VOI,. 2, No. 12
T m PRIZEESSAY CONTEST OB 192&25
1099
THE PRIZE ESSAY CONTEST OF 1924-25 Report of the Prize Essay Committee The second national Prize Essay Contest under the auspices of the American Chemical Society and made possible by the gifts of Hon. and Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, was held during the academic year of 1924-25. The contest proceeded along substantially the same lines as the first contest, except that i t closed earlier in order that the committees might he able to judge essays and if possible announce the awards a t high-school commencement time. As a result, with the exception of a few high schools which closed a t a very early date, the schools attended by state winners kindly cooperated by presenting the prizes as one of the features of the commencement exercises. Having noted that contestants had greater difficulty in acquiring reliable information on the relation of chemistry to industry, Volume I of "Chemistry in Industry" was compiled with the aid of twenty-one individual authors, each a specialist in the field of which he wrote. This illustrated volume was distributed on a non-profit basis and the book is now in its thirtieth thousand. Volume 11, containing twenty-two chapters, has since been prepared and is now available. The committee continued its work of distributing sets of books and individual volumes and believes that through this activity there is now a far greater appreciation of the relationship of chemistry to everyday life than ever before. The large number of essays to which the committees in the first contest gave attention showed the desirability of asking the several schools to pass preliminary judgment on the essays written by their students. The committee felt it was only fair to ask this assistance on the part of teachers and principals to the end that their schools might have the best representation possible and that the work of the volunteer committees might be lightened. As a result, 5570 essays were submitted to the state chairmen after preliminary judging, first in the schools and later by the several committees in the states who assisted in selecting the best of the essays for the attention of the state chairmen and their committees. While the committee did not feel i t to be necessary again to send out a questionnaire such as that upon which the statistics of the first contest were based, it can nevertheless be stated that more essays were prepared for the second contest than for the first. The second contest included the extra-territorial possessions of the United States taken as a whole and the committee was greatly pleased with the interest displayed in Hawaii, the Philippines, and Porto Rico. If the high schools in the United States would display as much activity as high schools in our island possessions, i t would be most encouraging. In those schools where the department of English cooperated with the
science department and where some credit was given for essays prepared as a part of regular assignment work, we find teachers enthusiastic over the possibilities of the contest as a means of renewing interest in regular courses and in requiring a greater familiarity with libraries and other sources of information. Some schools now require the preparation of essays as a part of the regular assignment and the best of these are entered in the Prize Essay Contest. The following information concerning the winners of the first and second contests will be of interest. Winners of 1923-24 Contest
Winners of 1924-25 Contest
Elton R. Allison, Graduate of Centralia High School, Centralia, Wash., now in second year a t University of Washington.
Shirley Cordill, Graduate of Isidore Newman Manual Training School, New Orleans, La. Plans to matriculate a t Vassar, September, 1926.
Eugene Russell Brownsambe, Graduate of Santa Rosa High School, Santa Rosa, Calif., entered Yale, September, 1925.
Marion Honke, Graduate of St. Angela's Academy, Carroll. Iowa. Entered State University of Iowa, September, 1925.
Benjamin Nassau, Graduate of Hartford Public High School, Hartford, Conn., now in second year a t Yale. Oliver Chandler Pittman was sophomore a t Commerce High School, Commerce, Ga., a t time of winning award. Will enter Yale in September, 1926. James Cole Reid, Graduate of Bryan Street High School, Dallas, Texas. Entered Yale, September, 1925.
Ruth Jamieson, Graduate of Whittier Union High School, Whittier, Calif. Entered Whittier College, September,
1925. Roger S. Makepeace, Graduate of Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. Entered Yales Henry S. Singletary, Jr., will graduate from Port Arthur High School, Port
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entered Yale, 1925.
Jane Summers, Graduate of Ensley High School, Ensley, Ala. Entered University of Michigan, September, 1925.
It will be noted that, while originally the contest provided four-year scholarships a t Yale or Vassar, together with five hundred dollars annually for four years, where special circumstances made i t desirable, the donors of the prizes have accepted the recommendations of the committee that the winners he allowed to continue their education a t other approved educational institutions. The college contest resulted in over five hundred essays being submitted. The topic selected for the second writing was "An Outstanding Contribution of Chemistry to Human Welfare." As a result, the six winners were judged to he Jesse C. Hendricks, Franklin, Indiana; Gilbert H. Ayres, Taylor University, Upland, Indiana; Richard Middleton, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; Harriet Emigh, Whitman College,
Walla Walla, Washington; Catherine R. Loughrey, State Normal School, Worcester, Mass; T. J. Conrad, Jr., Rutherford College, North Carolina. The present contest is the second for college and university students and differs from the first in that a second writing will not be required. The essays under each of the six subjects will be judged and the winner announced as promptly as possible. The fears expressed by students in some of the smaller colleges that they would have no chance in competing with students in the larger universities and that because of facilities the students in one geographical section would be handicapped in comparison with other sections have been shown to be unfounded by the results of the first contest. There is reason to believe that the second contest will be brought more forcibly to the attention of students and that the present contest will result in a great increase of competing essays. The third high-school contest which is now in progress will close even earlier than the second. It is believed that by concentrating upon the contest for a brief time more satisfactory results will he obtained and that even better cooperation on the part of the schools may be expected. The committee wishes to take this opportunity to thank sincerely aU those who have assisted in making the preceding contest so successful and again to bespeak their continued cooperation in this constrndive educational effort. H. E. HOWE,Chairman W. D. Bancroft CHAS.H. HERTY.
