The Florence E. Wright Memorial Award
Many members and friends of YAYAS will remember Miss Florence Wright, teacher at the Castle Museum. She devoted her life to introducing history to many of York’s schoolchildren and was responsible for sparking a life-long love of the subject in many.
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Florence was a keen historian out of term-time too. She was a long-standing member of YAYAS and was our secretary and vice-president for over forty years until her death in 1986.
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In 2023 YAYAS archivist, Anna Cook, commemorated Florence’s life in a memorial biography in the society’s journal, York Historian (vol.40).
The number of people who contributed their fond memories of Florence was overwhelming. As a result, the society decided that Florence and her work should be celebrated so it formed a partnership with the History Department of York St John University.
With the assistance of Dr Robert Barnes and Dr Peter Whitewood, YAYAS has introduced the Florence E. Wright Memorial Award which will be awarded each year to the student who gains the highest mark in their MA dissertation.
Florence E. Wright Memorial Award 2024
Winners - Molly Coatesworth and Katie Hawkes​
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In the first year of awarding this prize to celebrate the life of Florence Wright, we had the unusual situation of two students both gaining the same top mark for their dissertations.
YAYAS chairperson John Shaw was delighted to present the award for the first time to Molly Coatesworth and Katie Hawkes whose dissertations achieved this high standard. John was quoted as saying that he was keen for the award to encourage talented History students to come to York and to stay in the city after graduation. We would like to say well done to both Katie and Molly, and to wish them both the best in their future careers.
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