Maryland History Day Winners

Each year nearly 700 Maryland students advance to the Maryland History Day state competition at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

See which teachers were honored, who walked away with special prizes, and which projects were selected to advance to the 2019 National History Day® competition in College Park, MD.

View 2020 Contest Program

Maryland History Day 2020 Advancers to National History Day (written in order of first and second place)

  • Junior Papers

    A Double-Edged Sword: The Way Streetcars Changed Life in Washington, D.C.
    Student: Seyun Park
    School: North Bethesda Middle School
    Teacher: Benjamin Israel

    Victory at the School Gates: The Systemic Barrier Breaking of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District
    Student: Ayodele Ayoola
    School: Franklin Middle School
    Teacher: Christine Watson

  • Junior Individual Exhibits, sponsored by Columbia Gas of Maryland

    “Aren’t Lights Grand?”: Breaking Barriers in History with Rural Electrification
    Student: Laura Huelskamp
    School: Northern Middle School
    Teacher: Amanda Wilburn

    Elizabeth Blackwell: Breaking Barriers for Women in the Medical Field
    Student: Kendall Madison
    School: Mayfield Woods Middle School
    Teacher: Elizabeth Singleton

  • Junior Group Exhibits, sponsored by Columbia Gas of Maryland

    Virginia Hall:  An Unconventional Woman During Unconventional Times
    Students: Lucy Choe, Menna Hassan
    School: Burleigh Manor Middle School
    Teacher: Geordie Paulus

    Clara Barton: Search for Soldiers
    Students: Helen Nguyen, Rithma Premarathne
    School: Thomas Viaduct Middle School
    Teacher: Laura Attridge

  • Junior Individual Documentaries, sponsored by Wegmans

    Ashes Ashes We All Fell Down: How the 1964 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report Helped Break Tobacco’s Grip on American Health
    Student: S. Abigail Giroux
    School: The Bryn Mawr School
    Teacher: Matthew Hetrick

    WASPS: Living in the Shadows of History
    Student: Savannah Buffum
    School: Centreville Middle School
    Teacher: Andrew Anders

  • Junior Group Documentaries, sponsored by Wegmans

    Mr. Rogers: A Neighbor To All
    Students: Jada Ferrell, Hannah Magruder
    School: Accokeek Academy
    Teacher: Arun Puracken

    The First School for the Deaf
    Students: Caitlin Bossie, Haley Ko, Kevin Sisk
    School: Lime Kiln Middle School
    Teacher: Tracy Ganey

  • Junior Individual Performances

    The Courageous Elizabeth Blackwell
    Student: Anastasia Gumbel
    School: St. Mark School
    Teacher: Kelly Updike

    Rachel Carson: Breaking the Barriers of Chauvinism In Society and Science to Become the Voice of Conservation
    Student: Skylan Brassell
    School: Neighborhood Creative Arts Center
    Teacher: Georgia Bonney

  • Junior Group Performances

    The Book that Affected Millions of Hearts
    Students: Raji Shah, Samara Rahman
    School: Bonnie Branch Middle School
    Teacher: Janine Sharbaugh

    The Edmonson Sisters: The Musical
    Students: Arianna Dorman, Elda Berhaneyessus, Sa’kiya Nicholas
    School: Accokeek Academy
    Teacher: Arun Puracken

  • Junior Individual Websites

    Defeating Odds: Jonas Salk’s Polio Vaccine
    Student: Seth Markey
    School: Bonnie Branch Middle School
    Teacher: Janine Sharbaugh

    War of the Currents: Nikola Tesla vs. Thomas Edison Feud
    Student: Oliviah Walton
    School: Kenmoor Middle School
    Teacher: Carol Carter

  • Junior Group Websites

    Marie Curie: The Female Scientist Who Changed The World
    Student: Sebastian Obarrio, Nicolas Zapata
    Schools: Roland Park Elementary/Middle School
    Teacher: Alexandra Fleming

    The Unintended Consequences of Brown v. Board
    Students: Alexander Bidwell, Alexander Chhoeu, Alexander Santiago, Amari Speights
    School: Eastern Middle School
    Teacher: Terence Earley

