© The contents of this finding aid are the copyright of the University of Chicago Library
© 2013 University of Chicago Library
The collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: University of Chicago. Awards and Prizes. Collection Papers Papers [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
The University of Chicago administers competitions that are sponsored both by the university itself and by outside groups or private endowments. The competitions represented in this collection are mostly privately-endowed prizes, awarded by the university to University of Chicago students. A brief account of some of the more notable prizes follows.
The Academy of American Poets Prize was established in 1955 by the academy for students at colleges and universities across the country. Participating schools can set certain standards for the competition, though no restrictions on poetic format/form are allowed. The prize is still in existence, but the University of Chicago no longer participates.
The Chicago Folklore Prize originally honored any contribution to folklore studies – essay, monograph, collection of material etc. It was established in 1904 by the American Folklore Society. The prize is still awarded, now for book-length works.
The David Blair McLaughlin Prize is an internal University of Chicago prize. It honors critical or scholarly essays in English prose in a range of subjects. The prize is named in memory of David Blair McLaughlin, 1895-1914, a University of Chicago student who died tragically in a diving accident. His parents established the prize in 1914; the first competition took place in 1916, and the award was $50.
Beginning in 1895, a handful of prizes were offered annually for essays in economics, adjudicated by a committee of professors from various universities including the University of Chicago. The prizes were sponsored by three Chicagoans and the competition was open to undergraduates and others throughout the country.
The Fiske Poetry Prize was established in 1920 by Horace Spencer Fiske, in memory of his father John Billings Fiske. Open to University of Chicago students, it was judged annually by the chair of the English Department, a prominent American poet, and an American literary critic. The prize is no longer offered.
The Florence James Adams Prize, first awarded in 1912, was for excellence in artistic reading, generally of poetry.
The Gellhorn Prize in Neurophysiology was established in 1963 by Ernest Gellhorn, a neurophysiologist at the University of Minnesota. It was administered by the University of Chicago's Physiology Department.
The Olga and Paul Menn Foundation Prize was established in 1949 in accordance with the 1946 will of Olga Menn. Four yearly prizes were offered originally, for short stories, novels, or plays, to University students between the ages of 20 and 26. The first prizes were awarded in 1950. By 1956 musical compositions were also accepted. Currently, one prized is awarded annually, for plays only.
Another early prize was offered by the New England Free Trade League, for an essay on the topic of trade protectionism. Prizes were offered at five colleges, and awarded in 1899.
The Political Institutions Prize began in 1918 as the Civil Government Prize, but was renamed in 1944. It was awarded annually to an undergraduate on the basis of an essay on a political topic. It appears that the award later became the Goettler Political Institutions Prize, and that it is no longer awarded.
The Ronald S. Crane prize in criticism was named for the founder of the Chicago School of Literary Criticism.
The Sergel Drama Prize is awarded by the University, but open to playwrights of any age, from anywhere in the world. The prize is awarded biennially. It was established in 1934 by the widow of Charles H. Sergel, a publisher and politician with a particular interest in drama. Awards are presented to plays of different specified sorts in different years. Winning plays are produced at the University. Judges of the competition have included Thornton Wilder and Frank O'Hara.
The Snowday Prize, named for Ronald H. Snowday, is also for criticism.
The collection is divided into 16 series.
Series 1, General, contains material detailing multiple university prizes and listing winners. Each subsequent series contains material dealing with one particular prize, as follows:
Series 2: American Academy of Poets Prize
Series 3: Chicago Folklore Prize
Series 4: Chicago Public Schools (awards for students)
Series 5: David Blair McLaughlin Prize
Series 6: Economics Prize
Series 7: Fiske Poetry Prize
Series 8: Florence James Adams Prize
Series 9: Gellhorn prize in Neurophysiology
Series 10: Menn Foundation Prize
Series 11: New England Free Trade League Competition
Series 12: Political Institutions Prize
Series 13: R. S. Crane Prize
Series 14: Sergel Drama Prize
Series 15: Snowday Prize
Series 16: Undergraduate Teaching Awards
Prizes (and thus series) are arranged alphabetically, and series contents are arranged chronologically.