NATIONAL HISTORY DAY 2024
Turning Points in History

National History Day is a year-long educational program for middle and high school students to research, learn and produce a creative project on a historical topic. The National Maritime Historical Society is proud to be an official supporter of this program, hoping to inspire young people to learn about maritime history.

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners, and a big thank you to all the hard-working teachers, coordinators, and judges who made this annual event such a memorable and rewarding experience!

Alabama

Senior 1st: “The Meiji Restoration: Igniting Japanese Industrialization and the Dawn of Imperial Expansion”
Student: Tyler Macon
Teacher: Dena Van den Bosch, WP Davidson High School, Mobile, Alabama

Senior 2nd: “Lies in Their Waters: The Johnson Administration's Manufactured Turning Point in the Tonkin Gulf”
Student: Zander Snyman
Teacher: Dena Van den Bosch, WP Davidson High School, Mobile, Alabama

Alaska

Senior 1st: “The Attack of Pearl Harbor: A Date Which Will Live in Infamy”
Students: Ellie Poulsen and Anna Rozell
Teacher: Heather Damario, West Valley High School, Fairbanks, Alaska

Arkansas

Senior 1st: “Titanic”
Students: Fenley Hartis, Travis Nix and Eliot Vehlies
Teacher: Lewis Short, Crosspointe Preparatory, Searcy, Arkansas

California

Senior 1st: “Pacific Convergence: Commodore Perry's Expedition and the Unveiling of Global Dynamics”
Students: En Zhang, Kaiwen Zhao
Teacher: Jane Koch, University High School, Irvine, California

Junior 1st: “War of the Barbary Pirates: A Turning Point in American Military Power”
Students: Ethan Lundberg, Diego Morfin
Teacher: Aurelio Cortez, Vista Heights Middle School, Moreno Valley, California

Senior 2nd: “The Prowlers of the Sea: How Submarines Changed 20th Century Warfare”
Student: Henry Hou
Teacher: Charissa Keup, The Bishop's School, La Jolla, California

Junior 2nd: “Operation Overlord: How D-Day Turned the Tides of WWII”
Students: Annika Agrawal, Brinley Pickett, and Alice Tolland
Teacher: Heather Pang, Castilleja School, Palo Alto, California

District of Columbia

Junior 1st Place:“The Midway Mistake: The Japanese Downfall in the Pacific”
Student: Maia Birkmeier
Teacher: Alexander Frail, Stuart Hobson Middle School, Washington, District of Columbia

Florida

Junior 1st Place: “The Sinking of the Titanic”
Students: Keagan Dutson, Camila Valarezco, Max Valenzuela and Oasis Vega
Teacher: Elisabelle Kelly, Lake Montessori, Leesburg, Florida

Georgia

Senior 1st Place: “Sailing to Victory: Liberty Ships and the Strategic Significance of Georgia’s Ports”
Student: Chris Anthony Batenga
Teacher: Susan Mullis, Jenkins High School, Savannah, Georgia

Junior 1st Place: “James Lind’s Medical Breakthrough”
Student: Esther Choo
Teacher: Stanley Shively, Richards Middle School, Columbus, Georgia

Senior 2nd: “The Compass Way”
Students: Hao Lin, Ellie Vo, and Alex Zheng
Teacher: Angelina Muskin, Herschel V. Jenkins High School, Savannah, Georgia

Junior 2nd: “The Pirate Port Plummets 40 ft: How Natural Disasters in Port Royal Impact Britain's Economy in 17th and 18th Centuries”
Students: Maya Griggs and Bowie Daniels
Teacher: Mark Washington, David T. Howard Middle School, Atlanta, Georgia

Maine

Junior 1st Place: “The Battle of Hampton Roads: A New Era of Naval Warfare”
Student: Ava Rigler
Teacher: Adam Kaspala, William S Cohen School, Bangor, Maine

Junior 2nd: “Charles Darwin and the Journey on the Beagle”
Student: Rowan Crouse
Teacher: Jessica Kelly, Scarborough Middle School, Scarborough, Maine

Massachusetts

Junior 1st: “Amerigo Vespucci: The Disregarded Discoverer”
Student: Mason Mastrodicasa
Teacher: Barbara Flynn, Catholic Memorial, Boston, Massachusetts

Junior 2nd: “D-Day-The Invasion that Changed the Course of History”
Student: John Noonan
Teacher: Barbara Flynn, Catholic Memorial, West Roxbury, Massachusetts

Mississippi

Senior 1st: “The Great Amphibious Landing at Inchon”
Student: Joey Knight
Teacher: Kayla Hester, Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, Columbus, Mississippi

New Jersey

Senior 1st: “A Revolution in Vaccine Development: Horseshoe Crab Blood”
Student: Niranjan Mohanraj
Teacher: Chelsea Julius, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, Plainsboro, New Jersey

