Annual Boylston Contest in Public Speaking to Be Revived in March

After a wartime absence of four years, the Boylston Speaking Contest, one of the oldest and most traditional oratory competitions in the College, will be presented again on March 26, the English Department announced recently.

Commenting on the revival of the annual elocution contest Theodore Spencer, Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, stated last week that the five cash prizes to be awarded this year will exceed the usual sums, as a result of the surplus afforded by funds unused during the war.

Open to Upperclassmen

In the form of elimination tournaments, the Boylston contest is open to all upperclassmen in the College. Preliminary heats will be held early in March, at which time Professor Spencer and other members of the English Department will choose the ten best men from among the entrants. Those selected will compete in the final round on the Wednesday before the Spring recess, and five of them will be awarded prizes on the basis of delivery and aptness of subject.

Speeches may be passages of prose or poetry from English, Latin, or Greek literature, and must be submitted to Professor Spencer for his approval before February 23. Speakers are limited to seven minutes each.

Since 1917, the awards have been made in two first prizes of $35 each, and three second prizes of $25. For this year and next, the amounts will be increased to $50 and $35, respectively.

Among the winners of Boylston prizes in former years are H. V. Kaltenborn '09, noted radio commentator, and Edward A. Weeks, Jr. '22, present editor of the Atlantic Monthly.