  • Senior Papers

    Go For Broke: How Japanese American Soldiers Broke Through Prejudice and Distrust in World War II
    Student: Jordan Su
    School: Poolesville High School
    Teacher: Katherine Horan

    Breaking the Distance Barrier: How America’s Use of the Telegraph Held Our Nation Together
    Student: Aurea Sellmeyer
    School: Home School
    Teacher: Sarah Stecher

  • Senior Individual Exhibits, sponsored by Columbia Gas of Maryland

    New Journalism! Breaking Barriers in the 1960s
    Student: Ziyue Yang
    School: Bullis School
    Teacher: Patricia Topliffe

    Operation Paperclip: German Science, American Breakthroughs
    Student: Carl Stahlberg
    School: Poolesville High School
    Teacher: Stephanie Gomer

  • Senior Group Exhibits, sponsored by Columbia Gas of Maryland

    A Stand for Students: Tinker V. Des Moines
    Students: Anna Chalupa, Gitanjali Raghava
    School: Howard High School
    Teacher: Leah Foran

    Dry Manhattan and Chicago Fizz: How Prohibition Fashioned a New Era of Women and Entertainment
    Students: Charlotte Vogel, Dora Kreitzer, Riley Salovich
    School: Poolesville High School
    Teacher: Stephanie Gomer

  • Senior Individual Documentaries, sponsored by Wegmans

    Conquering a Killer: Breaking Barriers in the Effort to Eradicate Polio
    Student: Caroline Andersen
    School: Bullis School
    Teacher: Patricia Topliffe

    Keith Haring: Breaking Barriers During the AIDS Crisis
    Student: Matt Koff
    School: Bullis School
    Teacher: Patricia Topliffe

  • Senior Group Documentaries, sponsored by Wegmans

    Breaking the Invisible Barrier: The National Mental Health Act of 1946
    Students: Bobby Diaz, Rohin Garg, Thomas Huang, Allen Tang, Andrew Wang
    School: Winston Churchill High
    Teacher: Christopher Forney

    Hitchcock and the Hays Code: Breaking Barriers in Movie Censorship
    Students: Joe Lubin, Caroline Park
    School: Poolesville High School
    Teacher: Stephanie Gomer

  • Senior Individual Performances

    New York Times vs. United States: Breaking Barriers in Free Speech
    Student: Laura Jia
    School: Marriotts Ridge High School
    Teacher: Lynn Rashid

    Josephine Baker: Civil Rights Activist
    Student: Lauren Carr
    School: Long Reach High School
    Teacher: Lisa Milak

  • Senior Group Performances

    The Legacy of “Shuffle Along”: The First All Black Musical on Broadway
    Students: Brenna Girard, Colleen Hueting
    School: Poolesville High School
    Teacher: Stephanie Gomer

    Immigrants: A Definition of America
    Students: Taishan Li, Aarifah Ullah
    School: Bullis School
    Teacher: Patricia Topliffe

  • Senior Individual Websites

    George Perkins Marsh: ​​​​​​​Revolutionary Conservationist ​​​​​​​and Pioneer
    Student: Colin Wang
    School: Marriotts Ridge High School
    Teacher: Lynn Rashid

    The Undying Legacy of Henrietta Lacks
    Student: Caris Easton
    School: Reservoir High School
    Teacher: Jan Edlowitz

  • Senior Group Websites

    The Integration of Women into NASA’s Astronaut Program
    Students: Lucy Mao, Susanna Moore
    School: Poolesville High School
    Teacher: Stephanie Gomer

    Breaking Barriers for All Athletes: the Story of Ludwig Guttmann and the Paralympics
    Students: Joella Stepp, Trevor Stepp
    School: Frederick Homeschoolers
    Teacher: Christine Pritt