Junior 1st: “The Mariana Trench: A Turning Point in Deep Sea Exploration”
Student: Declan Weng
Teacher: Sue Longenecker, The Peck School, Morristown, New Jersey

Senior 2nd: “From the Kitchen Sink to Congress: How Grassroots Action for the Great Swamp Sparked a Conservation Movement”
Students: Dhiren Holland, Priyanka Patel and Ishita Yadav
Teacher: Judith Vihonski, Homeschool, New Jersey

North Carolina

Senior 1st: “Vicksburg: The Battle That Completed the Anaconda Plan”
Students: Colton Styles and Caleb Bookach
Teacher: Erica Imbimbo, The Oakwood School, Greenville, North Carolina

Junior 1st: “D-Day”
Students: William Kallstrom, Lucas Llewellyn, Landon Kirby
Teacher: Michelle Rutledge, Wayne School Of Engineering, Goldsboro, North Carolina

Senior 2nd: “The Zimmermann Telegram: The Message that Transformed the World”
Student: Evan Cox
Teacher: Nathan Gergel, Cape Fear Academy, Wilmington, North Carolina

Ohio

Senior 1st Place: “In Behalf of Humanity: The Surfmen of Pea Island”
Students: John Miller, Luke Wack

Junior 1st Place: “Burn on Big River: The Cleveland Blaze that Sparked an Environmental Revolution”
Student: John Gordon

Junior 2nd Place: “The Story of a Doomed Voyage: The Titanic!”
Student: Braxton Hardy

Rhode Island

Junior 1st: “The Battle of Midway: Turning Point in Pacific Dominance”
Student: Lucia Acanfora
Teacher: Samantha Hedden, St. Philomena School, Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Junior 2nd: “From Waves to Wealth: New Bedford's Evolution Through the Whaling Industry”
Students: Ellery Caouette, Campbell McClennan, Ryan O'Hara and Paige Roman
Teacher: Samantha Hedden, St. Philomena School of the Sacred Heart, Portsmouth, Rhode Island

South Carolina

Senior 1st: “Pearl Harbor”
Students: Dominik DeCaro, Joshua "Corbin" Sellers
Teacher: Adam Powley, Early College High School, Conway, South Carolina

Junior 1st: “The Sinking of the Titanic”
Students: Audrey Kessler and Kensley Martin
Teacher: Sharon Watson, Rawlinson Road Middle School, Rock Hill, South Carolina

Junior 2nd: “The Battle of Midway”
Student: Jacob Etheridge
Teacher: Timothy Hicks, Dent Middle School, Columbia, South Carolina

Texas

Senior 1st: “The Suez Crisis: Turning the Tide of Global Power Dynamics”
Student: Falisha Raval
Teacher: Casey Johnston, Dulles High School, Sugar Land, Texas

Junior 1st: “The Box That Changed the World”
Students: Brycen Gardiner and Austin Thomas
Teacher: Heather Caraway, Baytown Junior School, Baytown, Texas

Junior 1st Place: “The Invention of the Steamboat”
Student: Brady Dew
Teacher: Lindsay Carr, Arthur L. Davila Middle School, Bryan, TX

Senior 2nd: “Drops in the Ocean: Sea Saviors in Shepherds’ Clothing”
Student: Hanna Coker
Teacher: Michael Fanning, Ross S. Sterling High School, Baytown, Texas

Junior 2nd: “The Battle and Evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940; a Turning Point in World War II”
Student: Olivia Chavez
Teacher: Juan Sarmiento, St. Patrick Cathedral School, El Paso, Texas

Virginia

Senior 1st: “The War of 1812: America’s Forgotten Conflict”
Students: Tiffany O’Connell and Riley Wilson
Teacher: Andrew Abeyounis, Grafton High School, Yorktown, Virginia

Junior 1st: “The Battle of Trafalgar”
Students: Paul Loberg, Theodore Marvin, and Callen Ohlandt
Teacher: Dana Parks, George Washington Middle School, Alexandria, Virginia

Junior 2nd: “Hurricane Katrina”
Student: Oli Wagoner
Teacher: Hunter Gregory, Blacksburg Middle School, Blacksburg, Virginia

Washington

Senior 1st: “Iwo Jima: Turning the Tides of War”
Student: Ankita Datta
Teacher: Timothy Rodgers, Eastlake High School, Sammamish, Washington

Junior 1st: “The Boston Tea Party”
Students: Ainsley Barker, Jacqueline Mendoza, and Kaylee Landerholm
Teacher: William Reese, Carla Olman Peperzak Middle School, Spokane, Washington

Junior 2nd: “The History of Submarines”
Students: Elias Kunda and Elliott Rogers
Teacher: Beth Doughty, Chief Umtuch Middle School, Battle Ground, Washington