Oregon History Day
Oregon History Day, part of National History Day®, is a renowned, evidence-based middle and high school program where students across the state develop historical research projects based on an annual theme.
Over half a million students across the nation participate, and this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students took part in an exciting and engaging virtual Oregon History Day contest. All students who created research projects were invited to take part in the statewide contest, where judges evaluated their work and participants had the opportunity to showcase their projects. Eligible students will represent Oregon in the national contest in June 2021.
2021 Oregon History Day Results Professional Development Opportunities
Congratulations, 2021 History Day Participants!
Thank you to the 125 students who participated in the virtual Oregon History Day state contest this year, and congratulations to the students who will represent Oregon at the virtual National History Day® contest from June 13 – June 19, 2021. Your dedication to this program, especially during this challenging time, is inspiring to all.
A special congratulation goes to Elise Yu of Lincoln High School, and Emily Song and Fiona Zou of the International School of Beaverton, guided by mentor Jing Liu, for being awarded the United States Naval and Maritime History: Preserve, Promote and Celebrate prize for their Senior Group Documentary Shaping Communication At Sea: Naval Flag Signaling.
The Naval Order of the United States (Naval Order Foundation) is a nonprofit organization that initiates and supports various projects and monuments to preserve and commemorate naval and maritime history. It is a growing community of members spanning multiple generations and military engagements, which aims to keep history alive through the restoration of historic artifacts, establishment of memorials at key sites, and by collecting naval and maritime history through academic papers, published works, and ad hoc stories.
About Oregon History Day
Oregon History Day — facilitated by the Oregon Historical Society — encourages students to nurture their curiosities by researching topics from any past time period or place, or by analyzing a historical event that connects to the annual theme. The annual theme for 2021 is Communication in History: The Key to Understanding. Students present their work in one of five categories — paper, website, exhibit, documentary, or performance — that can be developed independently or in groups of up to five students for all categories (except paper).
Open-ended topic selections and student-directed inquiries give participants ownership over their projects and give educators the flexibility to adapt the program to fit their curriculum. Educators can narrow the scope of topic selections to align with themes they are covering in the classroom, such as ethnic studies or Oregon Tribal history. As students move through the process, they learn to collect, organize, and analyze information through a historical lens by evaluating primary and secondary sources.
Most Oregon History Day students participate at the school level only, but may also participate in a statewide contest each spring. Please contact Kristen Pilgrim at kristen.pilgrim@ohs.org if you would like to participate in Oregon History Day in 2022. For more information on National History Day®, visit www.nhd.org.
History Day Participants
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For Teachers
Oregon History Day, an affiliate of the National History Day® program, is a transformative and inspirational program for students and teachers....
Learn MoreFor Students
Learn all of the ins and outs for participating in History Day. Resources include downloadable documents and website links that will help you...
Learn MoreFor Judges
The Oregon Historical Society (OHS) is looking for historians, educators, and other volunteers to judge student projects at our upcoming Oregon...
Learn MoreOregon History Day Registration, Due Dates, Fees, and Important Info
Learn about important deadlines and updates for the upcoming Oregon History Day and National History Day contests.
Learn More
2021 Oregon History Day Results
Entries in bold were invited to advance to the National History Day® contest, which will take place June 13–19, 2021.
