Williamson student wins Mildred Taylor Award

Marvin Decker, Chairman of the Wayne County Board of Supervisors, announced that Kathryn Fairbanks of Williamson has received the 2000 Mildred Taylor Award. The award was presented on June 5 at the Hoffman Foundation Historic Awards Luncheon at the Newark Country Club.

Mildred Taylor served Wayne County in the New York State Assembly from 1946 to 1960 and was active in Republican Party politics at the State and local level for fifty years. She died in 1981 and left a bequest of $5000 to Wayne County, with instructions that the interest from the fund be used to recognize a person who had made a contribution to the written historical record of Wayne County. In 1969, the Wayne County Board of Supervisors determined that the best way to honor the wishes of Mrs. Taylor was to give the cash prize to the student who had been chosen top winner in the Augustus L. and Jennie D. Hoffman Foundation's Scholarship Essay Contest. The first Mildred Taylor Award was presented in 1990.

Fairbanks, who won a $4000 Hoffman Scholarship for her paper, 'Griffith Cooper, Williamson's Fighting Quaker,' was given a check for $250 by Decker.

'Mrs. Taylor devoted much of her retirement time to historical issues, and it would have pleased her to see all these students of local history gathered to celebrate the heritage of Wayne County,' said Decker.

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