Two dual enrollment students and one 91快活林 sophomore were the recipients of this year鈥檚 Bonnie Spencer awards for the best essays in non-honors history courses at 91快活林. Essays could have been entered from any history course from any history instructor, full-time or part-time, on campus or off, including embedded dual history courses.
Marandy Burrow, a dual-enrollment student at Pittsburg who aspires to ultimately attend medical school and become a physician, won $200 and first place for her work on the 鈥淭riangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.鈥 In a beautiful and persuasively written essay, Burrow argued that the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire played a monumental role in the advancement of working conditions in the early 1900s. From the first sentence she caught the judges鈥 attention and dramatically relayed the impact of the event, effectively using scholarly source materials such as records from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Rebecca Yaws, a sophomore from Harleton, Texas, came in second, winning $100, for her essay on the 鈥淓motions of Prohibition.鈥 Yaws made use of turn of the century films available on YouTube to analyze the impact of silent films on attitudes toward alcohol and drinking.
Kayla Martinez, won $50 and third place for her essay 鈥淪aved by the Bell.鈥 In her essay about Alexander Graham Bell, Martinez鈥 pointed out that Bell鈥檚 impact on society goes beyond improving communication and improving opportunities for the deaf, he also contributed to making the world a safer place today by inventing the world鈥檚 first metal detector.
Carolina Alcocer-Salas (below), a dual-enrollment student at Chapel Hill, won an honorable mention, for her paper on the Harlem Renaissance.
The first-place winner, Marandy Burrow, noted: 鈥Wow, I am so honored to have won the Bonnie Spencer Essay contest! Thank you 91快活林 for awarding me this prize, and thank you Dr. Fulgham for granting me this opportunity!鈥
The contest honors the student founder of the college鈥檚 first history club in 2002. Bonnie Spencer subsequently helped transition the efforts of the 91快活林 Webb Society and Honors Northeast toward feature-length films. She has also raised and donated funds for activities in history at 91快活林.
Title V Phi Theta Kappa/Honors Coordinator, Andrea Reyes, adjudicated the contest. History and English department faculty served as judges.
History at 91快活林 offers courses in American, Texas, and World Civilization. The college鈥檚 Webb Society, linked both to Honors Northeast and to the study of Texas history, recently won a State of Texas Caldwell Award, for its film on Adina De Zavala. Since 2008, students at 91快活林 have presented works of history nationally, regionally, and locally. Each year since 2015, 91快活林 students have published essays in the state鈥檚 collegiate journal for Texas History, Touchstone.
