N.C. History Day – Success at Nationals!
~June 2020
The North Caroliniana Society continued its support of the N.C. History Day program this year as part of their continuous commitment to provide support to North Carolina students and teachers. N.C. History Day is administered by the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and is an affiliate of the National History Day program (WWW.NHD.ORG).
Since 1974, the National History Day program has recognized and rewarded students for completing in-depth research and creating original projects that further appreciation and understanding of history.
National History Day is a yearlong academic program that engages students in grades 6 through 12 with the discovery of history. Students choose historical topics related to an annual theme, conduct extensive primary and secondary research, analyze and interpret their sources, draw conclusions about their topics’ significance in history, and present their work in one of five categories — historical papers, websites, exhibits, performances, or documentaries.
Students first compete in one of the seven regional contests across the state. Regional finalists are then invited to attend the state contest. The top two finalists in each category and division are then selected to represent N.C. at the national contest. With guidance from staff and judges, students can improve their projects at each stage of the competition and continue to research and learn.
National History Day Contest Winners
The History Day National Contest awards ceremony aired on June 20, 2020 and the N.C. students did amazingly!
Of the eighteen different project categories, N.C. had three projects take first place, and one project take third place. Each will receive medals and a monetary prize.
The N.C. contestants also had a group win a special monetary prize for primary source newspaper research, and though they did not rank high enough to receive a medal, four N.C. projects ranked within the Top Ten in the nation in their respective categories (each category had close to 100 projects competing).
Here is the breakdown by rank and prize (project titles hyperlink to their project if you want to view):
- 1st Place in the Senior Individual Exhibit category:
Rachel Amburose, Watauga High School,
“Light, Liberty, and Pride: LGBTQ Activism at UNC-CH” - 1st Place in the Senior Individual Performance category:
Catherine Boyette, Hendersonville High School,
“Karen Horney vs. Sigmund Freud: Breaking Barriers in Psychoanalysis for Women as a Woman” - 1st Place in the Junior Individual Performance category:
Isabella Hardy, Gryphon Academy (A Homeschool in Avery County),
“Williamina Fleming: Breaking Barriers with a Universe of Glass” - 3rd Place in the Junior Group Exhibit category:
Brady Clausen, Grace Armistead, Sarah Barlowe, and Trapper Alonso, Cane Creek Middle School (Fletcher, NC),
“Brothers Like These and the Barriers They Faced after Vietnam” - The Chronicling America Historic American Newspapers Prize ($1,000 to be split among the members)
and 5th Place in the Senior Group Documentary Category:
Amy Malt, Eden Stout, Grace Kushigian, and Lauren Wilkie, Great Expectations (A Homeschool Group in Hendersonville),
“From Briggs to Brown: How the Lone Dissent of Justice Julius Waring Broke the Barriers of Segregation and Reversed Plessy v. Ferguson.” - 4th Place in the Senior Individual Exhibit category
and the Outstanding Entry Prize for N.C. Senior Division:
Berit Raines, Hendersonville High School,
“Wonder Woman: Breaking the Binds of the Patriarchy” - 7th Place in the Senior Individual Documentary category:
Joseph Carol, Woodlawn School (Private School in Davidson, NC),
“East and West Germany after the Fall of the Berlin Wall: The Inner Wall That Remains” - 8th Place in the Junior Group Website category
and the Outstanding Entry Prize for N.C. Junior Division:
Emma Grace Palmer and Courtney Blair, Hendersonville Middle School,
“Black Mountain College: Breaking Barriers in Art through Inclusiveness and Individuality”