Junior Level (Grades 6 – 8)
Category |
Rank |
Title |
Students |
Schools |
Teachers |
||||||
|
Paper |
1 |
WW2 Propaganda American Propaganda and Its Effects |
Eisuke Hirota |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
||||||
|
Paper |
2 |
Communicating Through Diplomacy: The Failed Zimmermann Telegram |
Aryan Agarwal |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
||||||
|
Paper |
3 |
Spinning a Story: How the Founding Fathers Built America |
Kapil Kakodkar |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
||||||
|
Paper |
The Navajo Code Talker |
Clayton Powell |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien |
|||||||
|
Paper |
The Cuban Missile Crisis: Inside the Miscommunication that Nearly Shattered the Diplomacy of the World and Restarted Humanity |
Akash Pai |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
|||||||
|
Paper |
The Potential Armageddon: The Miscommunication That Led to a Nuclear Attack From the Rising Moon |
Ethan Wang |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
|||||||
|
Paper |
The Name “The Philippines”: How the Spanish Colonized The Philippines and Destroyed Its Native Culture, and Why Filipinos have Spanish Last Names |
Dhanya Sriram |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
|||||||
|
Paper |
Code Name Madeleine |
Pavithra Iyer |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
|||||||
|
Paper |
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair |
Sarah Kurns |
Butte Creek Elementary School |
Emily Rao |
|||||||
|
Paper |
Stepping up the Speed: Advancements in National Communication the Financial Life of the Pony Express |
Ananth Namboothiry |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
|||||||
|
Paper |
Taking It Down the Road: The Proliferation of Commodities, Languages and Cultures Via the Silk Road |
Alayna Gustafson |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien |
|||||||
|
Paper |
The Untold History of Mesoamerica: Relations Between Teotihuacan and the Maya in the Third to Fifth Centuries C.E. |
Sureika Shore |
ACCESS Academy |
Amy McBride |
|||||||
|
Paper |
Communicating Through Accomplishments on the Field and on Screen: The Story of Jim Brown |
Andres Herrera |
R.A. Brown Middle School |
Anne Tierney |
|||||||
|
Paper |
Joseph Stalin: A Brutal Totalitarian Dictatorship With Zero Room for Freedom of Any Sort |
Kerem Acar |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
|||||||
|
Individual Documentary |
1 |
From Democracy to Dictatorship: The Impact of Nazi Propaganda |
Dylan Powderly |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien, Megan Kruer |
||||||
|
Individual Documentary |
2 |
Transcript of Applause: Soong Mei-ling’s 1943 Speech to Congress |
Eleanor Song |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
||||||
|
Individual Documentary |
3 |
Every Day Is Earth Day |
Brooke Barber |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien, Megan Kruer |
||||||
|
Individual Documentary |
The 1918 Pandemic: The Story of How People Communicated During this Horrific Event |
Nihitha Vimalan |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
|||||||
|
Individual Documentary |
Connecting The East to The West (The Pony Express) |
Rooks Maxwell |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien |
|||||||
|
Individual Documentary |
Camp David Accords |
Leila Olson |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien, Megan Kruer |
|||||||
|
Individual Documentary |
Temple Grandin |
Bella Cox |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien |
|||||||
|
Individual Documentary |
The Underground Railroad Controversy: Don't Judge A Quilt By It's Cover |
Pranavi Sammidi |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
|||||||
|
Individual Documentary |
Ludwig Van Beethoven: How He Changed the Way Music Communicates Forever |
Ceraphina Deeter |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien, Megan Kruer |
|||||||
|
Group Documentary |
1 |
Women Communicating Through Advice Columns |
Eliot Wright, Faire Soule-Reeves, Kara Jamieson, Piper Powell |
ACCESS Academy |
Amy McBride |
||||||
|
Group Documentary |
2 |
