Winners of the Marquis de Lafayette Microfilm Collection Essay Competition Announced

Lafayette Microfilm Collection Essay Competition Winners

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Cleveland State University sponsored the Lafayette Collection Essay Competition to recognize students and scholars who gained an understanding of the Marquis de Lafayette's life and times through the use of the Cleveland State University Library's Lafayette Microfilm Collection of his papers in Château La Grange. Partners in the competition were Mr. John Horton, Mr. Albert Oberst, Mr. Ben Shouse, Friends of the University Library, Maison Française de Cleveland, and the Western Reserve Society Sons of the American Revolution. All the essays were judged by a distinguished panel comprised of Ms. Lillian Politella, Dr. Ruth Hudson, and Dr. Tama Engelking, who served as chair of the group. The panel chose two essayists to receive cash prizes. Awards of $250 went to Ms. Karen L. Mounsey for "Best Essay Written in French Submitted by a Student" and to Dr. June K. Burton for "Best Scholarly Essay Written by a Non-Student." Ms. Mounsey's essay is entitled Lafayette et les Relations Franc-Américaines: 1783-1789. She is a student at University of Akron, studying with Dr. Maria Adamowicz-Hariasz. Dr. Burton is Associate Professor Emeritus, Department of History, University of Akron. Her essay is entitled Two "Better Halves" in the Worst of Times—Adrienne Noailles Lafayette (1759-1807) and Fanny Burney d'Arblay (1752-1840) as Medical and Surgical Patients under the First Empire. Dr. Burton intends to use the Lafayette Collection for further research projects. The Marquis de Lafayette Microfilm Collection at Cleveland State University contains documents housed in the archives at Chateau LaGrange, in France. The collection comprises 6,400 feet of microfilm containing 50,000 sheets covering 25,000 items. Subjects covered include Lafayette's involvement in the American Revolution as well as the French revolutions of 1789 and 1830, his imprisonment in Prussian and Austrian jails from 1792 to 1797, and his dealings with French and American political figures and leaders of national liberation movements in other countries. Significant and frequent correspondents in Lafayette's papers include American presidents from George Washington through Martin Van Buren, and other notable characters from this period including Simon Bolivar, James Fenimore Cooper, Charles James Fox, Louis XVIII, Napoleon I, Thomas Paine, Natalie Lafayette Perier, Madame de Stael, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, and Martha Washington. The acquisition of this rare microfilm collection by the Cleveland State University Library was funded through the French/American Library Book Fund. It was arranged by its major benefactor, Mr. John Horton, a friend of the Comte René de Chambrun with whom he has developed a personal relationship (both pictured at the left). The Comte, who owns LaGrange and holds the original collection, is a direct descendant of Lafayette. Mr. Horton needed the Comte's approval since the original agreement between the Library of Congress and the Comte did not allow for copying the microfilm. For more information about the Marquis de Lafayette Microfilm Collection, visit CSU Library's Special Collections Web Page.

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Updated May 14, 2001

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