In a triumphant return to in-person gatherings, several hundred students, parents and teachers convened at the Vernon Middle School on Saturday, April 29th to share and admire a wide variety of 2022 Connecticut History Day projects. Judging for this statewide contest was held virtually this year as a result of pandemic restrictions, but participants were thrilled to be able to personally present their work to their fellow entrants and their families. The showcase was followed by the first in-person statewide awards ceremony since 2019.
Students in grades 6 – 12 whose projects won regional awards were invited to participate in this event, at which over fifty students received additional state-level awards in recognition of the months of work they put into their exhibits, performances, websites, documentaries and research papers. First and second place winners will represent Connecticut in the National History Day competition next month in Maryland.
This year’s theme was Debate and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences.
Connecticut History Day 2022 State Contest Results
Junior Division
Category: Junior Papers
First Place: Divergent Paths: How the Japanese Exclusion Act of 1924 Transformed the Debate on U.S.-Japan Relations
School: Worthington Hooker School
Student: Manxi Han
Second Place: From Peru to Yale and back again: The Journey of the Peruvian Machu Picchu Artifacts
School: Timothy Edwards Middle School
Student: Rachel Mathew
Third Place: To Help or To Hurt: An Exploration of DDT
School: Timothy Edwards Middle School
Student: Benjamin Burrill
Category: Junior Group Documentary
Bill Brayfield Award for 1st Place Junior Group Documentary
First Place: How the White Rose Bloomed and Flourished
School: Timothy Edwards Middle School
Students: Penelope Evans and Astha Tripathy
Second Place: Berlin Divided: The Story of Short-lived Diplomacy and Ceaseless Debate
School: Irving A. Robbins Middle School
Students: Isha Shenoy and Kriti Jaladurgam
Third Place: The Tripolitan War: A Calculated Decision or a Lucky Gamble? School: Intermediate School, Shelton
Students: Payton Severs and Stephanie Sanborn
Category: Junior Individual Documentary
First Place: Loving v. Virginia: Loving v. Hating
School: Timothy Edwards Middle School
Student: Gauri Kumbar
Second Place: The Olympic Boycott Debate of 1936: Changing the Face of Discrimination Through Diplomacy
School: Nathan Hale-Ray Middle School
Student: Kaelyn Cambi
Third Place: The Merritt Parkway: Debating its Way Through History School: West Rocks Middle School
Student: Kayla Linder
Category: Junior Group Exhibit
First Place: Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Origins of Atomic Diplomacy School: Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School
Students: Tessa Grethel and Sophia D’Amico
Second Place: The Cuban Missile Crisis: The Diplomatic Dilemma School: Nathan Hale Middle School
Students: Daniel Guo, Marianne Joy Montenegro, Anna Kvashchuk, and Olivia Papadopoulos
Third Place: The Seneca Falls Convention: The Diplomatic Start to the U.S. Women’s Suffrage Movement
School: Center School, Ellington
Students: Julia Drury and Evelyn Nelson
Category: Junior Individual Exhibit
First Place: The Greensboro Sit-Ins: Many Faces of Diplomacy
School: Bedford Middle School
Student: Mulsy Mani Sundararajan
Second Place: The Debate of Radium and Diplomacy of its Evil
School: Nathan Hale-Ray Middle School
Student: Kira Rand
Third Place: Silent Spring: Rachel Carson’s Fight to Ban DDT
School: Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School
Student: Grace Osborne
Category: Junior Group Performance
First Place: Thomas Jefferson: From An Unheard Secretary of State to the President Who Won the First Barbary War, Changing the Role of Debate and Diplomacy in American Foreign Policy
School: Madina Academy
Students: Aanum Khan, Zara Fatima Khan, and Zainah Khaliq
Second Place: Debate and Diplomacy Through Dialogue: How A Cold War Spy Exchange Resulted in Success
School: Mansfield Middle School
Student: Kalyani Tihaiya and Sophie Marcus
Third Place: The Genesis of our National Bank: Debate, Diplomacy, and Direction School: John F. Kennedy Middle School
Students: Kylie Purdue and Maya Costello
Category: Junior Individual Performance
First Place: Estelle Griswold: Debating the Past for the Future of Women’s Healthcare Rights
School: Bristow Middle School
Student: Eleanor Farquhar
Second Place: Prohibition Era in Connecticut
School: Coleytown Middle School
Student: Joey Vazquez
Category: Junior Group Website
First Place: Controversy Surrounding the Israel-Palestine Separation of 1947 School: Worthington Hooker School
Students: Maya Harpaz-Levy and Raisa Ahsan