Maryland History Day Teachers Awards

  • Maryland History Day Statewide Middle School Teacher of the Year

    Sarah Mason
    Bennet Middle School
    Wicomico County

  • Maryland History Day Statewide High School Teacher of the Year

    Scott Baker
    North Dorchester High School
    Dorchester County

  • Allegany County

    Shera Chandler
    Fort Hill High School

  • Anne Arundel County

    Kim Dougherty
    Southern Middle School

  • Baltimore City

    Deneen McDonald
    Francis Scott Key Elementary/Middle School

  • Calvert County

    Lindsay Morris
    Huntingtown High School

  • Carroll County

    Rebecca Bell
    Francis Scott Key High School

  • Cecil County

    Amy Roose
    The Tome School

  • Charles County

    Benjamin J. Haman
    General Smallwood Middle School

  • Frederick County

    Karen Shomaker
    Oakdale Middle School

  • Garrett County

    Amanda Wilburn
    Northern Middle School

  • Howard County

    Jennifer Hamilton
    Oakland Mills Middle School

  • Kent County

    Jason Scheib
    Kent County Middle School

  • Montgomery County

    Ben Israel
    North Bethesda Middle School

  • Prince George's County

    Arun Puracken
    Accokeek Academy

  • Queen Anne's County

    Todd Boyer
    Centreville Middle School

  • Somerset County

    Randi Merritt
    Somerset Intermediate School

  • Talbot County

    Shyanne Snow
    Easton Middle School

  • Washington County

    Beth Kromka
    Williamsport High School

2020 Special Prize Winners

  • Special Prize in African American History, sponsored by the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture

    The Cost of Equality: The Story of Daisy Bates
    Category: Junior Individual Documentary
    Student: Paige Plater
    School: Windy Hill Middle
    Teacher: Robert Lusby

    From Franklin to T’Challa: How Race Barriers Were Broken Through Comics
    Category: Senior Individual Documentary
    Student: Jackson Reichardt
    School: Mount Saint Joseph High School
    Teacher: Ryan Folmer

  • Senator Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr. Award for Excellence in Government History

    A Legal Breakthrough in Drug Regulation: The 1962 Amendments to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
    Category: Junior Individual Documentary
    Student: Judah Lippmann
    School: Eastern Middle School
    Teacher: Terence Earley

    The Eruption Against Corruption: Social Networking and Arab Spring
    Category: Senior Group Documentary
    Students: Brianna Simmons, Emma Weikert
    School: South Hagerstown High School
    Teacher: Matthew Poling, Jason Kamler

  • Asian History Special Prize, sponsored by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County History Department

     Vietnamese America: A People, A Culture, An Identity
    Category: Senior Individual Website
    Student: Garrick Lewis
    School: Parkville High School
    Teacher: Adam Laye

  • Award for Excellence in Civic Action and Engagement, sponsored by the Maryland Council for the Social Studies

     Overcoming Apartheid
    Category: Junior Group Exhibit
    Students: Benjamin Nazelrod, Michael Nazelrod
    School: Southern Middle School
    Teacher: Mike SanJulian

    Bloody Sunday: Breaking Barriers for Voting Rights
    Category: Senior Individual Exhibit
    Student: Matthew Fialkowski
    School: Maurice J. McDonough High School
    Teacher: Christopher Scott

  • The Barry A. Lanman Award for Oral History, sponsored by Barry Lanman

     The Civil Rights Act of 1968
    Category: Junior Group Documentary
    Students: Faith Novak, Hannah Branham
    School: Centreville Middle School
    Teacher: Thomas Hayman, Andrew Anders

  • Special Prize in Labor History, sponsored by Bill Barry and Friends

    The Power of Protests: Carmela Teoli and the Bread and Roses Strike
    Category: Junior Individual Performance
    Student: Bella Sugarman
    School: Roland Park Elementary/Middle School
    Teacher: Alexandra Fleming

    Fair Trade: Breaking Barriers by Bolstering the Developing World
    Category: Senior Group Website
    Students: Mackenzie McCarter, Hanna W
    School: South Hagerstown High School
    Teacher: Jason Kamler

  • Eugene J. Becker Award for Excellence in Cybersecurity and Cryptology , sponsored by National Cryptologic Museum Foundation

