Record National History Day a success; 80-plus students advance to state contest
A record number of area middle- and high-school students shared their take on the theme of “Rights and Responsibilities in History” April 5 during the Northeastern Wisconsin Region’s National History Day competition at UW-Green Bay.
Nearly 440 students from 24 schools throughout the region brought a total of 259 projects to the event, setting a new record for participation, said UW-Green Bay’s Deb Anderson, coordinator for the Northeastern Wisconsin region. Project topics included civil rights, labor, women’s suffrage, Earth Day, gay rights, Jim Crow and many others. Students presented their findings in a variety of categories, including historical papers, exhibit displays, documentaries, performances and websites.
“The day was a huge success, with many positive comments about the campus and the experience in general,” Anderson said. “Local leaders including Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt and State Senators Dave Hansen and Robert Cowles also were on hand to show their support for this event.”
A total of 81 students — 53 finalists and 28 alternates — qualified for the state National History Day event, which will take place Saturday, May 3 in Madison. The Brown County Historical Society and Wisconsin Labor History Society each presented two awards, one in the junior division and one in the senior division. See the complete list of finalists, alternates and award recipients.
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– Photos by Veronica Wierer, photography intern, Office of Marketing and University Communication
This year’s competition marked the 12th consecutive year the National History Day regional has been held on the UW-Green Bay campus. In addition to students, families, educators and friends, the regional National History Day competition relies on about 120 volunteers to keep it running smoothly. Competition participants were public, private and homeschool students from a eight-county area. Brown, Oconto, Shawano, Door, Outagamie, Sheboygan, Marinette and Manitowoc counties were represented during the event.
Financial sponsors for the regional National History Day competition are the Brown County Historical Society, the Green Bay-De Pere Antiquarian Society, the Jean Nicolet chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, UW-Green Bay’s Institute for Learning Partnership, the Fox Wisconsin Heritage Parkway and the Historic Allouez Society. More information on the regional and state National History Day competitions is available online.
