The committee express thanks for the approval which affirms that "No more fitting tribute to the genius of William Sidney Porter (O. Henry) could possibly have been devised than that of this 'Memorial Award,'" [1] which recognizes each story as "a definite expression of American life--as O. Henry's was," [2] which knows by inescapable logic that a story ranking second with five judges is superior to one ranking first with only one of these. A number of reviewers graciously showed awareness of this fact. [Footnote 1: _New York Times_, June 2, 1920.] [Footnote 2: _Chicago Tribune_, Paris Edition, August 7, 1920.] The Committee of Award for 1920 consisted of BLANCHE COLTON WILLIAMS, Ph.D., Chairman | EDWARD J. WHEELER, Litt.D. | JUDGES ETHEL WATTS MUMFORD | MERLE ST. CROIX WRIGHT, D.D. | and JOHN F. TUCKER, Managing Director of the Society, Founder of the O. Henry Memorial. As in preceding years the Committee held regular meetings at which they weighed the merits of every story-candidate presented. By January, 1921, one hundred and twenty-five remained, among which those rated highest are as follows:[3] Babcock, Edwina Stanton, Gargoyle (_Harper's_, Sept.) Barrett, Richmond Brooks, The Daughter of the Bernsteins (_Smart Set_, July). "Belden, Jacques," The Duke's Opera (_Munsey's_, October). Benét, Stephen Vincent, The Funeral of John Bixby (_Munsey's_, July). Brooks, Jonathan, Bills Playable (_Collier's_, September 18). Burt, Maxwell Struthers, A Dream or Two (_Harper's_, May); Each in His Generation (_Scribner's_, July). Cabell, James Branch, The Designs of Miramon (_Century_, August). Child, Richard Washburn, A Thief Indeed (_Pictorial Review_, June). Clausen, Carl, The Perfect Crime (_Saturday Evening Post_, Sept. 25). Cram, Mildred, The Ember (_McCall's_, June); Odell (_Red Book_, May); Wind (_Munsey's_, August). Dobie, Charles Caldwell, Young China (_Ladies Home Journal_, August). Edwards, Cleveland, Pride o' Name on Peachtree (_Live Stories_, Feb.). Ferber, Edna, You've Got to Be Selfish (_McClure's_, April). Fitzgerald, Scott, The Camel's Back (_Saturday Evening Post_, Apr. 24); The Cut-Glass Bowl (_Scribner's_, May); The Off-Shore Pirate (_Saturday Evening Post_, May 29). Forbes, Esther, Break-Neck Hill (_Grinnell Review_, September). Gilpatric, Guy, Black Art and Ambrose (_Collier's_, August 21). Hartman, Lee Foster, The Judgment of Vulcan (_Harper's_, March). Hergesheimer, Joseph, "Read Them and Weep" (_Century_, January). Hooker, Brian, Branwen (_Romance_, June). Hull, Alexander, The Argosies (_Scribner's_, September). Hume, Wilkie, The Metamorphosis of High Yaller (_Live Stories_, June). Kabler, Hugh, Fools First (_Saturday Evening Post_, November 20). Kerr, Sophie, Divine Waste (_Woman's Home Companion_, May). La Motte, Widows and Orphans (_Century_, September). Lewis, O.