“A Piece of the Past” Museum Essay Contest
Prior Winners
2019 Winners:
2019 winners with mentors, Dr. Sloan. and sponsor Stewart Morris
Grand Prize Winner ($1500):
Victoria Thorpe, “Flooded But Flourishing: The 1869 Map of the City of Houston” (Decorative Arts)
Mrs. Sloan, Victoria Thorpe, Stewart Morris, and Dr. Sloan
Southern History/American Architecture and Decorative Arts
1st ($500) Jennifer Ren, “The Root of the Matter: Oral Care in Texas at the Turn of the 20th Century “ (Southern History)
2nd ($250) Brandon J. Patterson, “Clother in White: The Ku Klux Klan Hood (c. 1920)” (Southern History)
Dunham Bible Museum
1st ($500) Emma Perry, “The Avery Bible: The Hearts of Children to Their Fathers”
2nd ($250) Caleb K. Wong, “Hope Found Through a Book: A Bible in Communist China”
Art Museums
1st ($500) Stacy Smith, “Humanity Marching Forward: David Alfaro Siquetros’ Dancing Woman” (1969)
2nd ($250) Conley Harris, “Van Dyck’s Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness” (Fine Arts Museum)
HBU Academy
1st ($500) Sol Pittman, “Harriet Lane’s Bell” (Southern History)
2nd ($250) Asiyyah Abass, “Indistinct Visions of Divided Wings: Aaron Novak’s Monarch Art” (Get Ready MFA Exhibit 2019, University Academic Center)
Plus: 25 Honorable Mention Awards $50 each
2018 Winners:
A Piece of the Past 2018 Winners, with Stewart Morris and Dr. Robert Sloan
Grand Prize Winner:
Katrina Bolman, “Time Present and Time Past All Present in Time Future: The Russian Icon of the Triumphant Entry of Christ Into Jerusalem” (Fine Arts Museum)
Southern History/American Architecture and Decorative Arts
1st Phillip E. Salazar, “Seminole Doll: The Art of Selling Culture” (Decorative Arts)
2nd Jeremiah T. Holcomb, “The Radio—Waves of Progress: The 1940s Motorola Electric Box Radio” (Southern History)
Dunham Bible Museum
1st Seth Grant, “The Gospel of America’s Russian Apostle: The Gospel of Matthew, 1848, Aleut Translation”
2nd Jacob R. Johnson, “A Link in the Chain: The Pump Organ’s Role in the History of Christian Worship”
Art Museums
1st Kelley McLemore, “Christ’s Crucifixion—An Artist’s Clarion Call: Marc Chagall’s “Esquisse Pour L’Exode” (Fine Arts Museum)
2nd Corrie McCloy, “Christ in Exile: Marc Chagall on Jewish Identity” (Fine Arts Museum)
Freshmen
1st Ngozi Paula Ejim, “She Builds Upon the Mirror: Jenny Fine’s ME” (Contemporary Art Museum)
2nd Rebecca A. Bargainer, “Mapping Houston’s Past: The 1869 Map of the City of Houston” (Decorative Arts Museum)
HBU Academy
1st Gabrielle Thomason, “The Child’s Bible By a Lady of Cincinnati” (Dunham Bible Museum)
2nd Cole O. Reynolds, “’A Well Founded Translation’: Charles Thomson’s Translation of the Bible” (Dunham Bible Museum)
2017 Winners:
Grand Prize Winner:
Corrie McCloy, “American Zouave: Fighting in Style”
Southern History/American Architecture and Decorative Arts
1st Christina Ta, “The Winnebago Indian: A Mysterious Doll and A People We Are Forever Connected to”
2nd Veronica Valle, “Dolls, Art, and Revolution: The Lay Figure Dolls for Jacques-Loui David’s The Coronation of Napoleon”
Dunham Bible Museum
Dunham Bible Museum Award Winners
1st Jonathan Richie, “On the Style and Substance in Fragments of a Greek Manuscript”
2nd Marisa Villarreal, “Clearing the Hurdles: The Gullah Bible of 2005”
Art Museums
1st Emilia Forbau, “Reclaiming the Christianized Jesus: Chagall’s Esquisse Pour L’Exode”
2nd Abigail Sims, “Split Rings: An Exercise in Minimalism, or How I Met Modern Art and Learned to Love It”
Freshman/HBU Academy
1st Alexander Hale, “War of the Boys: The Child’s Zouave Uniform”
2nd Ana Kriletic, “The Bible As A Weapon of Defense: Julia Evelina Smith’s Translated Bible”
2016 Winners
6th Annual “A Piece of the Past” Museum Essay Contest Winners, 2016
2016 Winners:
2016 Winners of the “Piece of the Past” contest, with Stewart Morris in center and Dr. Sloan in background.
Grand Prize Winner:
Jonathan Richie, “The Bodey Oil Lamp: The Illumination of Dating Through Construction and Design”
Southern History/American Architecture and Decorative Arts
1st Cora Cobb, “Reconstruction Era Quilts: Piecing Families Together”
2nd Nathan Cobb, “The Pianola: Profane or Beneficial?”
