Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the 2017 National History Day Contest!
College Scholarships
Case Western Reserve University, David Van Tassel Founders Award
Student: Joseph Chong
Category: Senior Group Documentary
Title: A Lesson in Equality: Taking a Stand for Desegregation in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
School: Providence High School
Charlotte, North Carolina
Chaminade University
Student: Creed King
Category: Senior Group Exhibit
Title: “LAW. NOT WAR.” Benjamin Ferencz’s Lifelong Stand for Peace Through Justice
School: Leon High School
Tallahassee, Florida
University of Maryland
Student: Na Hye Kim
Category: Senior Group Exhibit
Title: Alfred Wegener and His Stand for Continental Drift
School: Poolesville High School
Germantown, Maryland
Category Awards
Junior Paper
First Place
Title: Margaret Sanger, Taking a Stand for Birth Control
Student(s): Ingrid Mundt
School: Capitol Hill Magnet School
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Second Place
Title: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring: Standing Up for Women, Science, and the Environment
Student(s): Grace Philippon
School: Twin Cities German Immersion School
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Third Place
Title: Trees Not Tyranny: The Stand of Wangari Maathai
Student(s): Bronwyn Patterson
School: Annapolis Middle School
Annapolis, Maryland
Junior Individual Documentary
First Place
Title: Taking the Road Less Travelled: Rachel Carson’s Stand Against DDT Sparks an Era of Environmental Consciousness
Student(s): Melinda Chen
School: Thomas R. Grover Middle School
West Windsor, New Jersey
Second Place
Title: John Lewis Sitting Down to Take A Stand: The Fight Against Jim Crow and African American Inequality
Student(s): Gregory Cantwell
School: North Shore Middle School
Glen Head, New York
Third Place
Title: The 1971 FBI Burglary: Taking A Stand Against Illegal Government Surveillance
Student(s): August Butterworth
School: Chaska Middle School East
Victoria, Minnesota
Junior Group Documentary
First Place
Title: The Tuskegee Airmen: Courage Knows No Color
Student(s): Ananya Nandula, Ananya Ganapathi, and Layasri Ranjith
School: Evergreen Middle School
Sammamish, Washington
Second Place
Title: The Statement that Revealed the Truth: Josiah DuBois, an American Holocaust Hero
Student(s): Sam Bitman, Shayna Herzfeld, Gabby O'Brien, and Asha Mohapatra
School: Rosa International Middle School
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Third Place
Title: Planting Seeds to End World Hunger: Norman Borlaug's Fight Against Famine
Student(s): Audrey Faricy, Sebastian Helgeson, and Sruthi Subramanian
School: Parkview Center School
Shoreview, Minnesota
Junior Individual Performance
First Place
Title: Two Goats on a Bridge and a Torpedo Underneath
Student(s): Max Mateer
School: Gulf Breeze Middle School
Gulf Breeze, Florida
Second Place
Title: Le Chambon Sur Lignon: Secretly Taking a Stand to Save Lives During the Holocaust through a Conspiracy of Goodness
Student(s): Skylar Holland
School: Wayne School of Engineering Middle School
Goldsboro, North Carolina
Third Place
Title: Jonas Salk, The Knight in the White Lab Coat: Taking a Stand Against the Scientific Establishment to Conquer Polio
Student(s): Jeremy Lum
School: Zion Lutheran
San Francisco, California
Junior Group Performance
First Place
Title: Fanning the Flame and Inspiring the Fourth
Student(s): Madeleine Broussard and Brandon Broussard
School: Gentry Junior School
Baytown, Texas
Second Place
Title: Petticoat Rebels: How the Women of the Easter Rising Took a Stand for Irish Independence
Student(s): Abigail Byrd, Maddie Matlick, Sierra Manning, Daphne Fortain, and Katherine Grady
School: Classical Scholars
Mills River, North Carolina
Third Place
Title: The Beer Brawl of 1855: How Chicago's Immigrants Took a Political Stand to Defeat the Know-Nothing Party
Student(s): Cael Conroy, Patrick Jones, Anne Marie Jones, and Logan Scott
School: Immaculata Catholic School
