Yale University Library News

Six 2019 grads awarded library prizes for outstanding research and writing

Yale senior essay prize winners
May 3, 2019

Yale University Library has selected six 2019 graduates to receive this year’s library prizes for outstanding senior essays. The prizes, awarded in three categories,  will be presented to the students at their residential college graduation ceremonies on May 20. The winning essays will be published online in Eli Scholar.

The Harvey M. Applebaum ’59 Award is for an essay using the library’s collections of government documents and information. This year, a first-prize of $500 and a second-prize of $250 will be awarded.

  • First Prize: Pascale Bronder, Grace Hopper College, for Renewable Energy Access and Resilience in Urban Developing Areas: Distributed Solar Networks and Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading in Puerto Rico.
  • Second Prize: Seamus C. Joyce-Johnson, Silliman College, for “Its Cargo Is People”: Repositioning Commuter Rail as Public Transit to Save the New York–New Haven Line, 1960–1990.

The Manuscripts and Archives Diane Kaplan Memorial Prize is for an essay based substantially on research in any Yale Manuscripts and Archives collection. The $500 prize will be presented to two students this year.

  • Samuel Bennett, Ezra Stiles College, for “A Critic Friendly to McCarthy”: How William F. Buckley, Jr. Brought Senator Joseph R. McCarthy into the American Conservative Movement Between 1951 and 1959. 
  • Ethan Swift, Pierson College, for Young Americans for Freedom and the Anti-War Movement: Pro-War Encounters with the New Left at the Height of the Vietnam War. 

The Library Map Prize recognizes the best use of maps in a senior essay or equivalent project. This year, a first prize of $500 and an honorable mention of $250 will be awarded.

  • First Prize: Claire Rossi de Leon, Pierson College, for Ranging and Behavior of Black and Gold Howler Monkeys in Formosa, Argentina
  • Honorable Mention: Amanda Taheri, Branford College

Photo Credit: Joanna Carmona

The 2019 library prizewinners are shown, from left to right: Pascale Bronder ‘19, Amanda Taheri ‘19, Ethan Swift ‘19, Samuel Bennett ‘19, Seamus C. Joyce-Johnson ‘19, and Claire Rossi de Leon ‘19

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