Plan your visit
Indiana Students Bring Conflict and Compromise to State History Contest
INDIANAPOLIS—The Indiana Historical Society (IHS) proudly announces more than 500 students from 40 schools around the state took part in the 2018 National History Day in Indiana (NHDI) state contest, Saturday, April 14, at Ivy Tech’s campus in downtown Indianapolis.
The 2018 national theme is “Conflict and Compromise in History,” and students explored the impact of historic events, such as the Evansville Bingo Riot of 1945 and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s historic speech in Indianapolis, and shed light on local and national figures, such as Kosciusko County Civil War soldier Ambrose Bierce and former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
All first- and second-place state finishers in each junior and senior category are now eligible to compete in the National Contest for National History Day, June 9 through 15, at the University of Maryland’s campus in College Park, Maryland. At least 3,000 students are expected to compete from across the country and from international schools around the world.
The National Contest is the final stage in a series of contests at state and regional levels. Students in grades four through 12 began this year’s National History Day journey by exploring a historical subject and using their research to create a documentary, exhibit, paper, performance or website.
Students qualified to state by taking part in regional contests where volunteer judges worked in teams to evaluate projects and rank winners. All regional finalists advanced to the state contest, where students also had the chance to win special prizes for Indiana history topics.
NHDI is presented by the Indiana National Guard, The Richard W. and Irene Rooker Family Foundation, TCU Foundation, Vigran Family Foundation and Junior League of Indianapolis. For more information, visit www.indianahistory.org/historyday or call (317) 232-1882.
2018 NHDI State Contest Winners*
Youth Group Documentary
1st place -“Bobby Kennedy: Speech to Calm Conflict”
Dawson Walker and Norberto Saez
Maplewood Elementary, Indianapolis
Youth Group Exhibit
1st place – “The Salem Witch Trials: Conflict of the Soul”
Julia Bowling, Lilli Gilstrap and Sophie Nolot
Bradie Shrum Elementary, Salem
2nd place – “Malcolm X: Guiding Through Conflict – Compromise Through Understanding”
Taylor Lucas and Kinzie Knaus
Brown County Intermediate, Nashville
3rd place – “The Vietnam Conflict”
Reya Snyder, Leauna Springer and Korabell Gilstrap
Bradie Shrum Elementary, Salem
Youth Individual Exhibit
1st place – “The Siege of Yorktown: The Battle That Shaped Our Nation”
Case Smith
Brown County Intermediate, Nashville
2nd place – “The Battle of the Bear Paw”
Kaleb Johnson
St. Anthony de Padua, South Bend
3rd place – “The Devil Made Them Do It”
Lilly VanNess
Brown County Intermediate, Nashville
Youth Group Performance
1st place – “Cuban Missile Crisis: The Conflict that Brought the World to the Brink of Nuclear War”
Brady Briscoe, Noah Deaton, Owen Martin and Japeth Webb
Bradie Shrum Elementary, Salem
Youth Group Website
1st place – “World War II”
Brandon Cornwell and Hunter Trainor
Bradie Shrum Elementary, Salem
Youth Individual Website
1st place – “Morgan’s Raid, Conflict and Compromise”
Nick Ingram
Bradie Shrum Elementary, Salem
2nd place – “The Civil War, Conflict and Compromise”
Gaven Mancine
Bradie Shrum Elementary, Salem
3rd place – “Women’s Baseball: Score One for Women”
Edith Overton
Maplewood Elementary, Indianapolis
Junior Group Documentary
1st place – “Rwandan Genocide: 100 Days of Assassination”
Betsy Moore and Josie Smith
Batchelor Middle School, Bloomington
2nd place – “RFK in Indianapolis: Subverting Conflict with Compassion”
