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New-York Historical Society Scholarship essay submissions

Call Number

NYHS-RG 13

Date

1925-1933, inclusive

Creator

New-York Historical Society

Extent

0.83 Linear feet in two document boxes

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

The record group includes twelve essays concerning New York City history submitted by Columbia University undergraduates in connection with the competition for a scholarship sponsored annually by New-York Historical Society from 1925-1933.

Biographical/Historical Note

In January 1925, a New-York Historical Society officer, Librarian Alexander J. Wall, approached Columbia University's Department of History with a proposal to sponsor a scholarship intended to encourage undergraduates interested in pursuing graduate studies in American history. Professor Harry Carman, in consultation with Dean Herbert Hawkes, accepted the proposal and suggested criteria by which the scholarship would be awarded. The plan was presented by Wall to the N-YHS Executive Committee (Wall was also Secretary of the Committee) at its meeting of January 20, 1925, and the plan was approved.

The scholarship was a $300 cash prize to be awarded to the member of the Junior Class of Columbia University who wrote the best essay on a designated topic of American history. The topic was selected annually by Wall and Carman. The scholarship opportunity was described in Columbia's annual catalogue, which indicated the essay was to be 5,000-7,000 words. The topics for 1925 and 1926 concerned New York City's Whig movement of the 1770s and its literary societies of the 1820s, respectively. For 1927, the topic was New York as seen by the foreign traveler before 1830. Winners were mentioned in the Commencement program and catalogue. Essays were submitted to the Secretary of Columbia University by May 1, and Carman arranged for their reading and judging within the school. Wall was notified when there was a suggested winner. He was provided with a copy of the winning essay, apparently reserving the right to decline it, and then acquired the Executive Committee's approval to send $300 to Columbia to fund the student's award.

There were winners in each of the first three years of the award, for 1925, 1926, and 1927. There were no winners in 1928, 1929, and 1930. In at least one of these years, 1928, essays were submitted, but were not deemed by the judges at Columbia to be worthy of the award, which created some complaint from Kendall Kimberland (or perhaps his mother, Angie) in connection with his paper. In 1930, Columbia proposed changes to the award to improve participation. These changes were accepted by N-YHS's Executive Committee on February 18, 1930. These changes opened the competition to both juniors and seniors, divided the $300 award into a $250 first prize and a $50 second prize, and provided that essayists could choose from a short list of topics, rather than be limited to one defined subject. Columbia changed the category of the award in its catalogue from a "scholarship" to a "prize." In 1931, Carman and a Mr. McKee (likely Samuel McKee) awarded both the first and second prizes, but again none were awarded in 1932.

At the February 21, 1933, meeting of N-YHS's Executive Committee, Wall proposed that the prize be discontinued because the lack of regular competition for it suggested that the expenditure was not warranted. The Committee agreed, but given the timing N-YHS agreed to make a 1933 payment if winning essays appeared. Two final winners were selected by Columbia in that spring of 1933, and the program was then ended.

(Principal print sources for the above include the Annual Reports of New-York Historical Society and the catalogues of Columbia University for 1925-1933, though the catalogues have some omissions as to the 1925 winner and required topics. There is a brief reference to the scholarship in R.W.G. Vail's Knickerbocker Birthday. For primary sources in the N-YHS Archives, see the Related Archival Materials Note.)

Arrangement Note

The essays are arranged in chronological order.

The container list entry includes the name of the essayist as presented on the title page. Some of the essayists used pseudonyms; where the actual name is known, it follows the pseudonym in [brackets].

Scope and Contents Note

The record group includes twelve essays submitted by Columbia University undergraduates in connection with the competition for a scholarship sponsored annually by New-York Historical Society from 1925-1933. During that period, seven essays won awards; six of those winning essays are in the record group. The seventh winning essay, by Leon Hirsch Keyserling, does not appear to be in the record group, though it is possible that the essay submitted under the pseudonym C.F.M in 1927 is Keyserling's. The record group also includes some essays that did not win an award although it is certain that not all essays submitted to Columbia are in the record group.

Access Restrictions

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation Note

This record group should be cited as New-York Historical Society Scholarship essay submissions (NYHS-RG 13), The New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Related Archival Materials Note

This finding aid relates to just one record group of the New-York Historical Society archives. For information about the other record groups and for overall information about the archives, please see the Guide to the New-York Historical Society Archives (NYHS-RG Archives). Other record groups that are processed and available to researchers and are especially related to the New-York Historical Society Scholarship essay submissions (NYHS-RG 13) are as follows:

The establishment, modification and termination of the Scholarship program, as well as individual annual payments to Columbia University, were approved by the N-YHS Executive Committee. For the minutes of those meetings, especially for the January 20, 1925, meeting at which the Scholarship was created, see the New-York Historical Society management committee records (NYHS-RG 1).

For the correspondence between Alexander J. Wall and Columbia University (principally with Harry Carman) concerning the Scholarship, see New-York Historical Society general correspondence (NYHS-RG 2). Depending on the year, the relevant correspondence is filed either with correspondents beginning with "Co" or in a standalone "Columbia University" file. 1928 correspondence with the Kimberlands concerning their complaints is filed with correspondents beginning with "Ki."

Collection processed by

Larry Weimer

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:49:18 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: The finding aid is written in English.

Processing Information Note

This record group was processed by project archivist Larry Weimer in October 2015.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024