The Biggest Jewish News of the Week contest, which netted readers, college men and women, and high school students $1,000 in cash prizes during the last ten weeks, is officially ended today.
The popular current news competition, which began in the Jewish Daily Bulletin on November 17 and which continued for a period of ten weeks, is brought to a close with the announcement of the winner of the Bulletin News Trophy, which will be awarded to the high school with the greatest number of points scored during the life of the contest.
The number of entries from all three divisions of the contest— non-student, collegiate, and scholastic—exceeded the fondest expectations of the Contest Board from the start. The number of essays submitted each week for a share in the $100 awarded weekly grew to overwhelming proportions until the peak of the contest was reached in the eighth week of the news competition. So great was the response that the judges were compelled to delay announcement of the winners from the scheduled day of awards, Friday, until Tuesday of the following week. In all a total of 11,476 letters on the Biggest News of the Week were received during the ten-week period of the contest.
CAME FROM EVERYWHERE
Although the bulk of the letters were submitted by New Yorkers, hundreds poured in weekly from readers in such places as Austin, Texas; New Orleans, Montreal, Chicago, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Petersburg. Ninety men and women shared in the $1,000 in cash prizes. Twenty-four women received cash awards totaling $475. Thirty-two of the ninety were out-of-towners, who received a $417 slice of the prize cake.
A rabbi and rabbi’s wife, a Milwaukee lawyer and a New York attorney, a Staten Island haberdasher and a Brooklyn druggist, a hospital technician and an advertiser, a Bronx housewife and a Virginia woman were some of the prize winners in the non-student division.
Students from St. John’s, Columbia, Yeshiva, New York University, Brooklyn College, City College and Long Island University received first prize awards of twenty-five dollars in the ten weeks of the contest. Twice each, students of C. C. N. Y., Columbia and Long Island University, received blue ribbon awards. Men and women from Boston University, Cincinnati U., Chicago Hebrew Seminary, Columbia School of Journalism and Adelphi shared in the money distributed to out-of-towners.
JAMES MADISON FIRST
James Madison High School in Brooklyn scored over 400 points to place first in the race for the Bulletin News Trophy, to be awarded to the Brooklyn institution at a general assembly of the school next term. With over 400 points rolled up by its students, James Madison was 125 points in front of its nearest competitor, De Witt Clinton High School, at the end of the tenth week.
Achad Sanders and Oscar Wieder were a few of the consistent contestants from James Madison and both were rewarded on two separate occasions. Each received a ten-dollar prize, a gold medal and 100 points for the school for submitting the best 250-word letters. Each of these fifteen-year-old youths placed second in succeeding contests, winning five-dollar awards, silver medals and seventy points for the school. Achad Sanders received honorable mention and twenty-five points for Madison on three other occasions.
Many other readers and students who entered the contest in the first week of competition submitted weekly essays until the final day. Nearly all these consistent entrants were rewarded with a share of the prize money at one time or another.
A few of those who received prize money on two occasions were Miss Florence N. Burg of Brooklyn, Zevi Harris of Yeshiva College, Arthur Margulies of St. John’s University, Rabbi Horowitz of Sunbury, Pa., and his wife, Emanuel Dauber of New Utrecht and his brother, Isadore.
The board of judges and the Contest Editor wish to thank all who entered this news competition for making it such a splendid success.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