Annadel Benedict and Iris Jordan
Zionsville Middle School, Zionsville
3rd place – “American Civilian Life and Feminism During World War II”
Iris Bailey, Sarah Maniscalo, Evie Renninger and Elizabeth Rexing
Zionsville Middle School, Zionsville
Junior Individual Documentary
1st place – “Eyeball to Eyeball: The Cuban Missile Crisis”
Bowen Basker
John Young Middle School, Mishawaka
2nd place – “Loving V Virginia 1967: The Case that Changed History”
Tori Harper
Northview Middle School, Indianapolis
3rd place – “The Execution of John Brown: The Spark of the Civil War”
Samuel Hammons
Westlane Middle School, Indianapolis
Junior Group Exhibit
1st place – “Eleanor Roosevelt: First Lady of the World”
Kaylee Ochoa and Rachel Doyle
Lakeview Middle School, Warsaw
2nd place – “Hamilton’s Plan”
Elena Sullivan, Abby Rahn and Hannah Shapiro
Lakeview Middle School, Warsaw
3rd place – “Before the American Revolution: Patriots vs. Loyalists”
Molly Southworth, Lucy Deetz and Maya Sturmer
Eastwood Middle School, Indianapolis
Junior Individual Exhibit
1st place – “The Impact of Thermopylae”
Sam Winkler
Eastwood Middle School, Indianapolis
2nd place – “Gideon v. Wainwright”
Alessandra Appel
Westlane Middle School, Indianapolis
3rd place – “The Controvery of an Ugly Compromise: How the Compromise of 1850 Ultimately Led to the Civil War”
Danae Ingemi
Eastwood Middle School, Indianapolis
Junior Paper
1st place – “The Scopes “Monkey” Trial: The Ongoing Battle Between Science and Religion”
Josephine Fields
Brown County Junior High School, Nashville
2nd place – “The Speech that Calmed a City”
Liam Eifert
Our Lady of Lourdes, Indianapolis
3rd place – “First Nations Women in Canada and the United States: Intermediaries in the New World Conflict”
Sarah Burns
John Young Middle School, Mishawaka
Junior Group Performance
1st place – “The Conflicts and Compromises of Writer and Civil War Soldier Ambrose Bierce”
Keller Bailey, Jason Benyousky, Ryun Hoffert and Geoffrey Hochstetler
Edgewood Middle School, Warsaw
2nd place – “The Underground Railroad”
Kelsie Clay, Benjamin Gollaher, Alex Hartmann and Francis Miller
Helfrich Park STEM Academy, Evansville
3rd place – “US Women in WWII”
Hannah Doran and Annie Zinck
Zionsville Middle School, Zionsville
Junior Individual Performance
1st place -“The Treaty of Versailles: Problematic Compromise Leads to Greater Conflict”
Grace Zerbel
John Young Middle School, Mishawaka
2nd place – “The Missouri Compromise of 1820: The Compromise That Aggravated an Already Impending War”
Kathryn Habel
John Young Middle School, Mishawaka
3rd place -“And Then the Bombs Fell: The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki”
Elizabeth Ball
John Young Middle School, Mishawaka
Junior Group Website
1st place – “Compromise Through Writing: Robert F. Kennedy’s Work Towards the Conflict of the Civil Rights Movement”
Matthew Hurst, Nicholas Garrett and Matthew Johnson
Salem Middle School, Salem
2nd place – “John Wooden Slam Dunks Discrimination in 1947”
Clay Austin, Lexie Austin, Livie Austin
Brown County Intermediate, Nashville
3rd place – “Japan at War in 1904”
Aidan Schilling and Bradley Arndt
Brown County High School, Nashville
Junior Individual Website
1st place – “Dorothy Stratton, Leaders of the SPARS, Opened Up the Door for Women in the Coast Guard”
Amelia Ringor
Lafayette Central Catholic Jr./Sr. High School, Lafayette
2nd place – “Countdown to Fate: The Burr-Hamilton Duel”
Bailey Darnell
John Young Middle School, Mishawaka
3rd place – “The Knights of Columbus v. the KKK: A Conflict of Doctrine, Propaganda, and Violence”
Isaac Rentschler
Indian Springs Middle School, Columbia City
Senior Group Documentary
1st place -“Chinese Discrimination: Angel Island Immigration Station”