Dunham Bible Museum
1st Madeline Thorpe, “Justice in the Balance: The Word against the World in Acts and Monuments —An Original Leaf—Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, 1576”
2rd Emil Simon, “The Bible Says What? The Wicked Bible”
Art Museums
1st Allison Thai, “The Marriage At Cana by Marten Pepyn: A Baroque Treatment of Christ’s First Miracle”
2nd Duyen Nguyen, “Francken’s The Last Judgment”
Freshmen
1st Corrie McCloy, “The Realm of the Brownie”
2nd Amber Ontiveros, “The Birth of Modern Medicine”: William Gunnell’s Surgeon’s Set”
HBU Academy
1st Alexander B. Hale, “Surgical Saviors: The Civil War Era Surgeon’s Set”
2nd Sidarth Joshi, “The Minie Ball —The Innovation that Devastated the Confederacy”
2015
Grand Prize Winner
Southern History Museum
1st Colton Michael Roath, “The Colt Revolver and Its Role In American Gun Culture”
2nd Elizabeth Wilkerson, “War Poster: The Home Front Reflected on a Single Printed Page”
American Architecture and Decorative Arts
1st Victoria Simms, “A Piece of the Past: The Kewpie Doll”
2nd Evan Huegel, “In Defense of Dolls: An Argument for the Return of Dolls As Art”
Dunham Bible Museum
1st Jonathan Richie, “Faience Ushabti: The Purpose and Religion of the Egyptian Ushabti”
2nd Kyra Brown, “The Julia Evelina Smith Bible: Changing Society’s Rules—The First Woman to Translate the Bible”
Art Museums
1st Katherine Denise Brown, “Icons—Truth that Transcends Time: Icon of the Entry of Christ Into Jerusalem”
2nd Jeremiah Macha, “English Portraiture and Engraving: The Reynolds Mezzotint Files”
Freshmen
1st Blake Richards, “The Surrender of Galveston and the Battle to Win It Back” (Southern History Museum)
2nd Doris M. Benavides, “Girls Gone Wild: The Flapper Dress” (Southern History Museum)
2014
Winners of the 2014 “A Piece of the Past” museum essay contest were announced March 27, 2014 at a special dinner for participants at the River Oaks Country Club. Essays from the contest can be read here.
Grand Prize Winner
Andrew S. Jimenez, “America’s Heroes: Houston’s WWI Training Camp” (Southern History Museum)
American Architecture and Decorative Arts
- 1st Justin R. Brittain, “Transcending the Toy Box: The Changing Meaning of the Doll”
- 2nd Katie L. Kuhlman, “Always Remembered: A Human Hair Decoration from VictorianTimes”
Dunham Bible Museum
- 1st Nicholas Van Cleve, “The Scroll of Esther: Catharsis on Vellum—A Triumph Celebrated”
- 2nd Hayley DeBolt, “The Making of the King James Bible”
Museum of Southern History
- 1st Kyra Brown, “More Than Just A Mammy: The Story Behind the Historic Academy Award Win of Hattie McDaniel”
- 2nd Dayna C. Patterson, “Violence and Hate Without Reason”: A Ku Klux Klan Hood of the 1920s”
Fine Arts Museum and Contemporary Art Gallery
- 1st Tia Lee Wettman, “Chagall’s Symbolism: Esquisse Pour L’Exode”
- 2nd Nathan Cobb, “The Matterhorn: A Spirit of Adventure”
Freshman Category
- 1st Elizabeth J. Shecterle, “A Different Kind of Surgery: A Civil War Era Surgeon’s Set”
- 2nd Samuel J. DeForke, “The Model 1842 Percussion Pistol – Its Time in History”
2013
Museum of Decorative Arts
- 1st : Cody Pepper, “Schoenhut’s Circus: A Step into the Imagination”
- 2nd : Gloria Alfaro “From Vignette to Canvas: The Coronation of Josephine by Napoleon”
Dunham Bible Museum
- 1st : Nicholas Van Cleve, “Siloam Inscription: An Ancient Architectural Feat & Biblical Verification”
- 2nd : Bethany Lindell, “’May This Keep You Safe From Harm’: Captain James Scott Cumming’s New Testament Heart-Shield Bible”
Museum of Southern History
- 1st : Ethan D. Lawrence, “Saving Lives through Brutality: Surgeon’s Set—Civil War Era”
- 2nd (tie) : Jacqueline Lawrence, “’Symbol on the Waves’: Model of the CSS Alabama”
- 2nd (tie) : Andrew S. Jimenez, “‘I’m Proud of You Folks Too!’: A World War II Poster”
Freshman Category
- 1st : Andrew Jimenez, “‘I’m Proud of You Folks Too!’: A World War II Poster”
- 2nd : Emily Araco, “Southern Pocket Pistol: The Derringer Pistol”
Honorable Mention
- Joshua Christopher Jones, “Ethiopian Psalter: The Illuminated Manuscript and Genuine Devotion” (Dunham)
- Agbasoga Ojirika, “The Benjamin Franklin Family Stool: Genuine Faith Is Never Overcome” (Dunham)
- Rebecca McFarland, “The Mistake: The ‘Wicked’ Bible” (Dunham)
- Mayra Herrera, “The Great Bible: King Henry VIII’s New Bible” (Dunham)
- Lauren Gabrielle Bourn, “Book of Hours: An Ancient Devotional” (Dunham)
- Cody Pepper, “Full Circle: The McLean Home’s Role in the American Civil War” (Southern)
- Julia Burns, “The Two Portraits of Jean Baptist and Elizabeth Chumar Fiquet” (Southern)
- Lauren Gabrielle Bourn, “Manicure Set: Polish Up on Manicure History” (Southern)
2012
Dunham Bible Museum
1st place, Nicholas van Cleve, “A Story of Remarkable Recovery”
2nd place, Andrew Adler, “The Initiative of John Eliot in the Translation and Printing of the Algonquian Bible “
2011
Dunham Bible Museum
1st place, Nicholas Mario Bruno, “Matthew Carey’s Douay-Rheims Bible”
2nd place, Andrew Adler, “Adoniram Judson’s Burmese Bible: A Product of Intellect, Passion, and Providence”
