The Edwin Washington Society and the Loudoun Douglass Alumni Association are offering $1,400 to the top two student writers of an essay contest.
Participants must be students in eighth through 12th grade in Loudoun County Public Schools and essays must be associated with at least one chapter of the book “Dirt Don’t Burn,” written by Edwin Washington Project CEO Larry Roeder and Barry Harrelson.
“Dirt Don’t Burn” details Loudoun’s Black community’s struggle for education equality under segregation. The book is available through Georgetown University Press and Amazon.
Each entry must contain a cover page with the name of the author and a brief biography mentioning something about the student’s ambitions. Contact information will not be shared. The Edwin Washington Society said it will help students with research and will publish the top four essays to its website and in the Bulletin of Loudoun County History.
Essays may be submitted electronically to edwinwashingtonprojects@gmail.com.
The top essay winner will receive $1,000, with $400 going to second place.
The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. April 1, with winners announced Jun 1.