Madison Arnold, Catherine VanMeter and Harley Weinburg
Columbia City High School, Columbia City
2nd place – “The Evansville Prohibition Conspiracy”
Houston Rogers and Mercutio Reynard
EVSC Early College High School, Indianapolis
3rd place – “The Tiananmen Riots: The Conflict and Lack of Compromise”
Andy Schmidt, Elijah Choi and Michael Zhang
Carmel High School, Carmel
Senior Individual Documentary
1st place – “Cui Jian: Walking the Tightrope Between Censorship and Protest”
Raymond Mo
Carmel High School, Carmel
2nd place -“The Troubles: Conflict and Compromise in Northern Ireland”
Zelton Kay
Brown County High School, Nashville
3rd place – “Truman and the Atomic Bomb: Drop or Stop”
Dimitar Donovski
North Central High School, Indianapolis
Senior Group Exhibit
1st place – “The Nigerian Civil War: The Consequences of Imperialism”
Abigael Mullens and Olivia Krall
Carmel High School, Carmel
2nd place – “The Birmingham Children’s Crusade”
Katelyn Wang and Kate Munson
Carmel High School, Carmel
3rd place – “Kamm & Schellinger: A History of the Indiana Brewery and the Conflicts it Faced”
Laurel Williams, Ruby Sanders and Ana Mercado
Carmel High School, Carmel
Senior Individual Exhibit
1st place – “Compromise for Comfort Girls”
Chloee Robison
Brown County High School, Nashville
2nd place – “WWI: Silent Night”
Joshua Brinkman
Carmel High School, Carmel
3rd place – “The Conflict and Compromise of 1936 Olympics”
Carter Lindfelt
Carmel High School, Carmel
Senior Paper
1st place – “Do No Harm Or Justice”
Margaret Robinson
North Central High School, Indianapolis
2nd place – “Beyond The Quota: U.S. Policy Towards Jewish Immigration & Refugees Throughout World War II”
Emily Schwartz
North Central High School, Indianapolis
3rd place – “The Vietnam Anti-War Movement: ‘The Times They Are a-Changin'”
Rachel Street
Silver Creek High School, Sellersburg
Senior Group Performance
1st place – “Cuban Missile Crisis: A Compromise Between Nations”
Jonathan Riggins, Jared Brown, Silas Ratliff, Luke Sanders
Triton Central High School, Fairland
2nd place – “A Fight for Educational Rights: The Ruby Bridges Story”
Jasmine Bennett, Lata’vian Simmons
EVSC Early College High School, Evansville
3rd place – “Duesenberg Motor Company”
James Szalkie, Ajani Esters, Derek Garcia
Shortridge High School, Indianapolis
Senior Individual Performance
1st place – “The Silesian Wars: A Timeless Portrayal of Conflict and Compromise”
Daniel Schrader-Dobris
Carmel High School, Carmel
2nd place -“Suffragist Helen Gougar: Uncompromising Values in the Face of Conflict”
Evelyn Hoefer
Lafayette Central Catholic Jr./Sr. High School, Lafayette
3rd place – “A Global Compromise: The Creation of the United Nations”
Rhiannon Laupp
EVSC Early College High School, Evansville
Senior Group Website
1st place – “Jane Roe: A Lightning Rod for Controversy”
Olivia Blank, Eden Oddou and Ally Willson
Columbia City High School, Columbia City
2nd place – “A Betrayal in Civil Rights: The Compromise of 1877”
Edward Dong, Vamsi Duvvuri
Carmel High School, Carmel
3rd place – “Roe v. Wade and the Abortion Revolution”
Jane Hirschman and Michaela Geller-Montague
North Central High School, Indianapolis
Senior Individual Website
1st place – “The Evansville Bingo Riot of 1945”
Kanin Bender
EVSC Early College High School, Evansville
2nd place – “The Ashes of Books and Ideas: Conflict Over the Nazi Book Burning”
Briana Chen
Carmel High School, Carmel
3rd place – “The Tale of Two Assassinations: The Conflicts and Compromises of RFK’s Speech on MLK”
Rhea Acharya
Carmel High School, Carmel
*All first- and second-place winners in the junior and senior categories are eligible for the National Contest for National History Day. Third place winners serve as alternates.
