AJHA Auction: A Tradition With Purpose

16 May 2023 12:51 PM | Autumn Lorimer Linford (Administrator)

By Jon Marshall

Have you ever been a struggling graduate student? Do you like graduate students? Do you care about the future of journalism history scholarship? Are you a kind and generous person who likes helping others? Or do you just have a general fondness for AJHA?

Surely, your answer is “yes” to at least one of these questions. If that’s the case (or even if you’re a grumpy person who doesn’t like students but wants a chance to redeem your soul), now is your opportunity to do some good by donating items to the AJHA silent auction for the benefit of our graduate students.

Yes, all of the thrills and fun of the auction will be back again this year at our annual conference in Columbus. All money raised goes directly to graduate student conference travel, a major part of the revenue needed for our Michael S. Sweeney Graduate Student Travel Stipend. For many students, the conference will be impossible to attend without the stipend. Last year we raised more than $1,700 in Memphis, and as a result we can guarantee that graduate students who are on the Columbus conference program will receive at least $100 from the Sweeney Stipend. With your help, we can continue to increase that amount.

What to donate for the auction? Perhaps a package of special goodies from your hometown or university. Or historic books, newspapers, magazines, broadsheets or journalism and history ephemera such as coffee cups, glasses, calendars and T-shirts. Maybe someone you know has extra airline miles or a week at a vacation home that they’d be willing to donate. And, of course, wine and spirits are always popular with the AJHA crowd. If you have several items that would go well together as a package, that’s even better and will make the bidding process easier.

We’ll list the auction items on an online bidding platform before and during the conference. The items will be on display in Columbus, and we’ll give them over to the winning bidders before the end of the conference. Once you are in Columbus, you can see the actual items and keep track of the bidding, paying online if you win and receiving your prize at the AJHA business meeting on Saturday.

Donating an auction item is easy. Just fill out this short form and then bring the item to Columbus with you.

If you have questions about the auction or want to volunteer to help, please contact me at j-marshall@northwestern.edu.


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