Awarded to a graduate student who has an excellent academic record and has an interest in the Civil war era and/or women's history.
History
Samantha Snyder is the reference librarian at George Washington's Mount Vernon. She is graduating summer of 2021 with a master's in history, with an emphasis on eighteenth century American history. She is originally from Madison, Wisconsin, and went to the University of Wisconsin where she received her master's in library and information studies, and her bachelor's of art in English literature. She studies the history of early American women, as well as the social and material culture of urban elites in the mid-Atlantic. She is working on a biography of Elizabeth Willing Powel, an influential eighteenth-century Philadelphia woman known for her political salons, and friendship with George Washington. She is excited to use the knowledge she has gained in the MA program at George Mason University to continually build her career as a librarian and in future scholarly endeavors.