Emma Bailey Scholarship

The Town of Washington awards two scholarships each year to the town’s graduating high school seniors who successfully complete their first college semester. Neither is funded by taxes.

The Washington Scholarship is funded by the election day bake sales. The Emma Bailey Scholarship, which has been awarding scholarships for 30 years, is funded by the proceeds of a small donation from Ms. Bailey’s estate.

History of the Emma Bailey Scholarship Fund

The history of the Emma Bailey Scholarship is incomplete at best. However, it is known that a Frederick Manley was born in Washington in 1810 and was a local teacher and railroad station agent. Also, Emma Manley Bailey of Middletown, CT attended the Sons and Daughters Reunion in 1910 and 1911. An Emma A. Bailey died in Middlesex, CT in 1967. The Emma A. Bailey Trust was apparently held by a Rose Gardner who died in Suffield, CT in August of 1984.

In 1985 the First Agricultural Bank was notified that the Emma A. Bailey trust “left three thirty-seconds (3/32) to the Agricultural Bank of Pittsfield, Massachusetts for the benefit of the town of Washington in the education of its youth and to help keep the town house in repairs”.

In April of 1986 the First Agricultural Bank ceased to hold the trust and transferred $13,369.72 (original $12,507.18 plus income) to the town of Washington. Subsequently the Emma Bailey Scholarship Fund was established and the Emma Bailey Scholarship Committee was formed to determine the use of the funds.

The history of the scholarship committee’s determinations from 1986 through 1992 could not be found; but since 1993 one hundred scholarships have been awarded. The original award amount was $150. That gradually increased to $300; but recently has been reduced to $200 due to dwindling funds. While certainly appreciated by the recipients and forming a lasting memory of their youth in Washington wherever they may end up, that is barely enough to cover a semester of college text books.

The fund has dwindled and needs to be bolstered if this scholarship is to continue in any meaningful form. Thus, the Emma Bailey Scholarship Committee is asking for your support. We are asking you to consider and hopefully plan for a (tax-deductible) donation to the Emma Bailey Scholarship Fund.

Committee Members

Name Title
Patricia Drugmand Member
Richard Spencer
Kim Sinopoli
Jodi Hostetter