More exciting news! The National History Day in Delaware competition was held at Newark High School on April 30, 2022. The competition encourages junior and senior high school students to complete projects in categories such as papers, websites, documentaries, performances and exhibits. These projects go through a rigorous judging process. This year’s project theme was “Debate & Diplomacy in History.” Each year since 2019, DDNP and the University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press have sponsored two $200 prizes that are awarded to the best projects using Chronicling America in their research.
This year’s winners created remarkable projects, and they both had positive things to say about their experiences using newspapers and Chronicling America:
“Using historic newspapers gave me insights into the viewpoints of various leaders about my topic. This helped me to understand both sides of the debate regarding the annexation of Hawaii. For example, through a survey recorded in a historic newspaper, I learned the contrasting views of Delaware senators on annexation. My project was enriched by displaying quotes and images from historic newspapers. I would definitely use Chronicling America in future research, because the site is very user-friendly and has an extensive wealth of information on many historic events and people.” – Alexandra I., who created a website that focused on the annexation of Hawaii.
“I began my research by looking through historical newspapers to gauge public reactions to prohibition and to the criminal cases that defined this era. Newspaper sources were some of the most important primary sources for my project.” – Katherine C., who created a website with research on prohibition and the national debate of the early 1900s.
Many thanks to my colleague and board member Kaitlyn Tanis for helping with judging! Both students will be advancing to the national competition. Congratulations, Alexandra and Katherine!