Stellfox Award: A Visual History

Stellfox Award: A Visual History

Robert Frost (center), whose visit inspired Jean Louise Stellfox to establish the Stellfox Prize, poses on the steps of Old West with Dickinson students in 1959.

This black-and-white photo, captured on the steps of Old West in 1959, immortalizes a watershed moment in the life Jean Louise Stellfox '60: the day Robert Frost visited Dickinson. That visit inspired the then-English-major to devote her life to teaching literature. 

Thirty years later, Stellfox's passion for literature lives on through the Harold and Ethel L. Stellfox Visiting Scholars and Writers Program. Established after Stellfox's death in 2003 and named for Jean's parents, the Stellfox program allows the college to continue to inspire students through literature by bringing renowned literary figures to campus. Each year, our college photographer celebrates the program's ties to the event that inspired it by recreating the Robert Frost photo with the most recent award recipient.

View more photos, feature stories and videos about the  Stellfox Award recipients.

Read about this year's recipient,  Margaret Atwood.

By MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
Photos by A. Pierce Bounds '71 and Carl Socolow '77

Published November 21, 2011