general news

In celebration of the 2013 Centennial of the founding of the Monticello Association,
Steve and Elizabeth Moyer have generously sponsored an essay contest for junior members of the Association.  The contest is open to children of current regular, or life members, of the Monticello Association. Membership must be current and validated by the Monticello Association Secretary by the contest deadline.

Participants are eligible for the following prizes:

Junior High School Essay Contest (Grades 6-8)

First Prize: $150
Second Prize: $75
Third Prize: $25
Honorable Mention

High School Essay Contest (Grades 9-12)

First Prize: $500
Second Prize: $175
Third Prize: $75
Honorable Mention

 Essay Topic

 In addition to protecting and preserving the Monticello Graveyard, the Monticello Association has the dual mission “to protect and perpetuate the reputation and fame of Thomas Jefferson and to encourage association and friendship among Mr. Jefferson’s descendants.” In celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the founding of our family association, essays should consider Mr. Jefferson as a real person. How does Thomas Jefferson relate personally to you and your family? What does it mean to be member of his family? How do think Jefferson affects how you see yourself and the world?

 Eligibility

•  The contest is open to children of current regular, or life members, of the Monticello Association. Membership must be current and validated by the Monticello Association Secretary by the contest deadline.

•  Entrants in the Junior High School Essay Contest must be in grade 6, 7or 8, and entrants in the High School Essay Contest must be in grade 9, 10, 11 or 12.

Requirements

• Essay submissions for the contest will be accepted starting January 1, 2013. The contest deadline is March 1, 2013.

• Essays must be at least 500 words but not more than 1250 words.

• Essays must be typed in 12-point font and double-spaced. Entries must be submitted with an entry form cover sheet.

• Essays must be the original work of the student.

• Although not required for the essay, any external sources must be properly cited with either parenthetical citations within the text or in footnotes. Please refer to a standard reference work such as The Chicago Manual of Style for proper formatting.

Essay Submission

•  Entrants have the choice of either submitting their essay online (preferred) or of mailing their essay. E-mail submissions must be sent as attachments in PDF or Word format with “Monticello Centennial Essay Contest” as the subject.

• All entrants must complete and submit an entry form; the form may be filled out and submitted electronically or printed and mailed with a copy of your essay.

• Essays should include no identifying information and must be submitted simultaneously with the entry form. A control number will be assigned to each essay to ensure anonymity during the judging process.

 Deadline

•  E-mail submissions should be sent to monticellohistorian@gmail.com no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Friday, March 1, 2013.

• Mailed essays must be postmarked by Friday, March, 1, 2013, and should be mailed to:

 

Meredith R. Devendorf
Monticello Association Historian
5836 Islands Hwy.
Midway, GA 31320

 

During the past year the executive committee has been working on finding a permanent home for the accumulated papers and artifacts of the Association that in the past have been in the possession of the Historian of the Association.    The overriding objectives for this effort were to find a home for the archives that would be safe, secure, accessible, and provide the appropriate conditions for proper archival storage.     The Executive Committee has been in discussions with the Thomas Jefferson Foundation over the last few years to determine if storing the Association’s papers at the Jefferson Library would be a potential option.  

The discussions culminated this year in a temporary agreement now being finalized with the Jefferson Library that would allow for the storage of the Monticello Association papers at the Jefferson Library with access limited to the Association Executive Committee members and the Association Historian.  

It is the Executive Committee’s view that before any external access is to be considered that first the contents of the archives needs to be thoroughly reviewed, categorized, and documented by the Association to determine that exact nature of the contents and, to the extent possible, understand the expressed wishes and desires of the members who contributed the artifacts throughout our history.

To this end Jack Taylor, Immediate Past President, has graciously volunteered to spend a month “on the mountain” this fall to review and document the accumulated archives of the Association and report out his findings in time for the 2012 meeting.   Many thanks to Jack for his tireless efforts to not only find a home for our papers but also commiting time to completely document, for the first, the accumulated Associaton papers.  We all look forward with great anticipation to what he uncovers.