
• 1993 Bernard L. Fontana
• 1995 Kathleen K. Gilmore
• 1997 James Deetz
• 1999 George F. Bass
• 2000 Roderick Sprague
• 2001 Roberta S. Greenwood
• 2002 Charles E. Cleland
• 2003 Merrick Posnansky
• 2004 Kathleen A. Deagan
• 2005 Marcel Moussette
• 2006 Donald L. Hardesty
• 2007 William Kelso
• 2008 James E. Ayres
• 2009 Robert L. Schuyler
• 2010 Judy Bense
• 2011 Pilar Luna Erreguerena
• 2012 George Miller
• 2013 Mary Beaudry
• 2014 Theresa A. Singleton
• 2015 Douglas D. Scott
• 2016 Mark P. Leone
• 2017 Leland Ferguson
• 2018 Julia A. King
• 2019 Charles E. Orser
• 2020 Henry M. Miller
• 2022 Martha A. Zierden
• 2023 Julia G. Costello
• 2024 Paul R. Mullins*, David G. Orr
• 2025 Paul A. Shackel

* awarded posthumously

• List of archaeology awards
• List of history awards