2018 Special Award Winners
Roy F. Stringer Memorial Prize for Labor Unions in Indiana
Aaron Marx, Senior Individual Exhibit, “Standing Up Against Pullman”
EVSC Early College High School, Evansville
Patti Curran Prize for Fashion Design in Indiana
Felicia Sanders, Senior Individual Exhibit, “Beyond the Hemlines: How the Miniskirt Fashioned a Decade Long Conflict”
Carmel High School, Carmel
Indiana Local History Prize
Keller Bailey, Jason Benyousky, Ryun Hoffert and Geoffrey Hochstetler, Junior Group Performance, “The Conflicts and Compromises of Writer and Civil War Soldier Ambrose Bierce”
Edgewood Middle School, Warsaw
Indiana National Guard Heritage Project Prize
Abigal Schlebecker, Senior Individual Performance, “Italian Prisoners of War, Camp Atterbury”
Shortridge High School, Indianapolis
Bill Curran Memorial Prize for Irish Heritage
Angus Ely-Smith and Weston Burdick, Senior Group Website, “Irish Immigrants”
Shortridge High School, Indianapolis
Nancy Ayres Prize for Commerce in Indiana
Jessica O’Neal, Brooklynn Simon and Makenzie Taylor, Senior Group Website, “WPA: Strengthening Indiana One Job at a Time”
EVSC Early College High School, Evansville
Richard W. and Irene Rooker Family Foundation Prize
Kaitlyn Niebrugge, Senior Group Website, “From Hitler’s Fuhrermuseum to the US Supreme Court: How The Woman in Gold Painting Ushered in a New Era of Global Art Restitution”
Columbus North High School, Columbus
Eiteljorg Museum Prize for Native Americans
Olivia Shearer and Emma Nicodemous, Senior Group Website, “AIM for Equality”
Columbia City High School, Columbia City
Women’s History Prize
Amelia Ringor, Junior Individual Website, “Dorothy Stratton, Leader of the SPARS, Opened Up the Door for Women in the Coast Guard”
Lafayette Central Catholic School, Lafayette
Crown Hill Heritage Foundation Prize for Notable Hoosiers
Tizrah Henry, Senior Individual Documentary, “A Day in the Life of Wes Montgomery”
EVSC Early College High School, Evansville
Italian American Heritage Prize for Italian-American History
Abigal Schlebecker, Senior Individual Performance, “Italian Prisoners of War, Camp Atterbury”
Shortridge High School, Indianapolis
Daughters of the American Revolution Prize for George Rogers Clark and the Northwestern Campaign
Chyna Gates, Senior Individual Performance, “George Rogers Clark’s Siege of Vincennes”
Shortridge High School, Indianapolis
Nancy Ayres Prize for Indiana Transportation
James Szalkie, Ajani Esters and Derek Garcia, Senior Group Performance, “Duesenberg Motor Company”
Shortridge High School, Indianapolis
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Foundation Prize
James Szalkie, Ajani Esters and Derek Garcia, Senior Group Performance, “Duesenberg Motor Company”
Shortridge High School, Indianapolis
Kennedy King Memorial Initiative Award
Liam Eifert, Junior Paper, “The Speech that Calmed a City”
Our Lady of Lourdes, Indianapolis
James F. Harris Teacher Award Nominees
Amy Oliver – Brown County Junior High School, Nashville
Merrill Punke – EVSC Early College High School, Evansville
