Students Compete in Annual Mississippi History Day Competition

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) hosted the 2024 Mississippi History Day competition at the Two Mississippi Museums on Saturday, April 20. The competition drew middle and high school students from across the state. 

Mississippi History Day (MHD), the state’s National History Day (NHD) affiliate, is a cross-curriculum program focusing on in-depth research and critical analysis. While the program’s basis is in history, students presented topics related to a variety of subjects, such as science, arts, mathematics, foreign language, and culture. The event encourages students to conduct primary and secondary source research through archives, digital archives, libraries, museums, and historic sites. 

“Mississippi History Day provides a unique opportunity for students to study history they are interested in and present it in a way they are comfortable with. Seeing students from across the state show off their research in creative ways is always inspiring and this year was no different. It was a great event for all involved,” said Al Wheat, MDAH director of education and MHD affiliate coordinator. 

Sixty-three students competed in thirty-seven projects at MHD, having advanced from the regional competition to the state event. Students participated in one of five categories, organized in two separate divisions, Junior Division (grades 6–8) and Senior Division (grades 9–12). The categories have individual and group options, except for the paper category. Group teams were comprised of up to five members. 

First and second place finishers in each category at MHD qualify for the NHD National Contest in June 2024. Students at the state and national level can also win monetary prizes through special awards. 

2024 Mississippi History Day winners:  

Exhibits  

• Senior Individual First Place (eligible for nationals): Keylee Lang, Starkville High School, The Modern Woman: How Flappers Changed Society’s Views on Women. 
• Senior Individual Second Place (eligible for nationals): Joey Knight, Mississippi School for Math and Science, The Great Amphibious Landing at Inchon.  
• Senior Individual Alternate: Londyn Kirkland, Tougaloo Early College High School, Mississippi Blues.                                                                    
• Junior Individual First Place (eligible for nationals): Nathaniel Little, Simpson Central School, Brown v. Board of Ed: A Turning Point in American Education? 
• Senior Group First Place (eligible for nationals): William Hardwick, Lucas Houston, and William Warfield, Hernando High School, Meiji: Japan’s Transformation into a Global Power.  
• Senior Group Second Place (eligible for nationals): Trinity Collins and Heidi Overstreet, Hernando High School, Women’s March on Versailles.  

• Senior Group Alternate: Stephen Hacker and Colby Marr, Hernando High School, The Wright Brothers.  
• Junior Group First Place (eligible for nationals): Takiah Gilmore, Breanna Landing, Johnya Johnson, and Rylee Rainey, Simpson Central School, Major Turning Point for Equality.     

Websites  

• Senior Individual First Place (eligible for nationals): Emily Barnes, Mississippi School for Math and Science, “Shoot For the Stars: How the Space Race Changed Education.” 
• Senior Individual Second Place (eligible for nationals): Shachiko Clay, Starkville High School, “The Meiji Restoration: How Modernization Transformed Sexuality in Japanese Society.” 
• Senior Individual Alternate: Theo Milnor, Tougaloo Early College High School, “Pride Was a Riot.” 
• Senior Group First Place (eligible for nationals): Marlasha Johnson, Cambreah Spires, and Jatalya Williams, Tougaloo Early College High School, “Black Women in the Harlem Renaissance.” 
• Junior Group First Place (eligible for nationals): Theo Ahn, Peter Buys, and Brendon Seo, Armstrong Middle School (Starkville), “The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: How Two Gunshots Altered History Forever.” 
• Junior Group Second Place (eligible for nationals): Ian Alexander, Owen Crews, Brooks Fulford, and Joseph Thompson, Armstrong Middle School (Starkville), “The Collapse of the Indestructible: How the Fall of Constantinople Altered History.”  

Documentaries  

• Senior Individual First Place (eligible for nationals): Samar Rahimi, Mississippi School for Math and Science, The Iranian Hostage Crisis: A Multi-Perspective Review. 
• Senior Individual Second Place (eligible for nationals): Walter Giesen, Starkville High School, Mississippi Turning: How School Desegregation Redefined a Southern Town.  
• Senior Individual Alternate: Eduardo Gonzalez-Orozco, Starkville High School, The Russian Revolution: The Rise of Communism. 
• Senior Group First Place (eligible for nationals): Johnny Ford, Chyla Hanna, Jenna Holder, and Lindy Peterson, Starkville High School, Plague and Progress: How the Black Death Created a Turning Point in Medicine. 
• Senior Group Second Place (eligible for nationals): Amy Choi, Jimin Kim, Mirae Nishikawa, and Claire Rhee, Starkville High School, The Jungle: How One Book Impacted the Future of Food and Labor Safety Laws. 
• Senior Group Alternate: Jennifer Bui, Ean Choi, Lisa Seid, and Vincent Wang, Mississippi School for Math and Science, Infamous Investigation: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study.  

