Rachel Jenkins with her third place exhibit on Carrie Chapman Catt, leader of the women’s suffrage movement
Lee University hosted the Tennessee History Day Southeast Region Contest with 144 middle and high school students, from 11 schools, presenting 81 entries for the contest. Students came from Bradley, Hamilton, Marion, Meigs, Monroe, and Sequatchie counties.
This event is a part of the nationwide National History Day competition and is hosted in Tennessee by the Tennessee Historical Society, which became the state affiliate of National History Day in 2008. National History Day is a year-long education program for students in grades 6-12. This program aims to improve the learning of history in public, private, and home schools. Students present primary source research in one of five categories: documentary, exhibit, paper, performance, or website.
The competition’s theme this year is Conflict and Compromise in History. Winners of the Southeast Region Contest will continue on to compete at Tennessee History Day on April 7. Winners of the state contest move on to National History Day in June, held at the University of Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C.
“After serving as the Southeast Tennessee Coordinator for five years, I am still blown away by the work of the students,” said Joy Veenstra Key, adjunct professor of museum studies at Lee and the Southeast TN contest coordinator. “Their projects are full of excellent research. It is inspiring to watch these students directly engage with the stories of the past, and will make them stronger members of our communities in the future.”
This year’s junior category first-place winners include:
Jessie Henderson and Amanda Ledford, Lake Forest Middle School
"The Battle of Athens: Conflict in the Friendly City”
Tamyra Dicandio, Rural Vale Elementary
“The Trail of Tears”
Lily Ledford and Sophia Ledford, Scriptorium Tutoring
“The Persian Wars: Two Conflicts, No Compromise”
William Owen, McCallie School
“‘All the News That’s Fit to Print’: The Life of Adolph Ochs”
Lilly Dzinglski, Caitlynn Lewis, and Maddie Matherly, Whitwell Middle School
“Conflict and Compromise in Antebellum Tennessee”
Brooks Riley and Ethan Roldan, McCallie School
“The Coal Creek War: Labor Conflict and Compromise”
Senior category first-place winners for this year include:
David Horne, McCallie School
"Spiritual Split: Slavery and Compromise in the Presbyterian Church”
Maggie Parsley, Astha Sinha, and Anna Kate Stipanov, Girls Preparatory School
“Science and Journalism: The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906”
Duke Richey, McCallie School
‘“Quite a Nice Little Fish’: The Snail Darter and the Environmental Compromise of the Century”
John Knox, Sultan Minhas, and Dawson Yates, McCallie School
“Culture Clash and Compromise”
Annie Thrash, Girls Preparatory School
“The Elizabethton Textile Mill Factory Strikes”
Ryan Huynh, Davis Little, and Davis McCloskey, McCallie School
“YAZOO: The Origins and Compromises in a Great American Land Scandal”
Pi Eager, McCallie School
“Winters v. United States: Native Americans, Water, and The Unintended Consequences of Compromise”
Adam Wang and Hanson Zhang, McCallie School
“‘Let Us All Be Equal’: The Conflicted American Attitude Toward the Chinese and the Compromise Forged in War, 1850-1945”
Will Parker, McCallie School
“Americans with Disabilities: Compromises and Conflicts in the Fight for Equality and Acceptance”
For more information about Tennessee History Day, visit http://www.tennesseehistory.org/tennessee-history-day/.
For more information on National History Day, visit www.nhd.org.
Matthew Cooper and Savannah Cooper with their third place poster “444 Days Under the Gun”