Knight Essay Resources
National Deadline for Knight Essay Applications is February 15, 2023
The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) invites all high school students (9th through 12th grades) interested in the American Revolution to participate in the George S. & Stella M. Knight Essay Contest. The contest is open to all US Citizen and Legal Resident students attending home schools, public, parochial, or private high schools in that same grade range.
To participate, students must submit an original 800- to 1,200-word essay based on an event, person, philosophy or ideal associated with the American Revolution, Declaration of Independence, or the framing of the United States Constitution. Each student’s essay will be judged based upon its historical accuracy, clarity, organization, grammar and spelling, and documentation.
The contest is conducted in three phases: the local chapter, state-level society, and national phases. The contest must be entered through an SAR chapter near the student’s residence. In some cases, the contest may be entered at the state level (if the local society does not have chapters or the chapters are not participating) and a contact-at-large should be used to find out more contest details. The list of contest contacts listed below can provide you with assistance in entering the Knight Essay Contest. Only one entry per student is permitted per contest year.
A complete set of rules, along with the application for both the applicant and the sponsoring SAR members, can be found below. Please be aware that the local application deadline dates may vary, so interested applicants should reach out to their local SAR member listed below for further details.
| Knight Essay Resources |
|---|
| Essay Application |
| Essay Rules |
| Essay Example |
| Essay Medal Flyer |
Knight Essay State Contest Contacts
| SAR Society & Deadline | Essay Contact |
|---|---|
| Alabama (31 DEC) | Edmon H. McKinley Email Link |
| Alaska (31 JAN) | Thomas J. Rollman Email Link |
| Arkansas (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson Email Link |
| Arizona (31 DEC) | Jack Duffy Email Link |
| California (31 DEC) | Patrick Cecil |
| Colorado (31 DEC) | John McFarland |
| Connecticut (01 JAN) | John R. Morgan |
| Dakota (31 DEC) | Doug Frazer |
| Delaware (31 DEC) | Larry Josefowski |
| District of Columbia (31 DEC) | Doug Brooks |
| Empire State-NY (31 DEC) | Richard C. Smith |
| Florida (31 DEC) | Hampton Allen Email Link |
| Georgia (15 DEC) | Terry A. Gibbs |
| Hawaii (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson Email Link |
| Idaho (31 DEC) | James E. Elie |
| Illinois (15 JAN) | Richard Ruedin Email Link |
| Indiana (31 DEC) | James D. Hamilton |
| International (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson Email Link |
| Iowa (31 DEC) | Doug Frazer |
| Kansas (31 DEC) | Stuart W. Conrad |
| Kentucky (31 DEC) | Dale W. Henley |
| Louisiana (15 JAN) | George Clemenceau |
| Maine (31 DEC) | David L. Manchester |
| Maryland (31 DEC) | C. Louis Raborg, Jr. |
| Massachusetts (31 DEC) | Joseph Gauthier |
| Michigan (31 DEC) | Phil Jackson |
| Minnesota (31 DEC) | Doug Frazer |
| Mississippi (31 DEC) | Edward Campbell |
| Missouri (31 DEC) | Dale A. Schmidt |
| Montana (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson |
| Nebraska (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson |
| Nevada (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson |
| New Hampshire (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson |
| New Jersey (31 DEC) | Roger Williams |
| New Mexico (31 DEC) | Kenneth M. Nicholson |
| North Carolina SAR (Deadline December 31) | Stephen A. Morris |
| Ohio (31 DEC) | Donald C. McGraw, Jr. |
| Oklahoma (31 DEC) | Ronald W. Painter |
| Oregon (31 DEC) | Michael Tieman |
| Pennsylvania SAR (Deadline December 31) | J. Rennick Steele, Jr. |
| Rhode Island (31 DEC) | Kevin England |
| South Carolina (31 DEC) | Douglas Doster |
| Tennessee (31 DEC) | George E. Pesely |
| Texas (31 DEC) | David Peavy |
| Utah (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson Email Link |
| Vermont (31 DEC) | Zachariah L. Fike |
| Virginia (05 JAN) | Richard M. Sherman Email Link |
| Washington (31 DEC) | Jeff Lightburn |
| West Virginia (31 DEC) | Thomas J. Galloway |
| Wisconsin (31 DEC) | Thomas P. Curtis II |
| Wyoming (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson |
Mr. Christopher Smithson is the current George S. & Stella M. Knight Essay Contest Judge-at-Large.
Essay Contest Winners
2022 Winner
Jiayang Jin
2nd Place Benjamin W. Caldwell
3rd Place Austin Q. Sarker-Young
4th Place Matthew Breier
5th Place James Schultz
Previous Winners
The George S. and Stella M. Knight Essay Contest Committee is proud to announce the winner of the national contest. Each year, the SAR receives an average of thirty state-level winners from around the country to compete in the national-level contest. Visitors can find a list of the previous George S. & Stella M. Knight Essay Contest national winners below.
| Year | Winning Essayist | Sponsoring SAR Society |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Jiayang Jin | Empire State SAR |
| 2021 | Noah Grebe | Kentucky SAR |
| 2020 | Wilson G. Reeves | Alabama SAR |
| 2019 | Caleb S. Sheppard | Florida SAR |
| 2018 | Katherine McLeod | Texas SAR |
| 2017 | Cameron Chyla | Wisconsin SAR |
| 2016 | Joseph Nusbaum | Florida SAR |
| 2015 | Matthew Penza | Connecticut SAR |
| 2014 | Elizabeth Lilly | Virginia SAR |
| 2013 | Bryan Habashi | Virginia SAR |
| 2012 | Katie Lavender | Virginia SAR |
| 2011 | Amanda Schanz | Virginia SAR |
| 2010 | Cody E. Nager | Empire State SAR |
| 2009 | Hayley Schoeppler | Wisconsin SAR |
| 2008 | Jenna Barker | South Carolina SAR |
| 2007 | Derek McMahan | Kentucky SAR |
| 2006 | Kristin Personius | Texas SAR |
| 2005 | H. Curtis Kuntz | Pennsylvania SAR |
| 2004 | Daniel E. Sigler | Empire State SAR |
| 2003 | Melissa McLaine | Georgia SAR |
| 2002 | Nathan W. Skelly | Missouri SAR |
| 2001 | Stephanie Condon | California SAR |
| 2000 | Jenna Dondero | Texas SAR |
| 1999 | Courtney Powell | Virginia SAR |
| 1998 | Kimberly Braun | Delaware SAR |
| 1997 | John Rackson | Maryland SAR |
| 1996 | Justin Jaeck | Wisconsin SAR |
| 1995 | Catherine Clayton | Texas SAR |