Christopher Price wins the 2010-11 Merrifield Competition

Christopher Price, a doctoral student in the History Department, has won the 2010-11 Merrifield Competition. Named in honor of Webster Merrifield, UND’s first Librarian and third President, the Merrifield Competition awards a $1,500 scholarship for the most outstanding student research paper utilizing historic documents from the Chester Fritz Library’s Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections. A generous grant from the UND Alumni Association and Foundation enables the Library to hold this annual competition.

A native of West Virginia, Price graduated from West Virginia Tech with a B.A. in History and Government, and from Marshall University with a M.A. in History. Prior to moving to Grand Forks to pursue a Doctor of Arts degree, Price taught social studies at Calvary Baptist Academy in Hurricane, West Virginia.

His winning paper, “The First Baptist Church of Grand Forks and American Exceptionalism, 1881-1928,” examined the attitudes and actions of the congregation against the backdrop of the Progressive Era.

A five-member jury reviewed the papers submitted for the Competition. The jury consisted of Curt Hanson, Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections; Crystal Alberts, English; Albert Berger, History; Graeme Dewar, Physics and Astrophysics; and Douglas Munski, Geography. The papers were judged on quality of research, clarity of thesis and conclusion, writing skill, and the investigation of primary sources.

— Curt Hanson, head of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, 777-4626, curt.hanson@library.und.edu.