Posted 2:54 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, 2023
Congratulations to the 2022-2023 recipients
By Laura Godden (she/her/hers)
When University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Professor Emeritus of History George Gilkey left a generous bequest to the Murphy Library Special Collections/Area Research Center (SC/ARC) in 2010, the library felt the best way to honor his gift and legacy was to establish a student scholarship in his name.
Now in its 8th year, Murphy Library is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2022-2023 George Gilkey Special Collections Research Scholarship:
- 1st place: Mary J. Miller, social studies history education major, for her HIS 490: History Research Seminar paper, “The Black Forum: The Intersection of the Intersection of Working- Class Radicalism and Racial Equity in The Racquet in 1969,” written in spring 2022.
- 2nd place tie: Gavin Stebbins, biology major, for his HIS 200: Historiography and Historical Methods assignment, “John Michael Haddad Oral History Assessment,” written in spring 2022.
- 2nd place tie: Sidney Paulson, archaeological studies major, for her HIS 200: Historiography and Historical Methods assignment, “John Czeiska Jr. Oral History Assessment,” written in spring 2022.
Of the scholarship, Mary Miller wrote, “Thank you for helping make [my two older sisters] proud [of me]."
Gavin Stebbins thanked the committee for his selection, writing, “I am very serious about my studies and fulfilling my goals, and this scholarship goes a long way in helping me do that.” He added that even though he plans to become a doctor, he “chose to add history as a minor just because it is a field that I really enjoy and have a deep passion and appreciation for.”
Sidney Paulson told the committee about how she comes from a family of six and plans to attend graduate school to obtain a doctorate in archaeology. She stated, “This scholarship will help immensely, in allowing me to work a little bit less next year and focus more on schoolwork. The past few years have been very stressful for me, going to school full-time and working as much as possible, while staying on the dean’s list. The assistance will play a large part in somewhat lessening my stress for the coming year so that I can finish off my senior year in a strong place.”
To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must use materials from the Murphy Library SC/ARC archives in an intellectual product, such as a paper, artistic creation, slide presentation, video, news article or other project. A variety of sources like UWL Racquet student newspapers, vertical files/newspaper clippings, U.S. Census records, and oral histories were used in this year’s submissions. About her paper, Mary Miller commented, “Because of the wealth of resources in the archives, this project was a lot of fun to create!"
The George Gilkey Special Collections Research Scholarship is open to any current UW-La Crosse student enrolled full-time and in good academic standing. Scholarship applicants submit a single-authored intellectual product that utilizes materials from SC/ARC. The selection committee then chooses the best submission(s) based on quality and use of archival sources.
The committee is composed of faculty members from both the library and the campus at large. This year’s members were:
- Laura Godden, Library Department
- Penelope Hardy, History Department
- Teri Holford, Library Department
- Ken Shonk, History Department
You can read each year’s winning submissions by visiting Murphy Library Special Collections/Area Research Center where a copy of each year’s winning submission(s) is preserved as part of its collection. A complete listing can be found here.
The scholarship is intended to encourage original student research. The library also hopes it will further recognize Gilkey’s essential role in establishing and building SC/ARC and help spread his passion for archives. Fun fact, Gilkey spent so many hours researching in SC/ARC that he was granted his own key, as well as a place to store his comfortable researching slippers!
Murphy Library hopes this accolade provides scholarship recipients with some much-deserved recognition for their academic work and congratulates them on their accomplishments!
Students can apply for this year’s George Gilkey Special Collections Research Scholarship via the UWL Foundation webpage. The application deadline is February 1, 2024.