NC Cultural Resources Newsroom

Students perform for History Day

RALEIGH – More than 250 middle and high school students will bring alive lessons from the past during a statewide history competition on Saturday, April 26, at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh. Competitors were identified in regional contests throughout the state.

The 2008 theme “Conflict and Compromise in History” will be illustrated through exhibits, documentaries, papers, performances, and for the first time Web sites. Among student topics this year are the landmark busing case of Swain v. Mecklenberg, the battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War, and the role of Rasputin in the collapse of the Romanov dynasty in Russia.  The public is invited to see the exhibits and the competition between 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.  Awards will be presented at 3 p.m. in the museum auditorium.

The National History Day program is the nation’s leading educational program for history education in the schools.  More than half a million participants from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and American Samoa research and present topics annually.  The Department of Cultural Resources has sponsored National History Day in North Carolina for 11 years.

Judging will be done in a junior division (grades 6-8) and senior division (grades 9-12).  First and second place winners at the state level will advance to the national competition June 15-19, at the University of Maryland at College Park.  Prizes will be awarded at all levels, including scholarships for national winners.

History Day is coordinated by the Office of Archives and History within the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history, and culture, and observing “Telling Our Stories” in 2008.  Visit www.ncculture.com for podcasts and information 24/7.