[Posted by Peter Rawson, Associate Curator of Archives & Manuscripts]
The Chemical Prize Essay collection in the Trinity College Archives contains 327 chemical essays submitted by students at Trinity between 1858 and 1905.
These essays were submitted as part of a competition among students in to win the first place prize of $30 and the second place prize of $20.
The prize began in 1858 as a contest for seniors and became a junior prize in the mid-1880’s.
Essays were submitted to the Professor of Chemistry. These included Rev. Thomas R. Pynchon, Scoville Professor of Chemistry and Natural Science, 1854-1879; H. Carrington Bolton, Scoville Professor of Chemistry and Natural Science, 1880-1887; Robert B. Riggs (pictured here), Scoville Professor of Chemistry and Natural Science, 1888-1929.
The assigned essay topic each year was predetermined, with topics concerning chemicals, new technology, plants, light, or the metric system. The essays are organized in alphabetical order of the essayists’ last names, and they include both the winning essays and the other contestants’ essays.