Six Samford students received cash awards for their papers on colonial American history from the Birmingham chapter of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America March 31.

Meghan Laury won the top award for her paper, “The Iroquois Confederacy and the War for American Independence”. Last year’s first-prize winner, Kyle George, took second place this year for his paper, “The Nullification Crisis: Alabama’s Response to the ‘Deplorable Experiment’”. Other winners included Laura Ziemer for “Invisible Soldiers: The Women of the American Revolution,” Mary (Alex) McLure for “A Utopian Society: The Folly and Fall of the Georgia Colony,” and Becca Wilcox for “The Gaspee Affair and the Writing of the American Constitution.”

The students presented brief summaries of their papers and then joined the Colonial Dames for a luncheon at the Mountain Brook Country Club.

The Colonial Dames have a long history of supporting Samford history majors; this was the 55^th year of the group's collaboration with the department. This year’s group also dedicated Volume 55 of the proceedings to Elizabeth Wells, longtime Special Collections Librarian and Samford University Archivist. Wells has helped numerous students with their research papers and the dedication honors her contribution to the scholarship program.