More than 500 Students Explore Triumph and Tragedy in History at NHDI State Contest

INDIANAPOLIS—The Indiana Historical Society (IHS) proudly announces 550 students from schools across the state took part in the 2019 National History Day in Indiana (NHDI) state contest, Saturday, April 13, at the University of Indianapolis.

Through the 2019 theme of “Triumph and Tragedy in History,” students explored the impact of historic events, such as the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the development of the polio vaccine, and shed light on local and national figures, such as Rhoda Coffin, Indiana’s women’s prison reformer, and Ernie Pyle, America’s eyewitness to WWII.

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 13, 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.

The 2019 NHDI season is presented by the Indiana National Guard, The Richard W. and Irene Rooker Family Foundation, TCU Foundation and the Vigran Family Foundation. For more information, visit www.indianahistory.org/historyday or call (317) 232-1882.

2019 NHDI State Contest Medalists

Youth Group Documentary
1st place: Cally Karmire, Audrey Bower, Caroline Kemp – Bradie Shrum Elementary, Salem
“Marie Antoinette”

Youth Group Exhibit
1st place: Raewyn Perry, Elissa White, Addison Hoke, Emma Lloyd – Bradie Shrum Elementary, Salem
“The Berlin Wall: Its Tragic Rise and Triumphant Fall”
2nd place: Kevin Akers, Brett Murphy, Corbin Karnes, Cody Strother – Bradie Shrum Elementary, Salem
“World War II Triumph and Tragedy”

Youth Individual Exhibit
1st place: Alayna Jacobus – Brown County Intermediate, Nashville
“Michigan: From Cold to Scorching – The Great Thumb Fire”
2nd place: Kendra Earnshaw – Brown County Intermediate, Nashville
“The USS Forrestal: An Embarrassment to Learn From”
3rd place: McKenna Reed – Maplewood Elementary School, Indianapolis
“Rosa Parks”

Youth Individual Website
1st place: Dominic Gasper – Maple Grove Elementary, Bargersville
“Friends”
2nd place: Jaden Davisson – Bradie Shrum Elementary, Salem
“Emancipation Proclamation and The Tragedy That Followed”
3rd place: Benedict Mundy – Tell City History Day Club, Tell City
“The Madison Railroad: Triumph and Tragedy in Transportation”

Youth Group Website
1st place: Ryker Sparkman, Rory Davidson – Bradie Shrum Elementary, Salem
“D-Day: Invasion Brings Tragedy and Triumph”
2nd place: Alizabeth Gormley, Aubriana Colwell – Bradie Shrum Elementary, Salem
“Women’s Suffrage Movement”
3rd place: Cheyenne Brading, Lila Blevins, Valery Henson – Bradie Shrum Elementary, Salem
“Slavery”

Junior Group Documentary
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Sarah Burns, Ana DeVries, Abrielle Flick – John Young Middle School, Mishawaka
“The Triumphs and Tragedies of Title IX: The First Notre Dame Women Athletes”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Kate Weaver, Margot Grotland – Northview Middle School, Indianapolis
“The Triumph and Tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Charlotte Burbedge, Caroline Johnson, Audrey Wise, Michelle Yuan – Discovery Middle School, Granger
“The Triumph and Tragedy of the Challenger Disaster”

Junior Individual Documentary
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Sophia Winters – Zionsville Middle School, Zionsville
“The Perfect Horse”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Lily Nault – Zionsville Middle School, Zionsville
“Yesterday, Today…Tomorrow? The KKK in America”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Jake Lee – Sycamore School, Indianapolis
“The Challenger Disaster: How it Influenced a Country”

Junior Group Exhibit
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Hannah Bradford, Grace Friedberg – Lakeview Middle School, Warsaw
“Japanese Internment Camps: Our Homeland Tragedy”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Jonathan Rogers, Presley Brugh, Ava VanDamme, Cassandra Gamboa – John Young Middle School, Mishawaka
“The People of the Titanic”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Savannah Gallagher, Lucy Courtney – Eastwood Middle School, Indianapolis
“The Bombing of Pearl Harbor”

Junior Individual Exhibit
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Colin Cabellon – Sycamore School, Indianapolis
“The Christmas Truce of 1914: How Enemy Soldiers Let Peace Prevail during WWI”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Alli Gudeman – Edgewood Middle School, Warsaw
“Anne Frank”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Raquel Brouwer – Lakeview Middle School, Warsaw
“Triumph out of Darkness: The Legacy of Louis Braille”

Junior Group Performance
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Keller Bailey, Ryun Hoffert, Jason Benyousky, Robinson Hoffert, Finn Bailey – Edgewood Middle School, Warsaw
“The Freedom Rides of 1961: Makers of Good Trouble”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Edward Robison, Noah Knepp, Phoenix Klein – Lakeview Middle School, Warsaw
“Welcome Back to D-Day”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Olivia Evans, Laura Yocum – Discovery Middle School, Granger
“Susan B. Anthony; Suffragette”

Junior Individual Performance
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Elizabeth Schuth – Sycamore School, Indianapolis
“The Death and Carnage of The Spanish Flu”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Cecilia Mundy, Tell City History Day Club
“Carole Lombard and the Indianapolis Bond Rally: A Great Triumph Tragically Cut Short”

