As of the Fall of 2015,   Monica K. Douglas, past scholarship chairman since 1999, submitting what she knows regarding the history of this scholarship.  The State Secretary and State Treasurer of the Huguenot Society of Florida, Inc. were asked to do a further search from the minutes and financial records to verify the account below. 

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The Huguenot Society of Florida was established in 1952 with Freda Walz as president from 1952 – 1957.

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On February 17, 1979, the Scholarship Committee Criteria established two classes of scholarship funds.  The Mary Day Parker Scholarship, with funds originally donated by Mrs.  Parker and the James and Newton Eblen  Scholarship, with trust funds donated by Eula LaFrances Allen in memory of her brothers, James and Newton Eblen. 

 

These funds were distributed as grants to be paid back to the society.  Scholarship funds available annually shall be awarded as a grant (or grants) with the stipulation that the funds shall be used to defray a portion of the educational expenses of the individual recipient, and the only repayment obligation is at the discretion of the recipient at some future time.  Any repayment of grants shall be added to the principal of the fund and shall be invested to earn additional Scholarship income. The amount of the annual grant is to be limited to the interest earned in the calendar year preceding the issuance of the grant.

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On June 30, 1990, Bill Staples, who was Scholarship Chairman, reported that he was intrigued by the fact that the scholarship was a grant to be paid back and wanted to know if any repayments had been made and if we required that recipients keep in touch at least to the extent that we know their later address,  progress and grades before a further annual payment is made.  He wanted the applicant to be required to acknowledge that repayment is expected if and when possible before check is paid to the College.   That the point should be made that repayment will enable another worthy student to avail himself or herself of the same opportunity that he or she has received.

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On May 4, 1991, the Scholarship committee reported that the James and Newton Eblen Scholarship be changed to the Eula LaFrances  Allen Scholarship in honor of Mrs.Claud Allen who for so many years was the driving force of the scholarship. It was reported that since the death of Mrs. Claud Allen no new scholarships have been granted.  Efforts to learn the disposition of the grants awarded in 1989 resulted in difficulty as tracking the disbursements of monies for correct use was under scrutiny.

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As the scholarships resume in 1991 there was better control of the monies.  Willard I. Staples, Jr. was Scholarship Chairman after Mrs. Allen and served from 1990 until 2000.  The Standing Rules were revised April 1991.

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There have been no records of any repayment of Grant money by the Grant recipients or their Huguenot relatives to the Huguenot Society of Florida, Inc.  Therefore the Florida Chapters were now asked to contribute yearly donations to the scholarship liquid fund.

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The Mary Day Parker Scholarship and The Eula LaFrances Allen Scholarship were consolidated in May 1994 into the Allen-Parker Scholarship Fund.

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Monica Darling Douglas served as Scholarship Chairman from 2000 to 2015 except for the time between 2002- 2003 when Dorothy S. Hornus of the Admiral Gaspard De Coligny Chapter served as Scholarship Chairman.   Onyx Shaffter of Fort Caroline Chapter and Monica Poole of Jean Calvin Chapter have served on the scholarship committee along with the State President and State Treasurer.

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Mrs. Douglas has been a member of the Jean Calvin Chapter since 1986 and her National Number is 9-556.  Her mother, Karlene Whitcher Darling, was the organizing president of the Jean Calvin Chapter 1979-1981 and was State President of The Huguenots of Florida, Inc.1985-1987.

A Jean Calvin Chapter Scholarship was established in her honor at the time of her death in 1998. Her dear friend, Jacqueline W. Dickey, who followed her as president of the Jean Calvin Chapter in 1981-1983 thought that having a Jean Calvin Chapter Scholarship in Karlene Whitcher Darling’s honor was a great idea and so when she died, she left a large sum of money to established a National Huguenot Scholarship in her honor to the National Huguenot Society.  The Jean Calvin Chapter of the Huguenots Society of Florida deserves credit for the setting up of these two scholarships in honor of two of their faithful Jean Calvin Chapter Huguenots.

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The Standing Rules for granting scholarships was revised in April, 2001, February 2011 and February 17, 2012 by the Huguenot Society of Florida, Inc.    Over the past years, Mrs. Douglas has enjoyed serving the Huguenot Society of Florida, Inc. as Scholarship Chairman.  Since her illness in 2010, she regrets that she has been unable to travel to the State meetings, but has sent in her reports.  She feels that it is now time to pass on this responsibility to her successor.

 

Monica Darling Douglas

September, 2015