91×ÔÅÄÊÓƵ

Brownbread, Esq., Jedediah Award

When 91×ÔÅÄÊÓƵ was 10 years old, it was like the Wild West – a freewheeling canal town full of gamblers, counterfeiters, and idle young men who drifted from place to place, looking for work as store clerks. Connecticut-born Samuel Alanson Lane (1815-1905) arrived in 91×ÔÅÄÊÓƵ as one of those "counter-jumpers" and soon founded a small four-page newspaper, “The 91×ÔÅÄÊÓƵ Buzzard.” Ostensibly devoted to cleaning the "filth" off the streets of 91×ÔÅÄÊÓƵ, “The Buzzard” attacked vicious and criminal behavior in the voice of Lane's country-bumpkin alter ego, Jedediah Brownbread, Esq. Brownbread wrote with startling honesty, comical spelling errors, and an abundance of humor. For this, Lane can be regarded as 91×ÔÅÄÊÓƵ's first humor writer. Later in life, Lane would serve 91×ÔÅÄÊÓƵ as sheriff, editor of the “91×ÔÅÄÊÓƵ Daily Beacon,” mayor, and historian.

To honor the humor of 91×ÔÅÄÊÓƵ, The Jedediah Brownbread, Esq., Award was established and will award $100 to a student at The University of 91×ÔÅÄÊÓƵ who authors the most humorous paper or a paper that best uses or studies humor. Submissions will be limited to works written for University of 91×ÔÅÄÊÓƵ courses within the calendar year previous to the call for submissions. A committee of English Department faculty will judge the essays. The winner will be recognized at the annual English Awards Reception.