South Carolina History Day, the affiliate program for National History Day, engages elementary, middle, and secondary school students in historical research and analysis while developing important skills. Students choose how to present their research from different categories: paper, website, documentary, performance or exhibit. Students compete at various levels of competition across South Carolina before advancing to the national contest. The Department of History in the Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts at Coastal Carolina University is proud to support education and this amazing program throughout the state. SC Humanities is a supporting sponsor.
In 2017, almost 50 schools competed in regional contests, and more than 300 students competed at the South Carolina state contest, which took place on Saturday, April 29, 2017. The increase in participation was so strong that new regional contests are being planned for the 2017 – 2018 school year.
Fifty-five students from across South Carolina traveled to Maryland to participate in the National History Day competition in June 2017. Two projects placed in the top 10 of their division and category. Fallon Tomlin from Ocean Bay Middle School (Myrtle Beach) was a finalist with her individual performance titled “The Chiquola Mill Textile Strike: The Hunger for Workers’ Rights,” and she won the American Labor History Award. Otiana Thompson, JaKayla Cornish, Portia Daniels, V’Dell Carter, and Caitlyn Wilson from Ridge View High School (Columbia) were finalists with their group performance titled “Back to Rhodesia: The Chimurenga Story.”
Additionally, other South Carolina students were honored throughout the national contest: Sean Nampoothiry from Dutchman Creek Middle School (Rock Hill) was selected to display his exhibit on the Sepoy Rebellion at the National Museum of American History. The documentary by Ke’Von Singleton and Malik Hubbard from Palmetto Scholars Academy (North Charleston) was one of twenty-four selected to be screened at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Their topic was “The Friendship 9: Taking a Stand Through ‘Jail, No Bail’.” Julia Breitkreuz from Northwestern High School (Rock Hill) won the Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers Award for her individual performance titled “Nellie Bly Undercover: The Reporter Who Dared to Go Behind the Scenes.”
Additionally, South Carolina History Day created a new award for teachers in 2017 to recognize one teacher from each division for their work with History Day. The first recipients were Marion Touzel from Ocean Bay Middle School and Scott Auspelmyer from Blythewood High School.
For more information about the South Carolina History Day Program, please contact:
- Angela Dembiczak
S.C. History Day Coordinator
scstatehistoryday@coastal.edu
843-349-2913
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c) 3 organization is governed by a volunteer 20-member Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and/or supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually.
Image: S.C. delegation meeting with Senator Lindsey Graham at the U.S. Capitol on June 14, Photo Courtesy of South Carolina History Day