Hendersonville, North Carolina
Junior Individual Exhibit
First Place
Title: "Service Not Servitude"
Student(s): Maya Moise
School: American Heritage School
Davie, Florida
Second Place
Title: Mary Beth Tinker: The Voice Behind Student Free Speech
Student(s): Brendan Hung
School: Radnor Middle School
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Third Place
Title: Loving v. Virginia: Taking a Stand for Marriage
Student(s): Aliyah Hamlin
School: Sunrise Park Middle School
Maplewood, Minnesota
Junior Group Exhibit
First Place
Title: Labor Reform Fueled by Fire
Student(s): Braxton Thompson, Kenzi Nix, and Kylie Nix
School: Canton High School
Canton, Oklahoma
Second Place
Title: In a League of Their Own: How Ludwig Guttmann's Paralympics Put the 'Ability' in 'Disability'
Student(s): Vidyut Baskar and Pranav Sheokand
School: Evergreen Middle School
Sammamish, Washington
Third Place
Title: Ruby Bridges: Taking a Stand for Education
Student(s): Leslie Figueroa-Borja, Daniela Hernandez, and Rosemary Gomes
School: Sierra Middle School
Riverside, California
Junior Individual Website
First Place
Title: Tinker v. Des Moines: The Silent Stand
Student(s): Saba Shakir
School: New Vistas Center for Education
Chandler, Arizona
Second Place
Title: Lewis Hine: Focusing the Lens on Child Labor
Student(s): Abigail Setzfand
School: Northern Middle School
Dunkirk, Maryland
Third Place
Title: Standing Up for the Land: Gaylord Nelson, the Ojibwe, and the Apostle Islands
Student(s): Aidan Dresang
School: Eagle School of Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Junior Group Website
First Place
Title: Calling the Shots: Taking a Stand Against the Speckled Monster
Student(s): Sophie Mullaney and Alexander Szymanski
School: Midtown International School
Atlanta, Georgia
Second Place
Title: Silence=Death: How ACT UP New York Changed the Public View of the AIDS Crisis
Student(s): Eleanor Freed and Genevieve Baldwin
School: Ottoson Middle School
Arlington, Massachusetts
Third Place
Title: Keeping Chicago Dry: Eliot Ness and the Untouchables
Student(s): Ojasvi Saxena, Aditi Singh , Rishika Chikoti, and Krishna Patel
School: Twin Groves Middle School
Buffalo Grove, Illinois
Senior Paper
First Place
Title: "By the Code of Humanity": Ralph Carr Takes a Stand for Japanese American Rights in World War II
Student(s): Stephanie Reitzig
School: Niwot High School
Longmont, Colorado
Second Place
Title: Frank Kameny: Standing Up for Gay Rights in Government and Society
Student(s): Annette Quinn
School: Conway High School
Conway, Arkansas
Third Place
Title: Larry Flynt: An Unlikely Hero Takes a Stand Against Censorship
Student(s): Aidan Forbes
School: Huntington High School
Huntington, New York
Senior Individual Documentary
First Place
Title: Schoolhouse Speech: Taking a Stand in Tinker v. Des Moines
Student(s): Ian Kavanaugh
School: Mansfield High School
Mansfield, Massachusetts
Second Place
Title: A Ray of Hope
Student(s): Mia Kawamitsu
School: Abraham Lincoln High School
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Third Place
Title: Beyond the Shadow of Agent Orange: Veterans Stand for Justice
Student(s): Jake Blum
School: Howard High School
Ellicott City, Maryland
Senior Group Documentary
First Place
Title: Standing with the Voiceless: The Life and Legacy of Archbishop Oscar Romero
Student(s): Venkata Panabakam, Sidra Nadeem, and Denise Martinez
School: Rogers New Technology High School
Rogers, Arkansas
Second Place
Title: A Lesson in Equality: Taking a Stand for Desegregation in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Student(s): Joseph Chong and Catherine McMillan
School: Providence High School
Charlotte, North Carolina
Third Place
Title: Zora Neale Hurston: Taking a Stand for a Holistic Portrayal of Black Women and Black Culture in Literature
Student(s): Lexia Cicone, Cordelia Houck, Natalie Knight, and Georgia Michelman
School: Bedford High School
Bedford, Massachusetts
Senior Individual Performance
First Place
Title: Suffrajitsu: The Women Who Fought Back
