Pugh Award to Fund Student Research in History

History students will be able to do more primary-source document research, thanks to a new research award. The Wilma J. Pugh Award has been established by Wilma Pugh, professor emeritus of history, and her nephew, Emerson Pugh.

A faculty committee will choose recipients of the award based on students' past achievements and the quality of their research proposals. A student might, for example, receive funding for travel expenses or usage fees so she can work directly with manuscripts in an off-campus library, archive, or other collection of historic artifacts. The amount of the award is expected to grow substantially over time, eventually funding MHC students' research throughout the world. Wilma Pugh said of the award, "I hope that students will develop an interest in research and the ability to know how to do research. Whether they go on in history or not, training in research is useful in a great variety of fields."

Wilma Pugh was a history professor at Mount Holyoke from 1943 until 1971, and a specialist in seventeenth and eighteenth-century French history with an emphasis on intellectual history. She received a Ph.D. in 1931 from Cornell University and was the first woman to teach history there. She continues her involvement with MHC, most recently meeting with President Creighton. Emerson Pugh, a retired IBM scientist and author of four books on the history of the computer industry, now oversees the history center of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He is also father of Sarah Pugh Tate, who graduated from MHC with a history major in 1985.

The Pughs selected a student research award at the suggestion of Robert Schwartz, professor of history. "The award will help history faculty encourage students to get a sense of what it's like to do their own history," Schwartz said. "Department members are actively engaged in research, and we try to convey that excitement in class, but there's nothing like the chance to do it yourself."

Students interested in applying for the award should contact Schwartz, the history department chair, for more information. The first Pugh Award is expected to be presented in spring 1997.