Lancaster Scholarship  information  

The Lancaster Scholarship fund is named for Al Lancaster, a well-known archaeologist who worked throughout the Southwest, but most prominently at Mesa Verde. He started his archaeological career working for Paul Martin at Lowry Pueblo in 1934.  He and his wife (Alice Pigg) homesteaded near Puzzle House, the site excavated by the Fort Lewis College Archaeological Field School from 1992-1997.  The Pigg site (owned by Fort Lewis is named after Alice's family and was donated to the college by Al and Alice's son-in-law, Roy Crow.  Al died on October 28, 1992, at the age of 98.

The amount awarded for the Lancaster Scholarship is between $600-650, to roughly cover the cost of resident tuition for the field school (The amount of instate tuition for the 2005 field season is $726). 

Prerequisites for applicants:

1. The applicant must be currently enrolled as a student at Fort Lewis College, with a declared major in the field of anthropology.
2. The applicant must hold at least a sophomore standing at the time field school is offered.
3. The applicant must have been accepted in the Fort Lewis College archaeological field school for the season in which the scholarship will be awarded.

Application procedure:

1. Fill out the online application.
2. Submit a brief resume, summarizing his/her academic and work experience.
3. Submit a letter of reference from a person (non-relative) who has knowledge of the student’s ability to undertake field archaeology.
4. Submit an essay expressing his/her reason for wanting to undertake field training in archaeology.

Evaluation of Applicants:

Applicants will be evaluated by the faculty of the Department of Anthropology at Fort Lewis College.  Applications will be scored and ranked by examination of the application form and the letter of reference, and evaluation of the essay.  All other things being equal, applications will be ranked according to the cumulative grade point attained in college.  If necessary, other references may be contacted.

Two finalists will be selected by this process, one scholarship recipient, and one alternate.  The recipient will be notified as soon as possible after the evaluation process has been completed.  If for some reason, the award is declined, the alternate will be notified.

Granting the Award:

The scholarship money will be awarded through the Financial Aid Office of Fort Lewis College.  The funds awarded must be used to defray the expenses of the archaeological field school.

Once the award has been granted, the Lancaster family will be notified of the recipient’s name, along with his/her brief resume, and the amount of the award.

List of Previous recipients

2004 Rebecca Whitehead

2003 Cerisa Reynolds
2002 Sierra Geraci
2001 Grant Coffey
2000 Marissa Dominguez
1999 Karen Reed

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