Sophie Kerr

Her bequest to Washington College on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in 1965 stipulated that the proceeds of the $578000 endowment be used to fund an annual literary prize and to support literary events and scholarships at the college. At a time when few women were financially self-sufficient Kerr made her way from Maryland’s Eastern Shore to New York City where Sophie Kerr supported herself as a magazine editor and a writer of more than 500 short stories 23 novels several poems and a play that ran on Broadway. Since 1968 the college in Chestertown has awarded more than $1.