Yale University Library is seeking submissions for three annual prizes for outstanding senior essays. Each carries a $500 award and is presented during Commencement ceremonies at the recipient’s residential college.
Based on quality of submissions, the library may name more than one winner (or alternately, none) for any of the awards. Winning essays are published on Eli Scholar. Senior essays submitted to a Yale academic department at any point during the 2020-21 academic year are eligible for consideration for 2021 prizes. Submissions are open now for these three prizes:
The Harvey M. Applebaum ’59 Award is for a senior essay using materials from any of the government depository collections. The collections encompass government documents and information for the U.S., European Union, Canada, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the United Nations. In 2020, first prize was awarded to William Horvath, Berkeley College, for The 1950s “War on Narcotics”: Harry Anslinger, The Federal Bureau of Narcotics, and Senator Price Daniel’s Probe. Second prize was awarded to Stephanie Higginson, Morse College, for Against Executive-Controlled Administrative Law Judges. Essays may be submitted for consideration by the student author or their faculty advisor no later than Thursday, May 13, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. Applebaum Award Submission guidelines.
The Manuscripts and Archives Diane Kaplan Memorial Prize is for an essay based substantially on research in any Manuscripts and Archives collection. In 2020, Kaplan Prizes were awarded to Steven Rome, Grace Hopper College, for The Apostle of Dissent: J. Hendrix McLane’s Fight Against History in Post-Reconstruction South Carolina, and to Sahaj Sankaran, Silliman College, for Ambassadors Extraordinary: Chester Bowles, B.K. Nehru, and Ambassadorial Agency in Indo-American Relations, 1961-1969. Submission deadline is Friday, April 23, 2021, at 5 p.m. Faculty and others may encourage submission, but students must submit the essays themselves to be considered for the prize. Kaplan Prize submission guidelines.
The Library Map Prize is for the best use of maps in a senior essay or its equivalent. In 2020, first prizes were awarded to Heidi Katter, Silliman College, for Railroad Ties: Tracks to the White Earth and Red Lake Ojibwe Reservations, 1860s-1910s, and to Soledad O. Tejada, Davenport College, for The Public and the Personal: Mapping the NYC Subway System as an Urban Memoryscape. An honorable mention was awarded to Peter A. Luff, Jonathan Edwards College, for Social Agglomeration Forces and the City. Essays may be submitted for consideration by the student author or their faculty advisor no later than Thursday, May 13, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. Map prize submission guidelines.