The Amy S. McCombs-Frederick P. Currier Writing Contest has been a feature of the series since the beginning. Nearly one hundred Marygrove students won the award, some of them two and three times during their undergraduate careers. In 2011, Lillian and Don Bauder, seeking to increase Detroit high school students’ participation in the series and honor Mary Helen Washington’s contributions to American letters, endowed the Mary Helen Washington Writing Contest, which has added community writing awards for adult contestants.