The Friends of the Frontier Army Museum at Fort Leavenworth (FFAM), Kan., is hosting their annual youth essay contest for the sixth year. This year, the subject of the essays is Pandemics in Military History.
The contest is open to students in grades 9 through 12 from all school students who live within the area, and approximately 20 miles from Fort Leavenworth. Weston and Platte City students are welcome to submit essays for the competition.
The prize money for the best three essays provide a good start for a college savings account. The first-place winner will receive $1,000, the second-place winner will receive $500, and the third-place winner will get $250.
Stephanie Hixson, FFAM secretary, has been on the board for four years and helped organize the essay contest for three years.
“Most students say that they enjoyed researching and learning about something they otherwise would not have had the time or opportunity to learn,” Hixson said.
The essay contest runs from Feb. 1 until April 1, and essay submissions can be entered anytime within that time frame.
The timeliness of this year’s essay topic provides an opportunity for students to become more familiar with similarities between the last year, and previous years of pandemics in history. As the current pandemic continues, the contest provides a way for students to better understand the challenges that their ancestors underwent a century ago.
“Comparing and contrasting similarities and differences between pandemics is one approach a student could use,” Hixson said. “That would be great if students could learn ways to handle threatening situations, while completing research for their essay.”
In 2019, the contest focused on the topic, The Faces Behind the Name. Students chose a building or landmark named after someone who had served at Fort Leavenworth and researched that person’s association with the post. Last year, Military Technology of Transportation and Weapons was the topic. Students explained the evolution of transportation or Army weapons from the time of the Frontier era to World War I.
The Frontier Army Museum collects, preserves, and safeguards material culture of the United States Army and uses its holdings to support professional military education, collections-based research, the development of educational materials, and educational initiatives to inform the public concerning the history of the Frontier Army, the Combined Arms Center, and Fort Leavenworth.
In 1938, the original collection began when the wagon shop at Fort Leavenworth closed and the horse-drawn vehicles were relocated and called the Old Rolling Wheels Museum.
The museum was officially recognized as an Army Museum in 1960, and has continued to preserve one of the best collections of 19th-Century military artifacts in the U.S.
The museum offers a chance to see the tools of soldiering used throughout an important time period in U.S. history. The main gallery highlights the efforts of the Frontier Army in exploration, expansion and protection of the Trans-Mississippi West from the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804) to the chase of Pancho Villa by General John Pershing (1916).
The Friends of the Frontier Army Museum are committed to collecting and preserving artifacts that tell the story of frontier Army life. They raise funds to do so with their annual Haunted Tour and Historic Home Tours.
“The essay contest is our way to give back to the community and give youth the opportunity to learn about history and what the Frontier Army Museum has to offer,” Hixson said. “The Frontier Army Museum is a great museum to learn local history and I would encourage everyone to visit.”
FFAM receives about 12 to 20 essays each year. Last year there were 16 entrants. Most of the judges who help pick the winners each year are often impressed by the levels of excellence in the submitted essays.
“It is very rewarding helping with our major events and bringing awareness of the museum to the community,” Hixson said.
For more information on the essay contest go to ffam.us.