Second Place: Surrender of the Japanese Empire
School: Bedford Middle School
Students: Alex Cahaly, Samson Viner, and John Mello
Third Place: Age Olde Debates: The First Continental Congress
School: Mansfield Middle School
Students: Zia Kashwan and Kaela Jia
Category: Junior Individual Website
First Place: “The Hull Note”: Failed Diplomacy or an Ultimatum in Disguise? School: Talcott Mountain Academy
Student: Sia Reddy
Second Place: The Most Hated Treaty in History
School: Scotts Ridge Middle School
Student: Sebastian Utomo
Third Place: The World on Edge: The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 School: Scotts Ridge Middle School
Student: Joseph Velasco
Senior Division
Category: Senior Papers
Bruce Fraser Prize for Outstanding Senior Paper
First Place: The Armenian Genocide: The Consequences of Silence School: Loomis Chaffee School
Student: Emily Khym
Second Place: Army Alpha: The Unintended Consequences of the Implementation of Intelligence Testing in the United States
School: Choate Rosemary Hall
Student: Jeff Kim
Third Place: The Complex Legacy of the Iran Hostage Crisis
School: Engineering – Science University Magnet School
Student: Lucina O’Brien
Category: Senior Group Documentary
First Place: Ping Pong Diplomacy: The Remarkable History of the Game That Changed the World
School: The Taft School
Students: Anishka Perera and Drew Niewinski
Second Place: Ambedkar’s Mahad Satyagraha: Protesting for Rights in a Caste Based Country
School: Ellington High School
Students: Sivasree Nagavarapu and Daris Pon Mohan Kumar
Third Place: The Debate of Hiroshima Atomic Bombing
School: Ellington High School
Students: Ava Powell, Allyson Currier, and Sydney Matz
Category: Senior Individual Documentary
First Place: Peru vs. Yale: a Fight for Repatriation
School: Greenwich Academy
Student: Grace Sullivan
Second Place: Paving the Way or Spoiling the Day? The Unintended Consequences of FDR’s Agricultural Adjustment Act
School: Norwich Free Academy
Student: Brendan Bezanson
Third Place: Ending The Troubles with Diplomatic Debate: How the Mitchell Principles paved the way towards lasting peace in Northern Ireland School: Conard High School
Student: Claire Flynn
Category: Senior Group Exhibit
First Place: The 1968 Olympics: Controversy Surrounding Athletic Activism School: Ellington High School
Students: Aidan Ladr, Natalie Kiessling, Damian Smith, and Olivia Tebbetts
Second Place: Cold War Debate, Diplomacy, and the Creation of the Polio Vaccine: Successes, Failures, and Consequences
School: Staples High School
Students: Tessa Tobias, Talia Varsano, and Annika Reddy
Third Place: The Debate and Diplomacy of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act regarding Native American Economic Improvement: Successes, Failures, and Consequences
School: Staples High School
Students: Isabella Rivel, Lucie Nivaud, and Kaya Law
Category: Senior Individual Exhibit
First Place: Angry Days 1939-1941: Should the U.S. Enter World War II? School: Staples High School
Student: Dagny Dahl
Second Place: Duck Diplomacy: How Walt Disney Saved FDR’s Good Neighbor Policy School: Norwich Free Academy
Student: Joseph Cook
Third Place: The Lowell Mill Girls: Demonstrating Diplomatic Strategy Through The First Working Women’s Union
School: E.O. Smith High School
Student: Mary Lynch
Category: Senior Group Performance
First Place: The Gold Standard’s Control Over the Working Class: William Jennigns Bryan’s Crusade to End Economic Disparity in America
School: Enfield High School
Students: Sophia Carrier and Kathia Diaz
Second Place: The Congress for Cultural Freedom: The CIA’s Cloak and Paintbrush Diplomacy
School: Rockville High School and ACT Magnet School
Students: John Margelony and Clarissa Halpryn
Third Place: Breaking the Bank: Political Debate and the Bank War of 1832 School: E. O. Smith High School
Students: Sarah Levine, Julia Healey-Parera, and Lauren Levine
Category: Senior Individual Performance
First Place: Public Diplomacy in the Debate Between Capitalism and Communism School: South Windsor High School
Student: Iniya Raja
Second Place: Otto von Bismarck: Germany’s Creator and its Killer School: Trumbull High School
Student: Elizabeth Steeves
Third Place: The Destruction of Indigenous Cultures Through Canadian Residential Schools
School: Pine Point School
Student: Cecilia Zimbelmann
Category: Senior Group Website
First Place: Jacqueline Cochran: The Fight for Women Aviators in the Military School: Ellington High School
Students: Nadia Zaffanella and Natalie Marshall
Second Place: Galileo: A Scientist Ahead of His Times
School: Ellington High School
Students: Anna Guerette, Samantha Norton, Shayla Regan, and Ana Lundberg April 30, 2022 | 7