Student(s): Erin Lowe
School: Pembroke Hill School
Kansas City, Missouri
Second Place
Title: Beyond the Boundaries of Barbed Wire: Japanese Americans in a Stand for Racial Justice
Student(s): Faith Nishimura
School: Claremont High School
Claremont, California
Third Place
Title: Alternating Current: Powering the Future
Student(s): Westley Sturhan
School: Highland Park High School
Dallas, Texas
Senior Group Performance
First Place
Title: Solidarity: The Polish People Take a Stand for Freedom
Student(s): Sydney Fox, Allison Hodge, and Matthew Clark
School: Buchanan High School
Clovis, California
Second Place
Title: President Truman Vs. General MacArthur: Struggle for Command, Preserving the Power of the Presidency
Student(s): Micah Doane, Trevor Doeringer, and Joseph Baldwin
School: Christian Community School
Sheffiel Village, Ohio
Third Place
Title: The Sun Rises: Sakamoto Ryoma's Stand for Modernization in Retrospect to the Past, Present, and Future
Student(s): Nicole Zhong, Kevin Jin, Charlie Kong, and Qingyun Wang
School: Concordia International School
Pudong, Shanghai, China
Senior Individual Exhibit
First Place
Title: The Safekeepers of History: A Monumental Stand for Cultural Preservation During the Second World War
Student(s): Hannah Scott
School: Odessa High School
Odessa, Missouri
Second Place
Title: Lewis Hine: Capturing the Injustice of Child Labor
Student(s): Havi Nguyen
School: Ross S. Sterling High School
Baytown, Texas
Third Place
Title: Helen Taussig: Changing the World One Baby at a Time
Student(s): Kanchan Raju
School: Mission San Jose High School
Fremont, California
Senior Group Exhibit
First Place
Title: “LAW. NOT WAR.” Benjamin Ferencz’s Lifelong Stand for Peace Through Justice
Student(s): Creed King and Katherine Powell
School: Leon High School
Tallahassee, Florida
Second Place
Title: Freedom Riders: Freedom’s Wheels Are Rolling
Student(s): Danielle Garcia and Priscila Garcia
School: Ross S. Sterling
Baytown, Texas
Third Place
Title: "A Force of Nature": Wangari Maathai Fights for the Environment and the People
Student(s): Sara Skwaryk, Rebecca Wahlenmayer, and Elizabeth Wahlenmayer
School: Girard High School
Girard, Pennsylvania
Senior Individual Website
First Place
Title: Beyond the Cardigan
Student(s): Joanna Harlacher
School: Donegal High School
Mount Joy, Pennsylvania
Second Place
Title: Theodore Roosevelt: The Conservation Crusader for Future Generations
Student(s): Mona Tong
School: Clarkstown North Senior High School
New City, New York
Third Place
Title: A Mosaic of a Movement: Alice Paul and the Fight for Women's Rights
Student(s): Meghana Srivastava
School: West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North
Plainsboro, New Jersey
Senior Group Website
First Place
Title: Mother Jones: Marching with the Mill Children
Student(s): Hannah Doyle, Zachary Matson
School: Delta High School
West Richland, Washington
Second Place
Title: Fred Korematsu: An American Standing for Freedom
Student(s): Nicholas Matthews, Chisato Kimura
School: Lawrence High School
Lawrence, Kansas
Third Place
Title: Stanislav Petrov: An Unlikely Hero of the Cold War
Student(s): Danny Yu, Yi Chen (Luke) Chang
School: SMIC Private School
Shanghai, China
Special Prizes
African American History
Title: Freedom Lies Here: Joan Trumpauer Mullholland’s Stand in Upholding the Law and Peacefully Redefining Equality in America
Student(s): Jamison Thatch
Category: Junior Individual Performance
School: Lander Middle School
Wyoming
African American History
Title: Strange Fruit and Billie Holiday: The Unin of Music and Political Protest
Student(s): Yuki Nagaoka and Sydney Cox
Category: Senior Group Documentary
School: West Valley High School
Alaska
American Labor History
Title: The Chiquola Mill Textile Strike: The Hunger for Workers’ Rights
Student(s): Fallon Tomlin
Category: Junior Individual Performance
School: Ocean Bay Middle School
South Carolina
Asian American History
Title: The Risk They Took
Student(s): Jake Hicks and Rodee Brow
