PEABODY — For the 30th time since 1992, the Peabody Historical Society and Museum opened the application period for its annual George and Rachel Shaw Scholarship meant to help out devoted college-age citizens.
The scholarship award is funded by Sylvia and Ralph Marble and amounts to $3,000.
“We always get excellent applications,” said Nora Bigelow, assistant curator at the Historical Society.
The recipients have always been those who have taken a lot of pride in being from Peabody, said Bigelow.
“The thread that I see with the successful candidates is real involvement in the local community ― whether they spent their summers working at Treadwell’s Ice Cream or as a camp counselor at Brooksby Farm, ” said Bigelow. “It is their academic excellence but also their willingness to provide their talents to local organizations.”
In the recent past, the scholarship was awarded to individuals with academic focus in graphic design, special education, health sciences, environmental and biochemical engineering and many others, said Bigelow.
To apply, individuals must be residents of Peabody, be full-time college students, carrying at least 12 credits per semester and be in their sophomore year in college or beyond. The recipient is chosen anonymously, as the committee made up of the members of the Board of Directors reviews the applications printed out without names.
The scholarship is focused on someone who has completed their first year of college because there is a significantly lower number of scholarships available after high school students get into college, Bigelow said. It is meant to be that extra push financially to get a student through the 4-year degree program.
The money can be spent at the winner’s discretion on any educational purposes.
The scholarship was established 30 years ago in May 1992 to honor Sylvia Marble’s parents, who grew up in Peabody and were descendants of two prominent families ― the Feltons and Fosters. The Felton family were some of the first English settlers of the Brooksby Farm area, who courageously spoke up in defense of John Proctor during the Salem witch trials.
General Gideon Foster led the militiamen into the first battle of the American Revolution at Lexington and Concord. Two of the Felton family homes and Foster’s house are historic properties that are maintained by the Historical Society.
Marble reached out to the Historical Society in 1992 while researching her ancestry. After corresponding with the late Barbara Doucette, a board member and active volunteer and historian, Marble decided to start the George and Rachel Shaw Scholarship.
Originally, the scholarship was for $1,000 but over the years the amount has increased to $3,000.
The recipient of the scholarship usually gets notified during the first or the second week in May and gets to join the Historical Society’s membership dinner at the Smith Barn. Bigelow said that it is hard to tell if the dinner might be canceled this year because of COVID-19.
The application form can be downloaded from the Historical Society’s website. Applications are due on Saturday, March 26, 2022.
