The Marilyn Ross Memorial Book Prize in Women’s and Gender History was established in 2014 in memory of my maternal grandmother.

Hanna and I award the prize annually for a notable individual junior and senior project in women’s and/or gender history submitted to the Massachusetts History Day competition, at the Regional (North Shore) and State levels. The winners are awarded a book selected to complement their chosen topic.

2022

• State
  • Junior
    Zilla Hilbert
    “Same Sex Workplace Harassment is Protected Under Title VII”
  • Senior
    Fengrui (Sophia) He
    “Candida Xu: The Hidden Chinese Diplomat for Christianity”
• Regional (North Shore)
  • Junior
    Josefa Contreras
    “Marie Curie”
  • Senior
    Isabel Urban
    “An Independent Woman or a Witch?: Unpacking the Relationship Between Women and Witch Hunts”

2021 Massachusetts State Competition

Note: because of the COVID-19 pandemic no regional contest was held in 2021. Instead all students in Massachusetts participated in a virtual contest that included a series of rounds. Four awards were given at the state level. 

• Junior
  Sam Geiger
  “Subtle Suffrage: Feminist Fashion in the 1920s”
• Junior
  Ava Menasha
  “Elizabeth Friedman”
• Senior
  Lauren Mitchell
  “The WASPs: America’s Forgotten Heroes of World War II.”
• Senior
  Ava Malloy
  “Nellie Bly Writes Her Own Story”

2020 Massachusetts State Competition

Note: because of the COVID-19 pandemic no regional contest was held in 2020. Instead all students in Massachusetts participated in a virtual contest that included a series of rounds. Four awards were given at the state level. 

• Junior
  Elizabeth Bernadin
  “Strive for the Ballot: The Enfranchisement of New Zealand’s Women”
• Junior
  Grace Trexler
  “Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Power of Dissent”
• Senior
  Ava Chase
  “Covert Operations: How an All-Female Abortion Agency Helped 11,00 Women”
• Senior
  Albina Kodos
  “Right to Rainbow: How Denmark’s Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Couples Broke Through Barriers of Discrimination for Homosexuals”

2019

• State
  • Junior
    Shaudi Fatemi
    “Amelia Earhart”
    Individual Exhibit
  • Senior
    Morgan Willison
    “Tragedy to Triumph: The Stonewall Riots and the Next Decades of LGBTQ+ History”
    Individual Documentary
• Regional (North Shore)
  • Junior
    [not awarded]
  • Senior
    Emma Stebenne
    “The Tragedy of the Equal Rights Amendment”
    Individual Documentary

2018

• State
  • Junior
    Jacinda Mejia
    The Right to Vote: The Fight for Women’s Suffrage in the United Kingdom
    Individual Paper
  • Senior
    Piper Schneider
    The Women’s Suffrage Movement: A Story of Conflict Creating Change
    Individual Paper
• Regional (North Shore)
  • Junior
    [not awarded]
  • Senior
    Emily Holzman
    The Era of the E.R.A.
    Individual Website

2017

• State
  • Junior
    Courtney Azera
    The Stonewall Riots: The Start of Gay Rights
    Individual Exhibit
  • Senior
    Olivia Hastie
    A Crusader and Her Pen
    Individual Website
• Regional (North Shore)
  • Junior
    Sophia Perno
    Florence Nightingale – “The Lady with the Lamp”: Taking a Stand for Good Nursing
    Individual Exhibit
  • Senior
    Salma Elhaissouni
    Keller’s Stance for Disabled Improvement
    Individual Exhibit

2016

• State
  • Junior
    Angelina Carando
    Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man
    Individual Exhibit
  • Senior
    Stephanie Pett
    The Will of the Suffragette – Alice Paul
    Individual Performance
• Regional (North Shore)
  • Junior
    Angela Rojas
    Margaret Hamilton: The Woman Who Put Man on The Moon
    Individual Website
  • Senior
    Mary Brao
    Typhoid Mary: How Scientific Exploration Encountered Prejudice, Leading to the Exchange of Individual Rights for the Protection of Public Health
    Individual Performance

2015

• State
  • Junior
    Brenda Bettero and Erika Cheever
    “Nellie Bly: Crazy for Answers!”
    Group Exhibit
    
  • Senior
    Megan Nguyen
    “Daisy Bates: ‘First Lady of Little Rock!'”
    Individual Website
• Regional (North Shore)
  • Sophia Garcia
    “From Peasant to Military Leader: Joan of Arc”
    Individual Website

2014

• State
  • Gayatri Sundar Rajan
    “Smile, Laugh, Charm: Expectations Placed on Women in the Work Force”
    Individual Documentary 
• Regional (North Shore)
  [not awarded]