    Code Breaking at Midway
    Category: Junior Group Documentary
    Students: Jack Harburger, Antione Sylvia
    School: The Mount Washington School
    Teacher: Ryan Kaiser

    Beyond the Beauty: How Hedy Lamarr Engineered Society
    Category: Senior Group Documentary
    Students: Astri Doub, Jaimie Griffin, Elizabeth O’Brien
    School: The Bryn Mawr School
    Teacher: Matthew Hetrick

  • The George Washington Leadership Prize, sponsored by George Washington’s Mount Vernon

    Breaking into the Modern Economy: Hamilton’s Financial Plan
    Category: Junior Individual Performance
    Student: Lily Granai
    School: Bonnie Branch Middle School
    Teacher: Janine Sharbaugh

    Thomas Paine: Breaking Barriers with Pen and Paper
    Category: Senior Individual Exhibit
    Student: Carl Eckard
    School: Fort Hill High School
    Teacher: Kayla Hutson

  • The Major General John E. Morrison Award in Excellence and Innovation, sponsored by the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation

    Charles Darwin: A Breaker and Builder of Barriers
    Category: Junior Group Documentary
    Student: Chloe Crawford, Jordan Shriner
    School: Severna Park Middle School
    Teacher: Jessica Butcher

    Ignaz Semmelweis: Pioneering Antiseptic Handwashing
    Category: Senior Individual Exhibit
    Student: Carlin Blash
    School: South Hagerstown High School
    Teacher: Jason Kamler

  • Special Prize in Maryland History, sponsored by the Maryland Historical Society

    Steamboat Days on the Chesapeake: Connecting Shores
    Category: Junior Individual Website
    Student: Jude Gross
    School: Kent School
    Teacher: Patrick Pearce

    Baltimore’s Black Butterfly: Confronting the Legacy of Redlining
    Category: Senior Individual Exhibit
    Student: Ava Wilson
    School: Institute of Notre Dame
    Teacher: Bridget Foley

  • Michael E. Patten Memorial History Award for Best Use of Primary Sources, sponsored by the Frank Patten Family

    “Let Freedom Sing”: Breaking Barriers of Inequality Through Spirituals
    Category: Senior Individual Documentary
    Student: Hannah Park
    School: James M. Bennett High School
    Teacher: Meredith McGann

  • The Peace Study Center Award, sponsored by the Peace Study Center, Baltimore

    Austrian Resistance to Nazi Occupation: How the Political Barriers of their Time Were Broken
    Category: Junior Paper
    Student: Dylan Ruppert
    School: North Dorchester Middle School
    Teacher: Mark Lowrie

    Breaking Barriers in the Minds of Men: The Path to Peace in Northern Ireland
    Category: Senior Individual Documentary
    Student: Katherine Giroux
    School: The Bryn Mawr School
    Teacher: Matthew Hetrick

  • Special Prize in the History of Science and Technology, sponsored by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County History Department

    Katherine Johnson: Breaking Gender and Racial Barriers
    Category: Junior Group Website
    Students: Jillian Daniel, Kathryn Daniel
    School: John Hanson Middle School
    Teacher: Victoria Davenport

     

    “The Man that Fights Again” How Prosthetics Impacted Civil War Veterans
    Category: Senior Individual Exhibit
    Student: Haley King
    School: Washington High School & Academy

    Teacher: Stephen Smith

  • Special Prize in Women's History, sponsored by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County History Department

    Lavender Menace: Breaking Barriers in the Women’s Movement
    Category: Senior Group Documentary
    Students: Allison Lord, Parker O’Neill
    School: Westminster High School
    Teacher: Arthur Matthews

  • Special Prize in Women's History, sponsored by the Maryland Women's Heritage Center

    Artemisia Gentileschi: “I’ll Show You What a Woman Can Do”
    Category: Junior Group Documentary
    Students: Amelia Slagle, Zosha Tluszcz
    School: West Frederick Middle School
    Teacher: Heather Kehr

  • Special Prize in Historic Preservation, sponsored by the Maryland Historical Trust

