Left to right: Institute for Baseball Studies Co-Director Joe Price; 2019 Paul Dickson Prize co-recipients Athena Zecha and Alexandra Russell; and Institute for Baseball Studies Associate Director Charles Adams.
Paul Dickson
The Institute for Baseball Studies and the Baseball Reliquary are pleased to announce that Alexandra Russell and Athena Zecha are co-recipients of the 2019 Paul Dickson Prize. A certificate and cash prize of $150 were formally presented to Alexandra and Athena at the Whittier College Honors Convocation on Friday, April 26, 2019. The prize was established in 2016 to encourage and foster student usage of the research materials at the Institute for Baseball Studies, and is named after the renowned author and historian Paul Dickson, whose papers form the centerpiece research collection at the Institute.
Alexandra Russell’s paper, “Storytelling, Gods, and Games: An Analysis of Myth, Ritual, and Religion in The Natural and The Universal Baseball Association,” was her senior project for her English major, for which she was recognized as the Outstanding Graduate in the department. (As a double major, she also was awarded the Outstanding Graduate in the Department of Business Administration.)
Left to right: 2019 Paul Dickson Prize co-recipient Alexandra Russell; Whittier College Visiting Assistant Professor Katy Simonian; and Institute for Baseball Studies Associate Director Charles Adams.
Athena Zecha’s comprehensive journal for the faculty-led travel course to Cuba, “El Beisbol: A Caribbean Religion,” included reflections on works in the Institute’s collection related to the history and culture of Cuban baseball. She also summarized and responded to personal interviews with former Olympic gold medalists whose accomplishments were noted in The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball, by Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria.
Students enrolled at Whittier College are invited to submit an original work inspired by or utilizing the resources found in the Institute for Baseball Studies. The work can be scholarly or creative in nature, for example, a research paper, a poem or short story, an artwork, a photograph, a musical piece, and so forth. The recipient of the cash prize, which is presented annually in the spring at the Honors Convocation for students at Whittier College, is selected by the directors of the Institute for Baseball Studies.
For further information on the Paul Dickson Prize, contact Institute for Baseball Studies Co-Director Joe Price at jprice@whittier.edu or (562) 907-4803.