Category: Junior Group Documentary
School: Wheatland Middle School
Wyoming
Asian American History
Title: We Too Are Americans: Japanese-Americans Take A Stand Against Discrimination and Bigotry During WWII
Student(s): Rylee Wills
Category: Senior Individual Exhibit
School: Conway Junior High School
Arkansas
Captain Ken Coskey Naval History
Title: The Many Stands of Pearl Harbor
Student(s): Jason Benyousky, Ryun Hoffert, Keller Bailey, and Geoffrey Hochstetler
Category: Junior Group Performance
School: Warsaw Community Schools
Indiana
Captain Ken Coskey Naval History
Title: The Porstmouth Naval Shipyard: Helping America Take a Stand Against the Axis Powers
Student(s): Joseph Horne
Category: Senior Individual Website
School: Noble High School
Maine
Chronicling America
Title: Mother Jones: Taking a Stand with the Miners
Student(s): Pheobe White and Andrew Cavanagh
Category: Junior Group Documentary
School: St. Peter’s School
Rhode Island
Chronicling America
Title: Nellie Bly Undercover: The Reporter Who Dared to Go Behind the Scenes
Student(s): Julia Breitkreutz
Category: Senior Individual Performance
School: Northwestern High School
South Carolina
Civil War History
Title: Dissidents of Rebellion: The Hidden Stand and Sacrifice of the East Tennessee Bridge Burners
Student(s): Tate Greene
Category: Junior Individual Documentary
School: Clayton Bradley Academy
Tennessee
Discovery or Exploration in History
Title: Copernicus and His Theories: Laying the Groundwork for the Heavens
Student(s): Quinn Perian
Category: Junior Paper
School: Summit Middle Charter School
Colorado
Discovery or Exploration in History
Title: Grace Hopper: Bringing Words to Computing
Student(s): Saurav Sanjay
Category: Senior Individual Documentary
School: West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North
New Jersey
Equality in History
Title: Justin Dart Jr.: The Father of the Americans with Disabilities Act
Student(s): Nicole Bachman, Sonia Goyal, and Sydney Shin
Category: Junior Group Documentary
School: Lime Kiln Middle School
Maryland
Equality in History
Title: Harvey Milk “You’ve Got to Have Hope.”
Student(s): MinJae Kim, Nithya Gogineni
Category: Senior Group Exhibit
School: American International School Chennai
South Asia
Friends of the National Library of Medicine
Title: You’ve Come a Long Way Baby! To Infant-ity and Beyond: Learning to Stand Up
Student(s): Breanne Barrett and Clara Schulte
Category: Senior Group Performance
School: Gunnison High School
Colorado
George Washington Leadership in History
Title: Taking a Stand in the Shadows: The Culper Spy Ring During the Revolutionary War
Student(s): Lilianna Hug
Category: Junior Individual Performance
School: Salamander Meadows Homeschool
Pennsylvania
George Washington Leadership in History
Title: The Secret Heroes of the American Revolution: The Culper Spy Ring’s Stand for Freedom
Student(s): Tyler Pierce, Bethany Prettyman, Katie Snow, Mersedez Clifford, and Tessa Atwood
Category: Senior Group Performance
School: Carbon High School
Utah
Global Peace
Title: Joseph Rotblat and The Anti-Nuclear Stand
Student(s): Aneesh Muppidi
Category: Junior Individual Documentary
School: Farnsworth Middle School
New York
History in the Federal Government
Title: Harvey Washington Wiley’s Poison Squad: Reforming the American Table
Student(s): Liesel Kemmelmeier and Lena Kemmelmeier
Category: Junior Group Website
School: Archie Clayton Middle School
Nevada
History of Agricultural and Rural Life
Title: Milo Reno and the Farmers’ Holiday Association: Taking a Stand for Farmers During the Great Depression
Student(s): Lauren Stiefvater
Category: Junior Individual Documentary
School: St. Mary’s Catholic School
South Dakota
Immigration History
Title: Lewis Hine Behind the Camera: A Crusade Against Child Labor
Student(s): Rahini Takalkar and Suhana Khiani
Category: Junior Group Website
School: Singapore American School
South Asia
Irish or Irish-American History
Title: More Than A Game: The GAA and Irish Independence
Student(s): Shelby Jones