Hidden Heroes: The Unseen Work of Female Codebreakers In World War 2 |
Ashvika Singhal, Upasya Swarna |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
||||||
|
Group Documentary |
3 |
Marie Aioe Dorion: The Astor Expedition's Overlooked Interpreter Survivor |
Gautham Beesetti, Krishna Chintalapati, Sai Harshith Kodali, Saisaharsh Kolli |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
||||||
|
Group Documentary |
The Battle to Understand Communication |
Arfaan Karim, Artem Arefev, Mahika Bhan |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
|||||||
|
Group Documentary |
From a Flop to the Top: How Kpop Communicated Despite Language Barriers In the Music Industry |
Monica Bao, Sophie Wang |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
|||||||
|
Individual Performance |
1 |
Hidden in Plain Sight |
Allie Mcintosh |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien, Megan Kruer |
||||||
|
Individual Performance |
2 |
The Weave and Communication of Cartograghy |
Teagan Riddock |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien, Megan Kruer |
||||||
|
Individual Exhibit |
1 |
The Kentucky Packhorse Library Project: Bringing Literacy to Appalachia |
Sophie Jarosh |
ACCESS Academy |
Amy McBride |
||||||
|
Individual Exhibit |
2 |
American Women Codebreakers: The Communication that Helped America Win World War II |
Tejaswani Datla |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
||||||
|
Individual Exhibit |
3 |
Transmitting Freedom: How Radio Free Europe Broadcasted to End Communism |
Camille Laakmann |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien |
||||||
|
Individual Exhibit |
Greetings From Earth |
Jack Burge |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien |
|||||||
|
Individual Exhibit |
Architectural Dominance |
Brianne Becker |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien |
|||||||
|
Individual Exhibit |
The Navajo Code Talkers |
Kailea Buckley |
Butte Creek Elementary School |
Emily Rao |
|||||||
|
Individual Exhibit |
Rosalind Franklin: The Discovery of DNA’s Structure and the Impact on Women in STEM |
Jasper Gu |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
|||||||
|
Individual Exhibit |
The Cultural Revolution |
Lauren Lilly |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien |
|||||||
|
Individual Exhibit |
"I Have Nothing to Say" |
Nicola Broadman |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien |
|||||||
|
Individual Exhibit |
The Women's Suffrage Movement |
Brooks Hinkle |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien |
|||||||
|
Individual Exhibit |
The Voyages of the Vikings |
Kristjan Burke |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien, Megan Kruer |
|||||||
|
Individual Exhibit |
Victory mail is speed mail |
Dakota Anderegg |
Butte Creek Elementary School |
Emily Rao |
|||||||
|
Group Exhibit |
1 |
Navajo Code Talkers, the Why's and How's |
Baxter Ellis, Jackson Chaddick, Knox Orchard |
ACCESS Academy |
Amy McBride |
||||||
|
Group Exhibit |
2 |
Navajo Code Talkers |
Brennan McEwen, Grant Morrison, Milan Cunningham |
ACCESS Academy |
Amy McBride |
||||||
|
Group Exhibit |
3 |
Communication in History: Survivor Narratives Throughout Feminism |
Autri Das, Sarah Lee |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
||||||
|
Group Exhibit |
Nazi Human Experiments: Communication on a Medical Spectrum |
Asmita Kumar, Sasmita Kumar |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
|||||||
|
Group Exhibit |
The Navajo Code Talkers |
Jacob Meyer, JD Arthur, Raymond Schaefer |
Butte Creek Elementary School |
Emily Rao |
|||||||
|
Individual Website |
1 |
Helen Keller: Communicating as a Deafblind Woman |
Coral Platt |
ACCESS Academy |
Amy McBride |
||||||
|
Individual Website |
2 |
OPERATION MOCKINGBIRD |
Alicia Watson |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien |
||||||
|
Individual Website |
3 |
Recounting Woodstock 1969 And Its Effects |
Danika Morris |
ACCESS Academy |
Amy McBride |
||||||
|
Individual Website |
The Flight Of Communication |
Noah Bien |
Seven Peaks School |
Patrick O'Brien |
|||||||
|
Individual Website |
Stuck in between a Wall of Laws: Isolation in Japan |
