By Bandit Powell
Elm Staff Writer
From the Sophie Kerr Room and Sophie’s Café in the library to the Sophie Kerr Prize, the late writer’s name is everywhere on campus, but some students may still not know much about who Kerr was.
To celebrate Kerr’s successful, prolific literary career in the early 20th century, the College hosts a week of events that include professional development, guest lectures, and information sessions centered around writing and publishing.
Associate Professor of English Dr. Elizabeth O’Connor said that Kerr was the daughter of a farmer, John Kerr, who gifted her a typewriter when she was 14. Kerr decided she wanted to be a writer from then on.
Kerr did not study at Washington College, Dr. O’Connor said. Kerr went to Hood College in Frederick, Md. for her undergraduate degree. Kerr grew up in Denton, Md., and, at the time of her death, she was friends with the president of WC.
“[Kerr] decided that her money, her legacy, would make more of an impact here, and it really has,” Dr. O’Connor said.
Sophie Kerr Career Week is an annual event that began four years ago. This year, the event is a collaboration between the English Department, the Career Center, Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society, and the American Marketing Association (AMA).
Georgina Bliss, the assistant director of the Career Center, said Sophie Kerr Week started from an idea that was formed in 2022; Bliss was giving foreign students a tour around the Eastern Shore, and realized that the students had never heard of Kerr.
“I was a little dismayed by the condition of [Kerr’s] house, and I thought to myself, ‘Here’s this major prize,’…but I noticed there wasn’t a lot of buzz [about Kerr] on campus,” Bliss said, noting that she was upset about the poor condition of the historical site and the lack of awareness surrounding Kerr’s life beyond the writing prize.
Bliss said she noticed that there were not a lot of students who knew about Kerr’s life and legacy on campus, so she asked Dr. O’Connor if they could collaborate on an event to teach about Kerr and her legacy.
Bliss is the advisor for the AMA and wanted to make something unique to the College so that WC students could compare to students from larger institutions.
“I spoke at the American Marketing Association for their speaker series last semester and there’s a lot of different people in there,” said senior Sheri Swayne, the Editor-in-Chief of Collegian, emphasizing how diverse Sophie Kerr Week’s participants can and should be.
The diversity in groups who host Sophie Kerr Week shows how the event can be relevant for students across different majors as well.
Kendal Thomson, President of the AMA, said that the AMA will create and promote graphics about Kerr throughout the week.
“Sophie Kerr kind of transcends, I think, just English or just business…it’s open to everybody,” Thomson said. “I think it’s so important that we engage in those areas as a campus community and it’s fun to learn about Sophie Kerr.”
So, students may wonder what Sophie Kerr Week entails that makes it an event for more than just English majors. Here is the lineup:
Starting Monday, Jan. 26, there will be a social media campaign to tell people about Kerr through trivia. Students may notice posters advertising facts about Kerr on campus.
On Monday, Feb. 2, there will be a panel in The Egg that includes the editor-in-chief of every student-led campus publication at 6 p.m.
On Tuesday, Feb. 3, Washington College will welcome Amy Rohn ’18 to have a conversation with current students about her education and career at 6 p.m. Rohn was an English major at WC and now works in sales for the publishing company Simon & Schuster.
To wrap up the week on Wednesday, Feb. 4, longtime public affairs journalist John Harwood will give a lecture on “Truth in Unsettling Times” in Decker Theater in the Gibson Center for the Arts at 6 p.m.
More detailed coverage of Harwood’s visit will be included in next week’s issue of The Elm, and following Sophie Kerr Week the Career Center will begin it’s recruitment week that focuses on connecting students with internship and job opportunities.
Photo caption: Assistant Director of the Career Center Georgina Bliss with a raffle box displaying Sophie Kerr, the late writer whose legacy has become an increasingly central part of Washington College life.
Photo by Bandit Powell