After three years of competing virtually, the Oregon Historical Society was thrilled to host 98 students from communities across Oregon for an in-person Oregon History Day contest, the statewide qualifying competition for the annual National History Day contest. The contest took place on Saturday, April 29, at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and featured students from 12 schools representing 14 cities and towns who worked individually or in small groups to produce fascinating projects in the forms of documentary films, websites, performances, exhibits, and papers.
Creating projects inspired by the annual theme, “Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas,” these young historians in grades 6–12 chose topics to explore and proceeded to conduct historical research and practice critical thinking skills as they analyzed primary and secondary sources and considered diverse viewpoints and bias present in these materials.
Oregon History Day is supported by volunteer judges, who gathered with the students at Willamette University to evaluate projects, provide feedback to students, and reach consensus on project rankings. With the top two projects in each category able to qualify for the national contest if their projects meet the required criteria, this feedback is crucial as students can revise and improve their projects before they are judged against projects from across the nation. Of the 65 projects considered, 22 qualified to advance to the National History Day contest, which will take place at the University of Maryland, College Park, near Washington, D.C., from June 11–15.
“This year’s in-person Oregon History Day competition was an undeniable success, thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of the students across Oregon who have put so much time, energy, and research into their projects,” said OHS Education & Programs Manager Katie Pearson. “It was amazing to see the excitement and enthusiasm of not only the students who participated, but also the judges and educators who were there supporting future historians!”
This year, OHS introduced new special award categories to highlight outstanding entries that best demonstrated superior research and scholarship related to the contributions, accomplishments, and experiences of specific groups of people in history. OHS awarded four prizes to projects focused on women’s history, Black history, Indigenous history, and Asian history, with each winning project receiving a $100 prize:
Women’s History Award: “Lavender Menace: Crossing the Gay-Feminist Divide,” by Fern Preppernau (Junior Paper, 1st Place)
Asian History Award: “To the Skies!: The Story of Hazel Ying Lee,” by Jayden Huang, Jeffrey Teh, and Nathan Zou (Senior Group Documentary, 1st Place)
Black History Award: “Paving the Way for Social Equality in Sports,” by Casey Hicks (Junior Individual Documentary, 1st Place)
Indigenous History Award: “Genocide of the Native American Pioneer,” by Chase Cofas (Junior Individual Website, 2nd Place)
