The Pioneer Essay Contest was held annually from 1958 until 2012 and was open to anyone writing on subjects of Santa Clara County history. The contest was reintroduced in 2019, with each year adding more possibilities for entry.
Some of the best essays are published in our quarterly journal, The Trailblazer, and all winning essays are maintained on file in the Mary Lou Lyon Research Library, and in the California Room of the Martin Luther King/San Jose State Library.
Soon we will have all past essay contest entries and winners available online – below you can find our most recent entries from the 2020-21 contest!
2012
FIRST PLACE: Michael A. Shea MD
Nineteenth Century Medicine in the Santa Clara Valley
Russ Robinson
The McKee Family Letters
Lynn Rogers
LIGHTING A SPARK
Santa Clara Valley Autism Pioneers in the 1980s and 1990s
2010
1st Place, Sandra Lathrop Mueller
PIONEERING A PLACE FOR ECOLOGY
2nd Place, Stephen Scordelis
SELLING A NAME: PAUL MASSON, CHAMPAGNE KING OF CALIFORNIA
3rd Place, Mrs. Rosalinda G. Oneto
A.P. GIANNINI: SAN JOSE AND ALVISO YEARS AND THE ONETO FAMILY
Honorable Mention, Lan-Uyen Trang Stephanie Nguyen
LEARNING SKILLS TO LAST A LIFE TIME AND TRADITIONS TO LAST FOREVER
Honorable Mention, Kimberlee Manzo
LEGACY OF PRUNES: A TRIBUTE TO THE ORSETTI FAMILY
Honorable Mention, Rebecca Leahy
STANFORD UNIVERSITY: ITS HISTORY, LEGACY AND INFLUENCE
2008
FIRST PLACE: Elizabeth Barratt
2011
FIRST PLACE: Elizabeth Ahrens-Kley
Dr. Ben Cory
Pioneer and First Medical Physician of San Jose, California
SECOND PLACE: Gage Mckinney
Santa Clara Valley Troubadour
A Life & Selected Poems of Thomas Clarence Urmy (read additional poems)
THIRD PLACE: Kathleen Kozacek
WHERE THE GIRLS ARE
Castilleja: A College Preparatory School for Girls in Santa Clara County Castilleja
HONORABLE MENTION: Grace Andriola Purpura
A WOMAN’S PLACE, A Personal Journey in the Changing Santa Clara Valley
HONORABLE MENTION: JOANNA HERZ
If Walls Can Talk
HONORABLE MENTION: Susan Sargent
Presidential Visits Then and Now
Ruth McCaffrey
The Indelible Stamp
Elizabeth Barratt
The F.R.F.G. Women’s Study Club
2009
FIRST PLACE: John Figueira Jr.
Portuguese Museum Plaza Design and Construction Project
2005
FIRST PRIZE: Kathryn Collins Philp
The President, Politics, and the Police
SECOND PRIZE: Elizabeth Barratt
The Pioneer James Ingham Family
THIRD PRIZE: Mary Miller Chiao
Sarah Brown
Honorable Mentions
Gloria Jabaut
The San Jose Hi-Spot
Nan G. Hunter
An Immigrant’s Contribution
Roy Mize
Aviation Pioneering in the Santa Clara Valley