The Charles Fracchia Prize is named after, Charles Fracchia, founder of the San Francisco Historical Society. San Francisco City Guides is a proud cosponsor of these three cash awards. This year’s essay challenge was titled: Stories of Resilience. What monumental challenges has our city faced over time? How was San Francisco rebuilt itself, stronger, better and more beautiful? The three finalists and their essay titles are listed below:
· Third prize winner – ($1,000) was awarded to Emily Maremont. She is a sophomore at University High School. Her essay is about the 504 Sit-In of 1977 – a disability rights protest here in San Francisco. The 504 Sit-In was the longest non-violent occupation (26 days) of a federal building in United States history.
· Second prize winner – ($1,500) was awarded to Niahm “Neeve” Powell. Niahm is a sophomore at Convent of the Sacred Heart High School. Her essay is titled: The Sanitary City: How SF overcame health-related challenges related to poor environmental cleanliness. Her essay covered the San Francisco’s first health-related lockdown in October 1918. The lockdown was to stem the spread of influenza.
· First place winner – ($2,500) was awarded to Siena Bianchi. She is also a sophomore at Convent of the Sacred Heart High School. Her essay is titled: How SF’s model of Care for the AIDS crisis Revolutionized Pandemic Response. Her winning essay covers the opening of the country’s first outpatient AIDS clinic: Ward 86 and inpatient Ward 5B at San Francisco’s General Hospital.
