In 1884, P.T. Barnum created a contest, giving an award to the two members of the Senior Class who wrote the best English orations.

Year

First Prize

Second Prize

1886

Verna Spinning

Helen Stillman

1887

Mary Turner

Alfred Palmer

1888

Kittie Middlebrook

Henrietta Wyrtzen

1889

Edith Palmer

Rose Walsh

1890

Jennie Tolles

Sarah O'Rourke

1891

Nettie Phillips

Carrie Turner

1892

Emma Roberts

Emilie Fenton

1893

Alexander Wheeler

Lillian Friswell

1894

Bertha Scott

Robert Gould

1895

Lewis Christie

Joseph Pullman

1896

Anna Donovan

James Turner

1897

Mary Christie

Evelyn Van Stone

1898

Clara Cornell

Willard Dean (tie)

1899

Harold Pinkerman

Maud Skidmore

1900

Laura Eales

Herbert Eales

1901

Grace Squires

Harry Porter

1902

Mary Bragg

James Cox

1903

Eva Dickinson

Edna Oldham

1904

Francis Sullivan

Alice Garvey

1905

Mary Welch

Mabel Halsey

1906

Philo Calhoun

Ruth Sanford

1907

Virginia Butler

Agnes Collins

1908

Charles Rohrback

Howard Curtis

1909

John Porter

James Meeker

1910

Henry Lee Irwin

Annie Laing

1911

Frank Linehan

Natalie Rosen

1951

Gene Matos

1974

Mitzi Mandanici

1979

Colleen McGrath

1981

Ifigenia Kehayes

Robert Warren Jones

1985

Eileen McGrath

1993

Monique Samuels

Sherene Mason

1996

Lisa Gonzalez

Vivian Lau

1997

Sylvia Gomes

Miriam Lau

1998

Rakia Hicks

Dashondra Brown

1999

Nicollette Richards

Len Taing

2000

Alrick Edwards

Peter Finch

2001

Kristin Lattin

Hao Nguyen

2002

Lajuana Milton

Adrian Green

2003

Lina Gomes

Nicolle Quintero

2004

Sol Melendez

Stephanie Rosoff

2005

Lesli-Ann Lewis

Shauna-Kaye F.Nicholson

2006

Dwayne Reeves

Brian Davis

2007

Melanie Rodriguez

Huy Ngu

2008

Elizabeth Przybylinski

Aldo Campo

2009

Barbara Ferrari

Faithlynn Morris

2010

Jennifer Le

Reina Santiago

2011

Brianna Eccleston

Andrea Adomako

2012

Jeleeza Davis

Danielle Wedderburn

2013

Jaymi Gooden

Eric Vilanova