Junior Group Website
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Zoe Bergan, Katie McKibbin – Edgewood Middle School, Warsaw
“American Eagle Flight 4184”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Keely Roe, Abby Stapleton – Edgewood Middle School, Warsaw
“Bringing Math to the Moon”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Olivia Nijim, Amrit Kaur, Rhea Rakhra – Discovery Middle School, Granger
“Benedict Arnold’s Treason: Triumph and Tragedy”

Junior Individual Website
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Emmett Tuason – Eastwood Middle School, Indianapolis
“Crispus Attucks: A School that Unified a City”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Rayna Moiz – Sycamore School, Indianapolis
“The Radium Girls: Triumph and Tragedy in Worker Safety”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Isaac Rentschler – Indian Springs Middle School, Columbia City
“De La Balme Massacre: A Triumph for the Miami Indians”

Junior Paper
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Elisabeth Porter – St. Richard’s Episcopal School, Indianapolis
“A Woman and Therefore Not a Citizen – Fighting for Women’s Suffrage in Indiana”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Sabrina Ackley – St. Richard’s Episcopal School, Indianapolis
“Tragedy and Triumph on the Track: The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Rachel Claire Henry – St. Richard’s Episcopal School, Indianapolis
“Adversity, Death, and Survival at Camp Morton”

Senior Group Documentary
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Madeline Godbey, Lily Taylor – North Central High School, Indianapolis
“The Pentagon Papers: A Horrific Tragedy Leads to A Democratic Triumph”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Natalie Suding, Emelia Koester – Brown County High School, Nashville
“The Hoosier Tornado that Swept through the Nation”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Savanna Reed, Grace Romine, Mollie McCoy – Columbia City High School, Columbia City
“Herta Oberheuser: The Tragedy That Led to a Triumph”

Senior Individual Documentary
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Faith Austin – Carmel High School, Carmel
“Ernest Shackleton: Overcoming Adversity Through Great Leadership”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Laura Jannetta – North Central High School, Indianapolis
“Lewis Hine: How One Man Used Photography to Combat Child Labor in America”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Baggio Jiang – Culver Academies, Culver
“Mao Badges: Triumph and Tragedy”

Senior Group Exhibit
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Morgan Ye, Nanditha Kolur – Carmel High School, Carmel
“Playing God with People’s Lives: Leilani Muir”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Helen Rumsey, Ashley Niebrugge – Columbus North High School, Columbus
“September 11th: The Policies that Changed America”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Morgan Barron, Hayley Puckett – Columbia City High School, Columbia City
“Camp Atterbury: A Triumph for Hoosier Agriculture”

Senior Individual Exhibit
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Chloee Robison – Brown County High School, Nashville
“Yu Gwan Sun and the March First Movement: The Triumph and Tragedy of Peaceful Resistance”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Rachel Doyle – Warsaw Community High School, Warsaw
“Doctor Jonas Salk and the Triumph of the Polio Vaccine”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Evan Olinger – Silver Creek High School, Sellersburg
“The California Gold Rush”

Senior Group Performance
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Madeline Steck, Emily Guerrerrero – DeKalb High School, Waterloo
“Imagine: John Lennon’s Legacy”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
Kaylyn Johnson, Grace Kubek – Carmel High School, Carmel
“Seneca Falls: The First Overcoming of the Women’s Movement”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Karstyn Hopkins, Jaime Pyle, Melanie Moore, Garrett Tingley, Trent Walters – Triton Central High School, Fairland
“Super Fight II”

Senior Individual Performance
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Kelsie Clay – Early College High School, Evansville
“The Triumph and Tragedy of Ida B Wells and the Anti Lynching Movement”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Lillian Williams – Carmel High School, Carmel
“Music Makes the Best Recovery: Cole Porter’s Success Through Suffering”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Kara Umphrey – Columbia City High School, Columbia City
“The Donner Tragedy: Starving for Expansion”

Senior Group Website
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Tiffany Phillips, Danielle Fleenor – Early College High School, Evansville
“Wendell Scott”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Grace Hong, Jessica Zhang – Carmel High School, Carmel
“Frances Hamerstrom: Saving the Prairie Chickens”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Kevin Wang, Yonas Singh – Carmel High School, Carmel
“The Discovery of DNA Structure: Hidden Tragedy Behind the Preeminent Scientific Breakthrough”

Senior Individual Website
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Janani Eswaran – Carmel High School, Carmel
“The Creole Slave Revolt of 1841”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Abigail Angebrandt – Brown County High School, Nashville
“’United in this Determination and with Unshakable Faith…’ The Story of the Battle of the Bulge”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Maisy Seib – Early College High School, Evansville
“Kay’s Legacy”

Senior Paper
1st Place, National Qualifier:
• Josephine Fields – Brown County High School, Nashville
“The Triumphs and Tragedy of Ernie Pyle, America´s Eyewitness to WWII”
2nd Place, National Qualifier:
• Abby Rahn – Warsaw Community High School, Warsaw
“William Wilberforce: Triumph Over Britain’s Slave Trade”
3rd Place, Alternate:
• Cassidy Davis – Brown County High School, Nashville
“Rhoda Coffin and the Reformation of Indiana’s Women’s Prisons”

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