Third Place: The U.S.-Soviet Cultural Agreement of 1958: Successes, Failures, and Consequences of Soviet and American Diplomacy
School: Staples High School
Students: Elise Eisenberger, Jolie Gefen, and Tessa Cassell
Category: Senior Individual Website
First Place: Minamata’s Fight for Justice: How Japan’s Failed Debate and Response Sparked Local and Global Change
School: Staples High School
Student: Lucia Wang
Second Place: The Cuban Missile Crisis: How Debate and Diplomacy Saved the World School: Staples High School
Student: Matthew Delman
Third Place: From Dictatorship to Democracy: The Peaceful End of the Apartheid Era School: Staples High School
Student: Samantha Sheldon
Connecticut History Day 2022 State Contest Special Prize Results
Outstanding Entry for Use of Materials and/or Collections Held in a CT Archive, Museum, or Historical Society tied to a CT Historic Site Sponsored by: Connecticut League of History Organizations
Project: The Debate on Fair Labor Laws: Radium Girls in Connecticut & Beyond School: Windham Technical High School
Students: Anaya Diaz and Olivia Beers
Outstanding Entry in Native American History
Sponsored by: Akomawt Educational Initiative
Project: A One-Sided Debate: The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek and how the Choctaw Nation was Manipulated into Diplomacy
School: Bedford Middle School
Students: Jonathan Dobinsmith, Uma Choudhury, and Zara Saliba
Outstanding Entry in 17th Century Connecticut History Sponsored by: Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford
Project: The Infamous Witch Trials: The Debate that led to the diplomacy of witchcraft in Connecticut
School: Westside Middle School Academy
Students: Melody Galarza, Skyla Aiken, and Thais Nunez
Prize for Outstanding Entry in American Legal History
Sponsored by: Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford
Junior Division
Project: Engel v. Vitale: Redefining Religion in our Schools
School: Nathan Hale Middle School
Students: Emi Anderson, Ian Mills, Roy Roc, Steve Charles, and Xavier Myles
Senior Division
Project: Griswold v. Connecticut: The Government Is My Husband? School: Norwich Free Academy
Student: Kara Kuang
Outstanding Entry in Connecticut History
Sponsored by: Connecticuthistory.org, a program of CT Humanities
Project: The Anti-Income Tax Rally of 1991
School: Bedford Middle School
Student: Sahil Vora
Outstanding Entry Related to an Under-Represented Connecticut Community
Sponsored by: Connecticut Landmarks
Project: Sheff v. O’Neill: Revealing Hidden Racism in CT School Systems School: Torrington High School
Student: Chelsea Cliff
David O. White Prize for Outstanding Entry in African-American History Sponsored by: Association for the Study of Connecticut History
Project: The Compromise of 1877: A Failed Promise
School: Wilbur Cross High School
Students: Cassius Morgan Coe
Outstanding Entry in Latinx History
Sponsored by: The Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity and Transnational Migration at Yale University
Project: The Panama Canal: 99 Years of Debate and Diplomacy
School: Scotts Ridge Middle School
Student: Madeline McCartan
Outstanding Entry in Asian American History
Sponsored by: The Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity and Transnational Migration at Yale University
Project: Chinese Exclusion Act: Immigration Immobilized
School: Norwich Free Academy
Student: Jeffrey Li
George Washington Leadership in History Prize
Sponsored by: The Washington Library at George Washington’s Mount Vernon
Project: The Debate Over Representation: The Great Compromise of 1787 School: Timothy Edwards Middle School
Student: Ishan Agarwal
Outstanding Entry that Incorporates a Building, Landscape, or Archaeological Site in the US that Promotes a Historic Preservation Ethic Sponsored by: Connecticut State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO)
Project: Provoking the Unprovoked: the Diplomatic Tragedy of Pearl Harbor School: Rockville High School
Student: Nicolas Angeli
Outstanding Entry in World History
Sponsored by: Connecticut Council for the Social Studies
Junior Division
Project: Astronomy, Science, and Religion: The Debate That Changed The World School: Westside Middle School Academy, Danbury
Students: Leah Hayes and Trevor Bischof
Senior Division
Project: The Fall of the Berlin Wall
School: Brunswick School
Student: Sayah Trahanas
Outstanding Entry Related to Immigration, Urbanization or the Industrial Working Class
Sponsored by: Slater Memorial Museum
Project: Child Labor Reform In the United States: How Photographs Sparked Debate and Policy
School: Talcott Mountain Academy
Student: Rhea Doshi
Outstanding Entry Related to Equality/Equity in Education Sponsored by: Prudence Crandall Museum, Inc.