    Someone Decided We Should Get an Education: How Rosenwald Schools Changed America
    Category: Junior Individual Documentary
    Student: Linda Johnson
    School: Southern Middle School
    Teacher:  Kyle Prescott

    Maritime Heroes of Liberty Ships: Breaking Barriers on Land and Sea
    Category: Senior Individual Website
    Student: Olivia Borkowski-Johnson
    School: Bel Air High School
    Teacher: Drusilla Herbert

  • Special Prize in Legal and Constitutional History, sponsored by Cynthia Raposo and Joseph Furey

    Roe v. Wade: Breaking Barriers Beyond Abortion Rights
    Category: Junior Paper
    Student: Molly Ross
    School: Mayfield Woods Middle School
    Teacher: Kathleen Quinn

    “Love Shouldn’t Hurt”: Breaking the Women’s Domestic Violence Barrier
    Category: Senior Group Exhibit
    Students: Eden Thompson, Nivia Thimlick
    School: Oxon Hill High School
    Teacher: Thomas Klug

  • “MHD illustrated the applicability of the study of history to contemporary issues and current events. It was very motivating to converse with the students about their historical topic and observe how they applied it to current events and their own life circumstances.”

    ​Maryland History Day parent

  • “History Day has taught men how to interpret and effective use primary sources in my writing to create and support claims. Now I am much more likely to explore databases, go to libraries, and explore further external sources for credible and effective sources.”

    Maryland History Day 2019 Student

  • “My students became more competent researchers, and took ownership of their work. They had total free reign to choose their topic, direct their research, and create their final project.”

    ​Maryland History Day 2015 Teacher

  • I’ve loved judging! It’s exciting to see the passion the middle schoolers have put in their projects. I hope that my critiques have helped strive for excellence throughout their lives.

    Dee Krasnansky, Maryland History Day Judge

  • “The thing that had the most impact were the skills that I got from this project. I developed better hunting skills in terms of looking for reliable sources and I also learned to work hard and not procrastinate to achieve something great.”

    Maryland History Day student participant

  • “We were very impressed with the depth of research all the students did for their History Day projects. It was fun to see them interacting with each other during the competition and events.”

    Lori and Josh Skillman, History Day Parents

  • “[The students] learned a variety of ways to present their material and they could focus on what they wanted to learn about. The students had a choice in their learning. It was about their learning NOT what someone else felt they need to learn.”

    ​Maryland History Day teacher

  • “History Day inspired me to become deeply invested in historical topics which I never thought I’d enjoy. It is an amazing experience that has the ability to make learning fun for everyone, no matter what you’re interested in.”

    Addie Skillman, National History Day Gold Winner

  • “It provided an opportunity for my child to learn through experiential opportunities. He had interviews and tours that were relevant to his topic that helped the history come alive and create unforgettable memories.”

    Maryland History Day 2015 Parent

  • “[My son] became a real expert in his topic and, he says, developed a life-long love of history, especially the history of music. I cannot thank you enough for this rare and incredible opportunity.”

    Andrea LeWinter, parent of Maryland History Day participant

  • “The researching and communicating skills have made me a more confident person in all academic endeavors. These are skills that will last me a lifetime.”

    ​Maryland History Day student participant

  • “My students went deeper with primary and secondary sources than ever before. They used critical thinking skills and applied the transfer goals and essential questions on a deeper level than they could have in class. It challenged them to think deeper and defend their findings.”

    Maryland History Day 2019 Teacher

  • “I think the continual process of improving her research and presentation through the various levels of competition has been incredibly valuable. It has caused her to dig deeper in her research and build upon and refine her work and presentation.”

    ​Maryland History Day parent

  • “I had never done anything like this before so it was a totally new experience to write a paper, be interviewed, and defend my positions. I now really know how to do research and it has improved my writing skills.”

    ​Maryland History Day 2015 Student

  • “The excitement of the research was wonderful for my students’ academic progress. They now feel capable of doing any research paper that may be assigned in college!”

    Maryland History Day 2019 Teacher
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