Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2005-09-28

Claire Veach of Selma won first place in the 2005 Alabama Governor's School Essay and Alabama Hero award contest. The competition was sponsored by the Alabama Men's Hall of Fame and Vulcan Materials Company.

Veach won for her essay on Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry, who was president of Howard College (now Samford University) in the 1860s when it was located in Marion, Ala., and a proponent of free education in the southeast.

Veach, a senior at Dallas County High School, is the daughter of Anna and William Veach.

Sarah Clark of Calera won second place for her essay on Richmond Pearson Hobson, a Spanish-American War Naval hero from Greensboro who later served as a Congressman.

Clark, a senior at Hope Christian School, is the daughter of Bettie and Tom Clark.

The essays were written while the students were attending Alabama Governor's School at Samford University in June. They were enrolled in a class entitled "In Search of the Great Alabama Hero."

Veach and Clark were recognized at the Alabama Men's Hall of Fame induction ceremony luncheon sponsored by the Women's Committee of 100 for Birmingham at The Club on Sept. 27.

The late entrepreneur, philanthropist and civic leader John M. Harbert III was inducted into the Alabama Men's Hall of Fame during the luncheon. The Hall of Fame is housed in the Harwell G. Davis Library at Samford.

 

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.