Knight Essay Resources

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 |
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Essay Application |
Essay Rules |
Essay Example |
Essay Medal Flyer |
Knight Essay State Contest Contacts

SAR Society & Deadline | Essay Contact |
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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 FEB) | John R. Morgan |
Dakota (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson Email Link |
Delaware (31 DEC) | Brian Cox |
District of Columbia (31 DEC) | Doug Brooks |
Empire State-NY (31 DEC) | James M. Eagan |
Florida (31 DEC) | Ron Grove Email Link |
Georgia (15 DEC) | Terry A. Gibbs |
Hawaii (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson Email Link |
Idaho (31 DEC) | James E. Elie |
Illinois (15 JAN) | Allan C Campbell MD 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 Email Link |
Maine (31 DEC) | David L. Manchester Email Link |
Maryland (31 DEC) | C. Louis Raborg, Jr. Email Link |
Massachusetts (31 DEC) | Joseph Gauthier |
Michigan (31 DEC) | Phil Jackson |
Minnesota (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson Email Link |
Mississippi (31 DEC) | Gerald P. Brent Email Link |
Missouri (31 DEC) | Dale A. Schmidt |
Montana (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson Email Link |
Nebraska (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson Email Link |
Nevada (31 DEC) | Michael Gravitt |
New Hampshire (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson Email Link |
New Jersey (31 DEC) | Roger Williams |
New Mexico (31 DEC) | Kevin Carr |
North Carolina SAR (Deadline December 31) | Stephen A. Morris Email Link |
Ohio (31 DEC) | Donald C. McGraw, Jr. Email Link |
Oklahoma (31 DEC) | Ronald W. Painter Email Link |
Oregon (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson Email Link |
Pennsylvania SAR (Deadline December 31) | J. Rennick Steele, Jr. Email Link |
Rhode Island (31 DEC) | John W Adams |
South Carolina (31 DEC) | Douglas Doster |
Tennessee (31 DEC) | George E. Pesely |
Texas (31 DEC) | John M. Hamlin |
Utah (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson Email Link |
Vermont (31 DEC) | Zachariah L. Fike |
Virginia (10 JAN) | Richard M. Sherman Email Link |
Washington (31 DEC) | Jeff Lightburn |
West Virginia (31 DEC) | Thomas J. Galloway Email Link |
Wisconsin (31 DEC) | Thomas P. Curtis II Email Link |
Wyoming (31 DEC) | Christopher Smithson Email Link |
Mr. Christopher Smithson is the current
George S. & Stella M. Knight Essay Contest Judge-at-Large.
Essay Contest Winners

2021 Winner Noah Grebe
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 |
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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 |