Category: Senior Individual Documentary
School: J.H. Rose High School
North Carolina
Irish or Irish-American History
Title: Petticoat Rebels of 1916: The Women’s Stand for Ireland
Student(s): Sierra Conrady, Kaitlyn McIntosh, Kalissa Wile, and Alyssa Nix
Category: Senior Group Performance
School: Canton High School
Oklahoma
Latino American History
Title: Cesar Chavez: Taking A Stand for Migrant Workers
Student(s): Anyi Moreno Sanchez, Martha Solis, Sandra Torres, and Silvia Pascual
Category: Junior Group Website
School: John Quincy Adams Middle School
Louisana
Latino American History
Title: Viva La Huelta! Cesar Chavez and the Delano Grape Strike
Student(s): Ty Williams
Category: Senior Individual Exhibit
School: Kamehameha Schools
Hawaii
Legacy Scholar
Title: Standing Up for Equal Education: How a Father’s Courageous Fight Led to the Desegregation of California’s Schools
Student(s): Caitlin Richter
Category: Senior Group Exhibit
School: Liberty High School
California
Lee Allen History of Baseball Award
Title: Branch Rickey’s Stand: The Integration of Baseball
Student(s): Evan Nelson
Category: Junior Individual Exhibit
School: Gettysburg Elementary School
California
Native American History
Title: Good Words Cannot Give me Back my Children
Student(s): Abigail Davis
Category: Junior Individual Performance
School: Hope Christian Middle School
New Mexico
Native American History
Title: A Population Imprisoned: Occuppying Alcatraz and Taking a Stand for Native American Rights
Student(s): Lauren Fergus, Parul Srivastava, Obsee Abbajabal, Angela Cai, and Marianne Aldrich
Category: Senior Group Website
School: Johnston High School
Iowa
United States Marine Corps History
Title: Vietnam: A Stand with marines; A Stand for the Vietnamese People; A Stand for the Truth
Student(s): Annalise Callaghan
Category: Senior Individual Performance
School: Northland Pines High School
Wisconsin
U.S. Constitution
Title: Gideon Vs Wainright: A Citizens Stand for Counsel
Student(s): Matthew David Klee and Ava Chen
Category: Junior Group Website
School: Winburn Middle School
Kentucky
U.S. Constitution
Title: Pardon Who? Ford’s Stance on Healing the Nation
Student(s): Tiffanie Cross
Category: Senior Individual Performance
School: Whitehall High School
Michigan
Vietnam War Era
Title: Standing Up for the “Bui Doi”: U.S. Representative Robert J. Mrazek’s Impact on Vietnamese Americans with the Amerasian Homecoming Act
Student(s): Kim Vu
Category: Senior Individual Documentary
School: Seaman High School
Kansas
White House History
Title: Lady Bird Johnson Taking a Stand to Preserve the Natural Beauty of America
Student(s): Grace Muller
Category: Junior Individual Performance
School: Cedar Bayou Junior School
Texas
White House History
Title: The President, the Pardon, and the Press Secretary Too
Student(s): Ji-Sung Lee
Category: Senior Paper
School: Rock Bridge High School
Missouri
Women’s History
Title: “The Conscience of Rhode Island” Elizabeth Buffman Chace; A Lifelong Activist
Student(s): Michael Graves
Category: Senior Individual Exhibit
School: Toll Gate High School
Rhode Island
World War I History
Title: Dada: A Major Modern Art Movement
Student(s): Janelyn Geronimo, Julianne Viernes, and Melissa Takahashi
Category: Junior Group Exhibit
School: Waipahu Indermediate
Hawaii
World War I History
Title: Eugene Debs and the Fight for Free Speech
Student(s): Caleb O’Mara
Category: Senior Paper
School: Keene High School
New Hampshire
World War I History
Title: Eugene Debs and the Fight for Free Speech
Student(s): Caleb O’Mara
Category: Senior Paper
School: Keene High School
New Hampshire
World War II History
Title: Take a Stand: Abduct a German General
Student(s): Eleni Staikos
Category: Junior Individual Exhibit
School: P.S. Dupont Middle School
Delaware
World War II History
Title: Helmuth James von Moltke: A Leader of Resistance to Hitler and the Nazi Party
Student(s): Claire Faulkner
Category: Senior Individual Documentary
School: Journalism & Media Academy Magnet School
Connecticut