Minnesota Students Take Top Honors at National History Day Competition in Washington, DC

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (June 15, 2023) – Minnesota students took home an array of awards at the National History Day competition, including seven medals, six other top-ten finishers, and nine honorable mentions.

Minnesota’s delegation, known as “Team Minnesota,” was made up of 59 students from around the state. They competed against over 2,600 competitors from across the country at the University of Maryland, College Park campus, just outside of Washington, DC.

In all, over 17,000 Minnesota students participated in History Day 2023. The students, representing grades six through 12, presented exhibits, papers, documentaries, performances, and websites that showed off months of research based on this year’s theme, “Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas.” 

The top three national finishers in each category earn monetary awards. First place winners receive $1,000, second place winners receive $500, and third place winners receive $250. National History Day also recognizes one outstanding state entry in the junior and senior divisions, with a medal.

Medal winners:

• Ireland Person, Lydia Svien, Margaret Frohman, DeLaSalle High School, Minneapolis. 1st Place, Senior Group Documentary, “The Legendary LIFE of Margaret Bourke-White.”
• Adele Haeg, DeLaSalle High School, Minneapolis. 1st Place, Senior Individual Website, “The Writing of Zitkala-Ša: A Frontier for American Indian Rights.”
• Zoey Dahl, Sanford Middle School, Minneapolis. 2nd Place, Junior Individual Exhibit, “Bib 261: Forging a Frontier For Women In Running.”
• Ola Okoro, East High School, Duluth. 2nd Place, Senior Individual Performance, “Madam CJ Walker: Braving Frontiers in African American Hair Care, Business, and Philanthropy.”
• Frances Bull, Heidi Bull, Sanford Middle School, Minneapolis. 2nd Place, Junior Group Website, “The Women's World Games: Expanding the Frontier of Equality for Women Through Sports.”
• Theo Orsted, Twin Cities German Immersion School, St. Paul. 3rd Place, Junior Paper, “The Panama Canal: A New Frontier for Tech, Trade, and Travel.”
• Eleanor Hern, Juliette Weier-Rauscher, Maeve O’Brien, Sunrise Park Middle School, White Bear Lake. 3rd Place, Junior Group Exhibit, “Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.”

Other top finishers from Minnesota:

• Garin Hackbarth, Samuel Phillips, East High School, Duluth. 4th Place, Senior Group Exhibit, “FDR's Fireside Chats: A Frontier in Presidential Communication.”
• Adelaide Nelson, Rachel Englund, Edgewood Middle School, Mounds View. 4th Place, Junior Group Documentary, “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: How One Silent Film Changed the Art of Cinema Forever.”
• Zeina Al-Ramahi, Edina High School, Edina. 5th Place, Senior Individual Website, “Ms. Magazine: The Revolutionary Feminist Frontier in Journalism.”
• Jackson Tripp, Salk Middle School, Elk River. 7th Place, Junior Individual Documentary, “The Development of the Mountain Bike.”
• Keagan Corcoran, Nativity of Our Lord School, St. Paul. 8th Place, Junior Individual Website, “All The World Loves A Baby: How Sideshow Exhibits Forged a New Frontier in Neonatology.”
• Sonja Holtey,  Edina High School, Edina. 9th Place, Senior Individual Documentary, “Putting It All On the Line in Luverne: A New Frontier of Teacher Strikes.”

Additional award winners from Minnesota:

• Garin Hackbarth, Samuel Phillips, East High School, Duluth. Outstanding Affiliate Entry in the Senior Division, Senior Group Exhibit, “FDR's Fireside Chats: A Frontier in Presidential Communication.”
• Adelaide Nelson, Rachel Englund, Edgewood Middle School, Mounds View. Outstanding Affiliate Entry in the Junior Division, Junior Group Documentary, “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: How One Silent Film Changed the Art of Cinema Forever.”

Honorable Mention Awards are presented to entries that ranked in the second place in the first round of judging. While these entries were not eligible for the final round of competition, their outstanding scholarship is recognized as Honorable Mention:

• Sam Edson, Salk Middle School, Elk River. Junior Individual Exhibit, “Negotiating the Southern Frontier: The Antarctic Treaty's Significance.”
• Leah Coleman, Sarah Rectenwald, East High School, Duluth. Senior Group Exhibit, “Expanding the Frontier of Climate Action: James Hansen’s Testimony to Congress.”
• Sofia Patronski, Murray Middle School, St. Paul. Junior Individual Performance, “Rachel Carson: A Frontier for the Environment.”
• Bryce Harms, Cara Sarbacker, Hudson Isakson, Phineas Jacox, Christ’s Household of Faith School, St. Paul. Junior Group Performance, “On the Brink: Developing the Atomic Bomb and the Frontier of Mutually Assured Destruction.”
• Oliver Berg, Robert Schlief, Delano Middle School, Delano. Junior Group Performance, “The Fight for the Electric Automobile: A Frontier for a More Efficient, Ecological, and Safe Way of Travel.”
• Elizabeth Teskey, Edina High School, Edina. Senior Individual Performance, 
  The Seneca Falls Convention: Nationalizing Ideological Frontiers for Women's Rights.”
• Anna Berry, Marjorie Stender, East High School, Duluth. Senior Group Performance, “Frontiers in Women's Combat Aviation: The Night Witches of WWII.”
• Alma Jacox, Karina Albrecht, Christ’s Household of Faith School, St. Paul. Senior Group Performance, “Striking A Light: Matchgirls on the Frontier of Workers’ Rights New Unionism.”

Throughout the week of the contest, several Minnesota students were recognized in project showcases from sponsoring institutions:

• Lucy DiMarco, Juliet Zylla, Anthony Middle School, Minneapolis. Junior Group Exhibit, “Complex Legacy of Henrietta Lacks,” showcased at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
• Theo Orsted, Twin Cities German Immersion School, St. Paul. Junior Paper, “The Panama Canal: A New Frontier for Tech, Trade, and Travel,” showcased with the White House Historical Association, which included a Writer’s Workshop at the White House Visitors Center.

A full list of results from the National History Day competition can be found at https://nhd.org/en/contest/national-contest/.

About National History Day in Minnesota
National History Day in Minnesota is a co-curricular historical research program that builds college readiness and communication skills for middle and high school students. The program is a partnership of the Minnesota Historical Society and the University of Minnesota, College of Liberal Arts. 

Program support is also provided by the Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on Nov. 4, 2008.

About the Minnesota Historical Society

The Minnesota Historical Society is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution established in 1849. MNHS collects, preserves, and tells the story of Minnesota’s past through museum exhibits, libraries, and collections, historic sites, educational programs, and publishing. Using the power of history to transform lives, MNHS preserves our past, shares our state’s stories, and connects people with history. Visit us at mnhs.org.