Seattle Genealogical Society
 

AMERICA 250 WRITING CONTEST 

 

In 2026, the United States will celebrate its semiquincentennial – the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence – on July 4, 1776. In celebration of the America 250 milestone SGS is sponsoring a writing contest. 

 

The theme is “My Story is America’s Story”. The history of America is interwoven with the unique and diverse narratives of all those who have lived here. Entries are invited which tell the story of your family, individuals in your community, an event in history, an immigrant movement or some other aspect of personal experiences against the backdrop of America’s story. The theme is as broad as the 250-year history of our country!

 

All entries meeting the guidelines (see below) will be considered. Entries will be judged on their relevance to the theme, writing style and clarity, and research accuracy. Winning entries will be published in the Journal of the Seattle Genealogical Society. Winners will be chosen by a jury made up of SGS members. Honorable mentions will be published in the Journal at the discretion of the editor. Please contact Lisa Oberg at vicepresident@seagensoc.org with any questions. 

 

Prizes will be awarded as follows:

$250 – First Place

$150 – Second Place

$100 – Third Place

 $25  – 10 Honorable Mentions

$750

 

In addition to the writing contest an America 250 heritage-themed event (open house, picnic, etc) is also proposed to celebrate the winning entries as well as showcase the varied ancestral origins of SGS members through native dress, food, traditions, as well as those uniquely American traditions that become part of the fabric of the lives of those who call the U.S. home. 

 

SUBMISSION RULES

 

The contests are open to both members and non-members of SGS. Submissions must be original writing not previously published in journals, books, or online. Submitting an article constitutes permission to publish it in the Journal. 

 

Contest rules and deadlines: 

 
  1. Word count: 3,000
  2. Submit as an MS Word document.
  3.  Cite your sources as endnotes (interviews, letters, books, websites, censuses, etc.).
  4. Unpublished works are preferred. If your story has been published before, ensure you have permission to replublish. Let us know the name and date of publication.
  5. A committee will review all submissions ans award parizes. Some entries selected for publication will receive prizes.
  6. Subjects need not relate to Washington, the Pacific Northwest, but most relate to U.S. history in some way.
  7. The jury makes all decisions and all decisions are final.
  8. If you have any questions, contact Lisa Oberg at vicepresident@seagensoc.org.
 

HOW TO ENTER

 
  1. Submit entries as an email attachment to vicepresident@seagensoc.org.
  2. Include the following information on a separate cover page for each entry:
    ​a. Author’s name, address, telephone number, email address.​​
    b. Brief biography and author photo suitable for publication with the article.
    c.     Do not put your name on the article itself; only the title. All articles are judged anonymously.
  3. Send entry via email attachment, with article, cover page and all images [sent as separate jpg files], to vicepresident@seagensoc.org. Put SGS Writing Contest in the subject line.
  4. Deadline for submission: Tuesday, September 1, 2026.
 

STYLE GUIDE

 
1. Submission format: either Rich Text (rtf) or MS Word (doc or docx).

a. Font: Times New Roman.

b. Size: 12 points.

c. Color: Black only.

d. Margins: One inch on all sides.

e. Spacing: Single spacing with space between paragraphs.

2. Avoid formatting features such as tables, bullets, page numbers, headers and footers.

3. Articles should be in the writer’s own words and not include passages copied from Wikipedia or other sources.

4. Citations should follow the guidelines in standard works by Elizabeth Shown Mills, Chicago Manual of Style, or MLA.

5. Use manually inputted endnotes

6. Images

a. Limit of five.

b. Use 300 dpi jpg format (no borders).

c. Do not embed images in the article. Create separate jpg files numbered Photo 1, etc.

d. Within the article, denote image placement as: Insert Photo 1 (name of image with caption including cited source). 

e. Use only images in your personal collection or the public domain and cite sources. SGS cannot publish images that require copyright fees.

 

Contest rules adopted from the Writing Contest Guidelines from the Ohio Genealogical Society.