2018 William W. Streeter Cummington History Award Guidelines
ELIGIBILITY:
Applicants must be graduating high school seniors residing in Cummington, MA and must have already been accepted by any accredited two or four year institution.
AWARD AMOUNT:
One $2,000 award
DEADLINE:
Projects and transcripts must be submitted by May 15, 2018.
COMPETITION REQUIREMENTS:
1) Applicants must submit an original research paper/project (minimum of 5 typed pages), or recorded interview, or multimedia presentation about an aspect of the history of Cummington.
2) Applicants must provide an official transcript of their scholastic record.
3) Applicants must provide a copy of their college acceptance letter.
Applicant essays will be judged primarily on:
*Originality of research
*Accuracy of information
*Quality of writing
*Documentation (footnotes, bibliography) of sources (see Kate Turabian or MLA guides, for example. http://www.ithaca.edu/library/course/turabian.html)
*Timely submission of report and accompanying paperwork.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to work with an advisor appointed by the Cummington Historical Commission who will provide access to town archives and help ensure accuracy.
SUBMISSION:
Submit projects along with transcripts and college acceptance letter to the Cummington Historical Commission, P.O. Box 10, Cummington, MA 01026
AWARDS:
Winners will be personally notified and schools will receive an announcement that can be included in their graduation exercises or awards assemblies. Actual payment of the award will be made to the student after satisfactory completion of the first semester of college. In addition, award winners are requested to volunteer at the museum one Saturday afternoon in the summer.
HISTORY PROJECT:
Students are encouraged to choose a research topic of interest to them and then form a research question that they will then investigate through their research. Possible subjects include but are not limited to:
History of a particular business/factory in town
- History of an area of town (Lightening Bug, Swift River)
- Oral history of a Cummington resident
- History of schools in Cummington
- Biography of a Cummington resident who was important to Cummington or greater world (e.g. Richard Wilbur, George Shultz, William Jay Smith, Senator Dawes, Luther Bradish, Zalmon Richards, Rev. Carl Sangree, Hattie Hamlin, Katherine Frazier etc.)
- Military service of Cummington resident(s)
- Life in Cummington during a wartime era
- Photo documentary of remaining standing Barns in Cummington including research on the barns themselves
- History of Cummington institutions such as Cummington School of the Arts, Greenwood, Belgian Village
- History of a church (Cummington has had three Congregational churches, as well as Unitarian, Universalist, Methodist, Baptist and Mormon churches)
- History of a particular building or house
Final papers are expected to have accurate documentation including footnotes and bibliography.
For more information please contact:
Karen Westergaard, Secretary at 413-634-8819, kjwestergaard@yahoo.com
