Northeast Texas Community College Honors students, Elyse Coleman of Gilmer and Kayleah Cumpian of Mount Pleasant, swept two of the four 2014 Caldwell essay awards given annually by the Webb division of the Texas State Historical Association (for freshmen and sophomores in the colleges and universities of Texas).
Both wrote papers that were also deemed the two 2014 Boe nominees for NTCC by the Honors Committee, consisting of professors Joy Cooper, Robert Fenton, and David Rangel.† Each year the college submits two of its best 15-20 page essays by students to the Great Plains Honors Council as candidates for the Council?s coveted Boe Awards.
Coleman came in second in the statewide competition, receiving $300 in prize money. Cumpian, who came in third, won $150. Both papers are also considered automatic candidates for publication in the 2015 edition of the student journal of the Texas State Historical Association,†Touchstone.†
Coleman?s essay,†Texans Loved the Railroads, was a revisionist critique. †Some have assumed that the Texas Railroad Commission, and the state?s powerful anti-corporate lobby during the turn of the twentieth century inspired Texans to hate the railroads.† Coleman maintains that railroads solved some of the most vexing issues of the state?s 19th-century economy, and indeed, made the state of Texas possible.
Cumpian focused on the subject of NTCC?s recent film, Wright Patman.† She argued that renewed experiences with rural destitution kept Patman focused on populist money issues, and subsequent battles with the moneyed elite far into the twentieth century. Patman?s tenure suggests a new chronology for populism.
Honors Director, Dr. Andrew Yox, noted that ?Coleman, and Cumpian worked assiduously on their papers both before and after the end of the semester.† Both assumed risks, taking controversial stands. We are elated that these two young women, who both have such great attitudes, have been able to maintain our tradition at NTCC of scholarly excellence.?
To learn more about the NTCC Honors Program, which provides top students with scholarships and unique academic opportunities, visit www.ntcc.edu/honors or contact Yox at ayox@ntcc.edu.
