The Marshall and E.J. Sprague Scholarship is made possible through an endowment to the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum Foundation in honor of Marshall and E.J. Sprague. Each year, up to three individual scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 are awarded to a high school student(s) competing in the Colorado Springs Regional History Day competition held at Colorado College. The scholarship is intended for college-related expenses, and student projects are judged by their historical quality, clarity of presentation, and demonstrated passion for history.
For the 2026 Sprague Scholarship, the committee selected Grayce Koehn. Grace is a high school senior and entered the Regional History Day Competition with a paper titled “Angels in Hell: How the Service of Women in Vietnam Sparked Change to Discriminatory Military Legislation.”
In addition to her interest in history, Grayce plays the trumpet in Wind Ensemble, Marching Band and Advanced Jazz. She is avid reader, pianist, and crocheter. In my free time I love reading, analyzing, and annotating classic books. She graduates in May and plans to attend Colorado State University for an English degree.
We asked Grayce to share what she would you say to encourage other young people to explore the past who may not find history interesting:
“There really is a niche for everybody. What one person finds interesting, others will find infinitely boring. So, I would encourage others to be curious and to find what is truly interesting to them. They might have specific interests like historical figures, books, wars, or other events. Just keep looking! Most of the time finding just one topic that interests you can open up numerous rabbit holes of related topics and events that are equally interesting.”
While writing my paper, my favorite resource was reading and researching actual Congressional legislation. I researched numerous bills that had significantly changed womens' treatment in the military. Bills like the Women's Armed Forces Integration Act of 1948 and Public Law 90-130 that were both fundamental to women gaining equal treatment and equal opportunity within the Armed Forces. I really enjoyed researching using these laws because it was an excellent way to provide and learn context that backed my argument. They were real legislation that have had real impacts on the world, and being able to study and underdstand this even further is really interesting to me.
The Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum would like to thank our 2026 Sprague Scholarship Committee. John Harner, Lynn Peterson, and José Antonio Arellano are all current or former members of the museum Board, serve on museum community committees, and volunteer in many departments throughout the CSPM. We greatly appreciate their time and thoughtful decision making in this competetive process.
Our Sprague Scholarship Committee enjoyed reading your paper, learning about your passion for history, and exploring the sources in your annotated bibliography. You had a compelling story and documented your sources well. We appreciate how you engaged with the materials.