EMU History Student Wins Phi Alpha Theta Award

EMU History MA student Marie Sarnacki recently awarded the Nels Andrew Cleven Founder’s Prize from Phi Alpha Theta for her paper “‘Save the Child and Honor the State’: The Michigan System and Child Welfare Reform.” In winning this distinguished award, Sarnacki beat out graduate students from across the nation.

Marie Sarnacki’s paper explores how in 1871 the State of Michigan created a school for dependent children and a state-wide child welfare system. This marked an unprecedented intervention into the area of child welfare, and it created the “Michigan System” which was later emulated throughout the country. Sarnacki wrote her prize-winning award in HIST 601: Researching US History which she took in Winter 2021 with Professor John McCurdy.

Marie Sarnacki is currently continuing her research on child welfare in Michigan. She is working on an MA thesis under the guidance of Professor Mary-Elizabeth Murphy. In addition to the Cleven Founder’s Prize, Marie Sarnacki was recently awarded the Richard Davis Goff Endowed Scholarship for thesis writing.

Marie Sarnacki began working on her MA in History at EMU in Fall 2018. She previously received her BA from Wellesley College and her master’s in education from University of Arizona. Since 2014, Ms. Sarnacki has been a secondary social studies teacher and she has earned high praise from high schools in Omaha, Nebraska, and South Lyon East High School in South Lyon, Michigan.

The Nel Andrew Cleven Founder’s Prize was made by Phi Alpha Theta a national history honor society. Founded in 1921, Phi Alpha Theta promotes the study of history at universities across the country through conferences, publications, and scholarships. The Alpha Beta Mu chapter at EMU was founded in 1984.