Performance  

• Senior Individual First Place (eligible for nationals): Dylan Wiley, Mississippi School for Math and Science, The Forgotten Valor: Contributions of African American Soldiers in the Civil War and the First World Frontiers from Lowndes County.  
• Junior Group First Place (eligible for nationals): Jerney Gray, Italiah Ross, Aniya Robinson, and Elize’a Scott, Whitten Middle School (Jackson), Freed With No Knowledge  

Paper 

• Senior First Place (eligible for nationals): Harrison Shao, Mississippi School for Math and Science, “From Small Wonder to Big Salvation: How the Mass Production of Penicillin Became Possible in the Early 1940s.” 
• Senior Second Place (eligible for nationals): Cohen Suttles, Mississippi School for Math and Science, “The Emmitt Till Generation.”  
• Senior Alternate: Allswell Nukpezah, Starkville High School, “Exploring Ghanaian Independence as a Turning Point in Pan-African History.” 
• Junior 1st Place (eligible for nationals): Ian Jung, Armstrong Middle School (Starkville), “A Treaty and a Dictator: How the Treaty of Versailles Influenced the Rise of Hitler.”   

National History Day State Contest Special Awards 

• Best Project in Mississippi History: Cohen Suttles, Mississippi School for Math and Science, “The Emmett Till Generation.” 
• Best Project in Maritime History: Joey Knight, Mississippi School for Math and Science, “The Great Amphibious Landing at Inchon.”  
• Best Project in Civil War History: Dylan Micheal Wiley, Mississippi School for Math and Science, “The Forgotten Valor: Contributions of African American Soldiers in the Civil War and the First World Frontiers from Lowndes County.”  
• Reflecting Mississippi History Award: Walter Giesen, Starkville High School, “Mississippi Turning: How School Desegregation Redefined a Southern Town.” 
• Reflecting Mississippi History Award: Londyn Kirkland, Tougaloo Early College High School, “Mississippi Blues.”  
• Best Project in Women’s History: Keylee Lang, Starkville High School, “The Modern Woman: How Flappers Changed Society’s Views of Women.” 
• Best Project in Black History: Marlasha Johnson, Cambreh Spires, and Jatalya Williams, Tougaloo Early College High School, “Black Women in the Harlem Renaissance.” 
• Best Project in Military History: Theo Ahn, Peter Buys, and Brendan Seo, Armstrong Middle School (Starkville), “The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: How Two Gunshots Altered History Forever.” 
• Best Project in Gulf South History: Khloe Robinson, Tougaloo Early College High School, “The Evolution of Lynchings in Mississippi.”  
• Best Project in Archival History: Sachiko Clay, Starkville High School, “The Meiji Restoration: How Modernization Transformed Sexuality in Japanese Society.” 

Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year for Mississippi 

• Senior Division: Alexandria Drake, Tougaloo Early College High School 
• Junior Division: Abigail Myers, Simpson Central School  

Sponsored special awards with a prize of $150 each included: Best in Military History, provided by The Dale Center for the Study of War and Society at the University of Southern Mississippi; Best in Black History and Woman’s History, provided by The School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development at the University of Southern Mississippi; Best in Gulf South History, provided by The Center for the Study of the Gulf South at the University of Southern Mississippi; Best in Archival History, provided by the Society of Mississippi Archivists; Two Reflecting Mississippi Awards, provided by the Mississippi Humanities Council; Best in Mississippi History, provided by the Mississippi Historical Society; Best in Maritime History, provided by the National Maritime Historical Society; Best in Civil War History, provided by Mississippi State University; Two Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Awards, provided by Patricia Behring and National History Day. 

Each teacher who received the Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Award received $500 and a chance to compete on the national level for $10,000. 

NHD is a non-profit organization based in College Park, Maryland, which seeks to improve the teaching and learning of history. Established in 1974, the National History Day Contest engages more than half a million students every year in conducting original research on historical topics of interest. Projects compete first at the local and affiliate levels, where the top entries are invited to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park. NHD is sponsored in part by HISTORY®, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Park Service, The Better Angels Society, and the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation. 

MDAH was founded in 1902 to collect, preserve, and provide access to the archival resources of the state. The commitment to preservation continues today through the work of the department’s five divisions. By preserving Mississippi’s diverse historic resources and sharing them with people around the world, MDAH inspires the discovery of stories that connect our lives and shape our future.