Columbia, MO—Leslie Jayne Howard received the MU Libraries Undergraduate Research Award on April, 16, at the annual Friends of the MU Libraries Luncheon. Leslie, who is senior theatre major, received the award for her paper “The Sand-Castle—An Extended Family of Inspiration.” Research for the paper was completed by using the resources of the Lanford Wilson Collection, which is part of the Special Collections at the University of Missouri Libraries.

David Crespy, professor of theatre at MU, stated in his letter of support, “Leslie’s research proposal was one of the most detailed, focused, and organized proposals in the course, and she has pursued her research relentlessly in the new Lanford Wilson Theatre Collection at our Ellis Library Special Collections and Rare Books – going so far as to arrange for access to hitherto restricted papers, based upon her exhaustive investigations into Mr. Wilson’s manuscripts, correspondence, programs, and other papers.”

The MU Libraries Undergraduate Research Paper Contest seeks to recognize and reward outstanding research conducted by undergraduate students at the University of Missouri. A preponderance of resources used to research the paper must be from the MU Libraries and the applicants must submit a brief description of their research process and sources. Any undergraduate in any discipline is invited to enter the contest, which is judged by a cross-disciplinary panel of librarians, members of The Friends of the MU Libraries and MU faculty members. The first prize winner receives a $500 prize.        

More details on the contest can be found on the webpage: libraryguides.missouri.edu/researchcontest.