2018 Florence Kidder Scholarships PDF Print Email
Written by Allen, Joy   
Thursday, March 29, 2018 03:20 PM
Now in its 95th year, the 2018 Florence Kidder Memorial Scholarship program received 101 applications from across the state of North Carolina. Tasked with writing an essay addressing the subject, “Ordinary Folk: How They Shaped Their Communities in North Carolina,” applicants researched and wrote about lesser known individuals, families or communities who influenced their local or a neighboring county during colonial times through the mid-19th century.

photo of Julia FishThe first place winner, Julia Fish wrote about the Regulator Movement, a subject that had first piqued her interest as a young girl, when she came across a bronze marker memorializing the Regulators near her playground in Hillsborough. It so happens that the Durham-Orange Committee of the NSCDA-NC had placed the marker at this site, where six Regulators had been hanged in 1771 for protesting unfair taxation and fees by the British government.  Julia wrote about one of the men who had been executed, Capt. Benjamin Merrill, commander of 300 Regulators. Read Julia's essay.

Currently a senior at Orange High School, Julia will attend UNC Chapel Hill, Appalachian State or UNC Wilmington.   She will receive a $3,000 scholarship as the first place winner.

photo of Hannah BauswellThe second place $1000 awardee, Hannah Bauswell, wrote a well-researched paper titled, “Thomas Day: Craftsman of the Piedmont Triad.” A free African American, Day operated the largest furniture business in North Carolina in the mid 1800s. Read Hannah's essay.

The merit of the individual essays counted for 75 percent of the applicant’s score, with character and academic record
weighted at 20 percent and need at 5 percent.

Donations to the scholarship fund in memory of Pat Crittenden, a descendant of Florence Kidder, made it possible to award two additional scholarships. Third place winner Devontae Harrison of Winston-Salem will receive $800, and Anne Crabill of Chapel Hill will receive $500 for fourth place. Read Devontae's essay. Read Anne's essay.