Minuteman High School student Julia Ruderman of Arlington wins $5,000 first prize in U.S. history essay contest

By Judy Bass

Julia Ruderman of Arlington, a junior at Minuteman High School, has captured first prize in the second annual Frederick Douglass Prize U.S. History Essay Contest sponsored by the Pioneer Institute, a Boston-based public policy research organization. Ruderman received $5,000 for taking the top honor, and Minuteman, in Lexington, got $1,000.

Massachusetts high school students who entered the contest were asked to describe the “historic impact and significance” of a historic site or museum exhibit in Massachusetts using primary and secondary sources. Ruderman’s essay was chosen as the best one out of nearly 70 that were submitted, according to the website acommonsense.org, which is part of the Pioneer Institute.

Ruderman spent a month researching and writing about her topic – the Old Schwamb Mill in Arlington, which was built in 1650 and is “the oldest continuously operating mill site in the country.” Custom-made picture frames are still produced there, as they have been for generations.

The scholarly, 3,200-word essay Ruderman wrote, “The Old Schwamb Mill: Framing the Past,” is complete with footnotes, diagrams and photographs. It explores in depth the effect that the changing local economy had on the Mill, preservationists’ successful efforts to save it in the late 1960s, and its enduring value as “a significant landmark, historical site, and a working museum.”

Ruderman said that she decided to write about the Old Schwamb Mill because she had recently visited the Lowell Textile Museum, which then started her thinking about local sites of that type as potential essay topics. When she came across the Old Schwamb Mill, she did some research and said to herself, “This is perfect.”

There is a scarcity of research material about the Mill, Ruderman said. To write her essay, she referred to the Mill’s website, hunted through archival records at the Arlington Public Library, and spoke with people who worked at the Mill.

“I really enjoyed doing it,” Ruderman explained. “If I had the time, I would have done it without a prize.” She added that she had never before entered a contest like this one, nor did she have any of her Minuteman teachers take a look at her essay prior to submitting it. In fact, she said she didn’t even tell them she was entering the contest. Ruderman called winning first prize “a huge honor” which came as a total surprise to her.

As for her future plans, Ruderman, who is in the Engineering Technology program at Minuteman, hopes to attend college to study architecture. Looking back at her high school career, she said, “Minuteman has been great. I wouldn’t have done it any other way.”

Minuteman is an award-winning regional high school that gives its graduates a competitive edge in the new global economy by providing them with a high-quality career and technical education, coupled with a rigorous grounding in mathematics, English, science, and social studies.