Project: Debate, Defeat, and the Legacy of a Dream: The 1831 Proposed Black College in New Haven
School: Wilbur Cross High School, New Haven
Students: Elias Theodore and Lily Goren
Outstanding Entry Related to a Social Justice Issue
Sponsored by: History Department, Southern Connecticut State University
Project: The Fist To Debate and Change In Black Change
School: Westside Middle School Academy
Student: Gustavo Machado, Mauro Costa, and Soleil Young
Outstanding Entry Related to Civics, Government, or Citizenship Sponsored by: Connecticut Democracy Center
Junior Division
Project: World Peace is One Flight Away: How the Creation of the Peace Corps Changed the World
School: West Rocks Middle School
Student: Isabella Kibbey
Senior Division
Project: Monkey to Man: How the Scopes Trial Sparked Widespread Debate and Influenced the American Classroom
School: Conard High School
Student: Daphne Brewer
Outstanding Entry Related to Slavery or Abolition
Sponsored by: The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition
Junior Division
Project: La Amistad: Debate and Diplomacy
School: Praise, Power and Prayer Christian School
Student: Josiah McMahon
Project: The Lincoln-Douglas Debates – How Failure Turned to Success School: Irving A. Robbins Middle School
Students: Mikela Dedndreaj and Riley Corcoran
Outstanding Entry in Women’s History
Sponsored by: Harriet Beecher Stowe House
Junior Division
Project: Sister Kenny: The Debate Over the Kenny Method
School: Nathan Hale-Ray Middle School
Students: Faith Kalisz and Molly Beach
Senior Division
Project: The Effects the Declaration of Sentiments Had on the Public and the Suffrage Movement
School: Pine Point School, Pawcatuck
Student: Hannah Satran
Outstanding Entry that Best Incorporates Jewish History, Heritage and/or a Jewish Personality
Sponsored by: Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County
Project: Sigrid Schultz: Navigating Diplomatic Journalism in Wartime America School: Manchester High School
Students: Riley Then
Outstanding Entry in the Arts
Sponsored by: Wadsworth Atheneum
Project: The Surrealist Art Movement: Melting Society’s Mold On Rationality School: Westside Middle School Academy
Students: Mya Johnson, Rachel Joy, and Shaila Beggolo
Special Prize for an Outstanding Entry in Aerospace or Technological History
Sponsored by: New England Air Museum
Project: Concorde: Success, Debate, then Failure – A Controversial Past and a Promising Future: How Circumstances Led to the Fall of the Most Successful Supersonic Plane
School: Worthington Hooker School
Student: Henry Mead
Outstanding Entry Related to Debate and Diplomacy in Military History Sponsored by: UConn Office of Veterans Affairs and Military Programs
Project: Desmond Doss: The Unlikely War Hero
School: Ellington High School
Student: Ava Wilson
The Bruce Stave Special Prize for the Best Use of Oral History Prize Sponsored by: Connecticut Coalition for History
Project: The Canadian Caper
School: Staples High School
Student: Benjamin Rimm
Bill Brayfield Award for 1st Place Junior Group Documentary Sponsored by: Connecticut Coalition for History
Project: How the White Rose Bloomed and Flourished
School: Timothy Edwards Middle School
Students: Penelope Evans and Astha Tripathy
Bruce Fraser Prize for Outstanding Senior Paper
Sponsored by: Connecticut Coalition for History
Project: The Armenian Genocide: The Consequences of Silence
School: Loomis Chaffee School
Student: Emily Khym
Connecticut History Day hosts annual regional and statewide competitions for students in grades 6 – 12. Run by the Connecticut Democracy Center, Connecticut History Day is an affiliate of National History Day. For more information please visit www.nhd.org or www.historydayct.org. The Connecticut Democracy Center (CTDC) provides people with a lifetime pathway to active citizenship and the tools to take civic action in their own communities. For more about the CTDC, please visit www.ctdemocracycenter.org.