Friends of Windsor Library/
Bertha Frothingham Memorial Prize

Background, Eligibility, and Procedures

Background – Bertha Frothingham

Bertha Perkins Frothingham (affectionately know to one and all as “Bert”) was born on December 21, 1911, and died on her 94th birthday in 2005. On the occasion of her death, by an Act of the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, the following resolution (H.C.R. 210) was entered into the legislative record. It provides a comprehensive, if somewhat formalized, summary of Bert’s family and of her life and of her importance to our community:

Offered by:  Representatives Sweaney of Windsor and Shand of Weathersfield
Offered by:  Senators Campbell, Dunne, and Welch
Whereas, Bertha (Bert) Frothingham was one of Windsor’s most beloved and illustrious citizens and attended both Smith College and Radcliffe, and
Whereas, her family lineage included prominent ancestors in American political history, including Roger Sherman, one of Connecticut’s signers of the Declaration of Independence, and William M. Evarts, who served as the defense attorney for President Andrew Johnson at his impeachment, as President Rutherford B. Hayes’s Secretary of State, and as a U.S. Senator from New York, and she was a cousin of Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox, and
Whereas, closer to home, Bert Frothingham’s uncle, Louis Perkins, represented Windsor in the House of Representatives, and
Whereas, Bert Frothingham’s literary endeavors since she relocated from New Canaan, Connecticut to Windsor in 1972 were hardly surprising as she was the oldest of the five daughters of Maxwell Evarts Perkins, the editor of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, and other notable American authors, and
Whereas, she collaborated with her sister, Louise Perkins King, and niece, Ruth King Porter, in the publication of “Father to Daughter:  The Family Letters of Maxwell Perkins,” and she edited collections of poems and stories by her mother, the author Louise Saunders Perkins, and
Whereas, during the 33 years she resided in Windsor, her abode was Runnemede Lodge, a house that her family had owned since the 1850s and where as a girl she spent most summers, and
Whereas, Bert Frothingham’s affection for the Windsor public library was demonstrated through her financial generosity and her creation of the library’s friends’ support group and its volunteer program, and
Whereas, the library recognized her many efforts on its behalf when the Bertha Frothingham Award for Outstanding Service was established, and
Whereas, she was the recipient of the Historic Windsor Preservation Award, and her birthday was celebrated in Windsor as a holiday, and
Whereas, after a long, exciting, and fulfilling life, she died on December 21, 2005, her 94th birthday, ending the Evarts family’s presence of one and one-half centuries in the town of Windsor, now therefore be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:
That the General Assembly extends its sincere sympathies to the many family members of Bertha Perkins Frothingham, including her daughter, Jane Frothingham Gurney of Weathersfield, her two grandsons, three great-grandchildren, her sister, Louise King of Marion, Massachusetts, and her niece, Ruth Porter of Calais, and be it further
Resolved:  That the secretary of state be directed to send a copy of this resolution to Jane Frothingham Gurney in Weathersfield, to Louise King in Marion, Massachusetts, to Ruth Porter in Calais, and to the Windsor Public Library.

Bert founded the Friends of Windsor Library in April 1990. She was also responsible for establishing the volunteer program in the library, one of the most active and well staffed in the state.

Background - The Prize

In its November 2006 meeting, the board of directors of the Friends of Windsor Library (hereinafter "the board") unanimously approved a motion to adopt The Friends of Windsor Library/Bertha Frothingham Memorial Prize plan. This memorial prize sponsored by the Friends of the Library is distinct from the one mentioned in the legislative resolution above. The Outstanding Service Award referred to in the Resolution was established by the Friends several years ago in order to recognize exceptional volunteer service to the library.

The Friends of Windsor Library/Bertha Frothingham Memorial Prize (hereinafter “the Prize") is a cash prize that was initially funded in part by a $2,500 donation from Bert, given to the Friends shortly before her death. The adopted plan called for the board to add an additional $2,500 to that amount from their general funds. This initial $5,000, according to the plan, would be used to purchase a Certificate of Deposit (CD) (or other financial instrument with a guaranteed rate of return), and this was done in February 2007. The term of the CD was two years, and it paid ?.?% interest.

The plan called for the first prize to be presented in 2008. The prize amount would be equal to 75% of the CD’s earnings for the previous year of its life and would be taken from the general fund of the Friends. Upon maturation of the CD, the prize amount would be taken from the earnings and returned to the general fund; the remaining 25% of the earnings would be added to the initial CD principle, and the CD would be immediately renewed for the term deemed by the board to be the most advantageous. These terms would guarantee that the principal, the earnings of which fund the prize, would grow over time, as would the prize.

The plan calls for the Prize to be presented upon the occasion of the 8th grade graduation ceremony at the Windsor School.

The Prize – Eligibility

Any child whose primary residence is Windsor, Vermont, and who turns 13 on or in the year before the occasion of the presentation of the Prize (the day that 8th grade graduation takes place at the Windsor School), is eligible to win the Prize. No child may be eligible to win the prize on more than one occasion.

The Prize will be presented to the child who has shown an outstanding affinity for the printed or written word, either through a demonstrated love and advocacy of reading or an accomplished portfolio of writings.

The Prize – Application and Selection

Any eligible child may be nominated by anyone for the prize, including the potential winner.

Nominations should consist of a cover letter and any supporting materials, sent or delivered to the board at the library, 43 State Street, Windsor, VT, no later than February 1 in the year of the prize.

One winner will be named each year at the sole discretion of the board, and by the board which is sitting on the deadline date of February 1. The winner will be announced on the occasion of the 8th grade graduation at the Windsor school. In addition, the board is solely empowered to select a winner or to decide that no candidate merits the Prize in the current year. In the latter instance, 100% of the previous year’s earnings from the CD will be re-invested in the principle used to fund the Prize.

The board may judge the nominations themselves or, at their sole discretion, may enlist the advice of others. In addition, the board is empowered to amend schedules and procedures regarding nominations. They are not, however, empowered to amend the fiscal details of the prize as outlined above, eligibility for the prize, or any other detail not explicitly granted in this document.

The Prize will be in the form of a check written on the Friends' general account, and a certificate reading as follows:

This certificate is presented to [NAME], who has shown an outstanding affinity for the printed or written word. Presented by the Friends of Windsor Library in memory of its founder, Bertha Perkins Frothingham (1911-2005). Awarded [DATE].

It will be signed by the current president of the Friends.