Anatoly Kuznetsov |
Butte Creek Elementary School |
Emily Rao |
|||||||
|
Group Website |
1 |
Reforming the Idea of Communication: The Impact of Morse Code |
Gayatri Gadre, Simone Shieh |
Stoller Middle School |
David Gilde |
Senior Level (Grades 9 – 12)
Category |
Rank |
Title |
Students |
Schools |
Teachers |
||||||
|
Paper |
1 |
Bankrupting Hate: Berhanu v. Metzger and the Communications of the White Aryan Resistance |
Anja Jolin |
St. Mary's Academy |
Lindsay Gebbie |
||||||
|
Paper |
2 |
Political Cartoons in the 19th Century: Legacy and Impact |
Roshan Ramakrishnan |
Westview High School |
John Santella |
||||||
|
Paper |
3 |
America's Lexicographer |
Tobey Wing |
Roots Academy |
Christy Wing |
||||||
|
Individual Documentary |
1 |
Beatrice Morrow Cannady: Speaking Out Against Racism in the Film Industry |
Sam Kubishta |
Helix School |
Lorin Kubishta |
||||||
|
Individual Documentary |
2 |
The Advocate: Beatrice Morrow Cannady |
Alan Zhou |
Sunset High School |
Andrew Brown |
||||||
|
Individual Documentary |
3 |
Communicating One Panel at a Time: The NAMES Project Memorial Quilt |
Madison Jensen |
Helix School |
Lorin Kubishta |
||||||
|
Individual Documentary |
The Problem We All Live With |
Sydney Moore |
Helix School |
Lorin Kubishta |
|||||||
|
Group Documentary |
1 |
Shaping Communication At Sea: Naval Flag Signalling |
Elise Yu, Emily Song, Fiona Zou |
Lincoln High School, International School of Beaverton |
Jing Liu |
||||||
|
Group Documentary |
2 |
WATCH AND LEARN: How Sesame Street Made Learning Fun |
Angela Zhang, Kevin Le, Theodore Miranda-Zellnik |
Lincoln High School, Grant High School |
Kimberly Hultgren |
||||||
|
Group Documentary |
3 |
The Slave Narrative Project: Communicating the Voices of the Forgotten |
Anitohi Mercer, Victoria Keene |
Helix School |
Lorin Kubishta |
||||||
|
Group Documentary |
Princess of the Press: The Anti-lynching Campaign of Ida B. Wells |
Hana Sadik, Sanika Saitawdekar |
Sunset High School |
Andrew Brown |
|||||||
|
Group Documentary |
“Kill the Indian, Save the Man”: A Chronicle of Language Extinction in Native American Boarding Schools |
Hari Koneti, Jacob Lei, Sam Bouchard |
Westview High School |
John Santella |
|||||||
|
Group Documentary |
OTTO |
Dallen Nixon, Ewan Poore, Ivy Cater, Joey Stenbeck, Samantha Jenkins |
Crook County High School |
Aaron Raasch |
|||||||
|
Group Performance |
1 |
Communication in Wartime: The Importance of Female Spies Throughout History |
Amy Amato, Cassady Kirchner, Sophia Mahoney |
South Salem High School |
Michelle Forbes |
||||||
|
Individual Exhibit |
1 |
The Navajo Code Talkers: Communicating Their Way To Victory |
McKenzie Rose |
Echo School |
Brandlyn Russell |
||||||
|
Group Exhibit |
1 |
Fighting Fire with the Fireside Chats: How FDR Unified the American People through Effective Communication |
Janice Lee, Jayden Gwo, Kaylee Hong, Rajvir Singh |
Westview High School, Sunset High School |
John Santella |
||||||
|
Individual Website |
1 |
The Timber Wars: How Two Public Arguments Brought the Nation to the Table to Communicate a New Plan for Forest Management |
Sitka Schmidt-Pilgrim |
Franklin High School |
Greg Garcia |
||||||
|
Individual Website |
2 |
The Pentagon Papers:Telling the Truth |
Subin Lee |
St. Mary's School |
Maureen Bruins |
||||||
|
Group Website |
1 |
The 1898 Wilmington Massacre and Insurrection: Propaganda, Misinformation and Distorted Media Surrounding an Electoral Travesty |
Darsh Mandera, Felix Petteni, Namrata Venkatesan, Sophia Pi, Wenjun Hou |
Jesuit High School |
Tracy Villareal |
||||||
|
Group Website |
2 |
Botched Battle Plans at Balaclava: Miscommunication During the Charge of the Light Brigade |
Devin Von Arx, Lucia Zhang |
Lake Oswego Senior High School |
Mario Peri |
||||||
|
Group Website |
3 |
Top Secret: The Story Behind the Pentagon Papers |
Medha Nagasubramanian, Noopur Barve |
St. Mary's Academy |
Deepashri Barve |
||||||
|
Group Website |
The Miscommunications That Could Have Prevented World War 1 |
Jonathan Hu, Karthik Krishnamurthy |
Westview High School |
John Santella |
|||||||
|
Group Website |
Hangul |
Yujun Kim |
St. Mary's School |
Maureen Bruins |