Boylston Prizes in Elocution

The preliminary trials to select speakers to compete in the final contest for the Boylston Prizes in elocution will be held in Sanders Theatre at 9 o'clock on Friday morning, May 5, or Saturday morning, May 6. The competition is open of Seniors and Juniors in the College. The speeches most be selections from English, Greek or Latin authors, and must, be approved by Dean Briggs, the Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, on or before Thursday, April 27. Dean Briggs will soon announce an hour on that day, when he may be consulted concerning the selection of speeches by all those who have been previously unable to see him.

The number of men to be retained at the preliminary trials will depend entirely upon the quality of the speaking. Usually from ten to sixteen men are retained for the final contest which will be held this year on Thursday, May II. Five prizes will be awarded, two first of $CO each, and three second of $45 each.

The Boylston Prizes were founded in 1817 through the generosity of Mr. Wars Nicholas Boylston, of Boston, who made a gift to the University of a fund of one thousand dollars, the income to be used for prizes in elocution. The object of the gift was to "promote the reputation of Harvard College" and to advance the objects for which the professorship of rhetoric and oratory was founded by Nicholas Boylston, Esquire, uncle of the donor.