History Day
Historical Society of Michigan's 2024 State Finals: April 20, 2024 at Central Michigan University
District 6 Regional Competition: Saturday, March 9th, 2024 at Western Michigan University
State Qualifiers
*Note: State History Day Results and State Special Awards are noted in bold.
Youth Individual Documentary
Caleb Sherburne, “The Bombs That Silenced the World” (Third Place; Best Entry in Naval or Maritime History)
Jamesetta Crider, “The Phonograph: The Invention That Made Recording Sounds Possible”
Peyton Washegesic, “Gettysburg: The Battle That Turned the Tide”
Youth Group Documentary
Charlotte Foley, Mackenzie Lepisto, “The Transcontinental Railroad” (First Place)
Grayson Barnes, Silas Vanlandingham, Nolan Barnes, “Goal! How a Hockey Game Inspired America (Second Place)
Elijah Classen, Lennon Cole, Oliver Dickens, “The Fab Four: How a Group Called the Beatles Changed Music (Third Place)
Youth Individual Exhibit
Alec Perski, “Japanese Internment Camp: A Personal Family Journey of Freedom Lost and Hope Found” (First Place; Best Entry in Use of Family History)
Eloise Mott, “The Stonewall Uprising” (Second Place)
Lucia Kukarik, “The Lifesaving Light: How a Blink of Light Saves Lives” (Third Place)
Youth Group Exhibit
Quinn Johnson, Annabel Loeser, Lillian Smith, “DNA: A Turning Point in Forensics” (First Place)
Aubrey Bray and Ellie Priebe, “A Turning Point for Equality: Marching Toward the 19th Amendment” (Second Place; The Adler Award for Best Entry in Women’s History)
Anya Oostveen and Carsyn VanderMolen, “Rosa Parks: The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”
Youth Paper
Phillip Myklebust, “The Great Wall of China” (First Place)
Youth Individual Performance
Starlin Trafton, “Punching Dots into Braille” (Second Place)
Noah Saucedo, “Bruce Lee: Punching Chinese Culture into America” (Third Place)
Patrick Marks, “Cornelius Vanderbilt and His Railroads”
Youth Group Performance
Anna Dozeman, Ayse Lent, Madeline Trichler, “The Seneca Falls Convention” (First Place)
Kathryn Ahrens, Grace Klein, “A Turning Point in History: Harriet Tubman and the Fight for Freedom” (Second Place)
Colten Monaghan, Cameron Venick, “The Wright Brothers” (Third Place)
Youth Group Website
Loriann Soileau, Sydney Soileau, “Lady Lighthouse Keepers of the Great Lakes” (Second Place; Best Entry in Michigan History)
Junior Group Documentary
Annika Chalupa and Addison Williams, “Wind Talkers: The Hidden Voices Behind Victory” (National Finalist)
Lucy Sikkema, Charlie Toy, “Germ Theory"
Caroline Zarotney, Sylvie Moersch, Jenna Jasheway, “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall: The Berlin Wall and Reunification of Germany”
Junior Individual Exhibit
Madeleine Duhn, “Penicillin: A Turning Point in Medical History”
Gertrude Herman-Wilmouth, “How Dr. Harvey Cushing Created a Turning Point in Neuroscience History”
Abram Lee-Gardner, “Nine Hours of Sorrow: Omaha Beach D-Day”
Junior Group Exhibit
Aurora Quinn, Maisy Newton, “Vanderbilt and the Erie Railway War”
Junior Paper
Bodie Bencik, “World War II: Strategic Victory in the Pacific Theater”
Junior Individual Performance
Hayden Washegesic, “AIM: The Natives Fight Back” (National Finalist)
Oliver Sparling, “William Shakespeare”
Patrick Marks, “Cornelius Vanderbilt and His Railroads”
Junior Group Performance
Ben Ambs, Max Doepker, “The Manhattan Project”
Junior Individual Website
Aaron Crider, “Odyssey: The History of the Magnavox Odyssey” (National Alternate)
Simon Garyet, “The Korean War: The Turning Point of Two Nations”
Junior Group Website
Madison DeVries, Maybelle Schipper, Kate VandenBogard, Macy VanDyke, “Florence Nightengale: The Lady with the Lamp” (National Finalist)
Eloise Christian, Savanna DeVisser, Natalie Dingemans, Reagan Schipper, “Rogues Gallery: A Snapshot of the Future” (National Alternate)
Marten Kleppe, Charity VanBrugge, Jedidiah VanBrugge, “Michigan’s Miraculous Manufacturing”
Senior Individual Documentary
Jacob Kaczmarek, “Operation Barbarossa: How Hitler Turned the War on Himself”
Senior Individual Exhibit
Aliah Mohmand, “The Jonestown Tragedy: A Turning Point in Society’s Perception of New Religious Movements” (National Finalist; James Campbell Award for Best Use of Oral History)
Ezekiel Fenstermaker, “Why Did James Longstreet Support Reconstruction?” (National Finalist)
Owen Burleson, “Truman Doctrine: A Stance Against Communism”
Senior Group Exhibit
Gabriella Duron, Ellie Fenstermaker, “The Impact of Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Aryn Ortiz, Lydia Miner, “The Influence and Fall of the Roman Empire”
Senior Paper
Natalee Faulker, “Chemotherapy: A Turning Point in the Fight Against Cancer”
Morgan Harmon, “The Effects of the War on Drugs on the American Prison System”
Senior Individual Performance
Ruby Peterson, “The Jazz Age: The Music That Changed America” (National Finalist)
Senior Group Website
Carter Barker, Josh Beck, Nolan Sempert, Sam Hruska, “The Dot-Com Dilemma”
Past History Days at WMU
See past History Day results: 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015