Florence Kidder Memorial Scholarship
Scholarship Sponsored by National Society of the Colonial Dames of America
Overview
The Florence Kidder Memorial Scholarship (FKMS) commemorates Florence Hill Kidder, the first president of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of North Carolina. This scholarship supports graduating high school seniors who plan to continue their education at a post-secondary institution located in North Carolina.
Awards and Eligibility
- Six scholarships will be granted for the year:
- First place: $3,000
- Second place: $1,000
- Third place: $800
- Three fourth-place awards: $400 each
- Awards are one-time only and cannot be renewed.
- Applicants must be high school seniors intending to enroll in a post-secondary institution within North Carolina.
2026 Essay Topic
Exploring the Voices of Early Carolina: Life, Hardship and Settlement Through Primary Sources
Essay Assignment
You will examine firsthand accounts written by people who experienced the earliest English exploration and settlement in Carolina. Using the primary documents listed below as your central evidence, write an essay that reconstructs daily life in the region during this early period, emphasizing the difficulties and challenges encountered by European settlers and the Indigenous peoples.
Primary sources to use (all found in the editorial collection cited below)
- Robert Horne, “A Brief Description of the Province of Carolina” (1666), pages 62–73
- Thomas Newe, “Letters of Thomas Newe” (1682), pages 176–186
- Samuel Wilson, “An Account of the Province of Carolina” (1682), pages 160–175
- William Hilton, “A Relation of a Discovery” (1664), pages 31–61
Source citation for the collection
All four documents are reprinted in:
Salley, Alexander S., Jr., ed., Narratives of Early Carolina 1650–1708. Original Narratives of Early American History. General editor: J. Franklin Jameson. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1911.
Suggested focal points
When analyzing the primary texts, address topics such as:
- The natural setting: terrain, weather patterns, and available natural resources
- Social relationships: interactions within colonial groups and between colonists and Indigenous communities
- Disease: prevalence and effects on populations
- Provisioning: access to food, tools, and essential supplies
- Recruitment and settlement efforts: strategies used to encourage new inhabitants to come to the colony
Research guidance and citation requirement
You may consult general background materials (for example, encyclopedia entries or maps) to contextualize your essay, but your interpretation should rely principally on the listed primary documents. If you draw on any outside information, identify and cite those sources clearly and specifically.