Director, Humanities and Global Studies Signature Program
The Blair Family Center for the Arts was transformed into a celebration of American history and student research last week, as members of the Class of 2021 showcased their projects. This event marked the 10th year of Bullis History Night, which is affiliated with National History Day. Each year, students select a topic related to a theme. They each conduct extensive secondary and primary research, craft a thesis statement, and develop a final product in one of four categories: exhibit, website, documentary film, or performance. Students work closely with their history teachers and our research librarian, Dr. Abby Clouse-Radigan, as they edit and refine their work.
Top entries, as identified by a team of Bullis Social Studies teachers and administrators, advance to the Montgomery County competition. This year the Montgomery County competition will take place on February 29 at Northwood High School. There, top projects are selected to compete at the state level and even advance to the national competition held in June at the University of Maryland, College Park. Over the last decade, many Bullis students have advanced to compete at the state and national level, and more than a dozen have placed in the top 10 in the nation.
Bullis History Night is an opportunity to spotlight scholarly work. Parents and other guests tour the history projects and learn about a wide range of topics. This year's theme, "Breaking Barriers," inspired a variety of projects on groundbreaking artists, innovative scientific breakthroughs, and pioneers who broke barriers in fields ranging from athletics to politics. We are proud of the work of all of our young historians!
The following students and projects will advance to the county competition:
In the category of Individual Performance, one student will advance:
- Jonah White-Wilson, "The Life of Malcolm X"
In the category of Group Performance, one team will advance:
- Teresa Li and Aarifah Ullah, "The Chinese Immigrants on the Transcontinental Railroad"
In the category of Individual Websites, five students will advance:
- Henry Sun, "John Muir and the American Environmentalist Movement"
- Anna Fruehwirth, "The 1999 Women's National Soccer Team"
- Sara Pollard, "Henrietta Lacks"
- Sofia Brahimi, "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., The Barrier-Breaking Civil Rights Leader"
- Austin Rouse, "Penicillin, Miracle Drug of the 20th Century"
In the category of Group Websites, five teams will advance:
- Nicholas Essepian and Jonathan Lowenthal, "Rodney King and the L.A. Riots"
- Karsen Lineberger and Sophie Simon, "The 19th Amendment"
- Nathaniel Lombardo and Ian McDaniels, "Katherine Johnson"
- August Phelps and Nora Rosario, "Public Housing: The Role of the United States Housing Act of 1937"
- Henry Akins, Austin Yegher, and Soren Zimmer, "Daniel Ellsberg and the Whistleblower: The Pentagon Papers"
In the category of Individual Documentaries, five students will advance:
- Matthew Koff, "Keith Haring: Breaking Barriers During the AIDS Crisis"
- Caroline Andersen, "Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine"
- Sydney Helfand, "Title IX: Billie Jean King's Impact"
- Kade Friedlander, "Miranda v. Arizona"
- Samuel Bromberg, "Madame C.J. Walker: Breaking Barriers"
In the category of Group Documentaries, three teams will advance:
- Kennedy Cameron and Aniya Dyer, "African American Women in 1960s & '70s Television"
- Connor Davis and Tyler Kuehl, "The Manhattan Project: Breaking Technological Barriers"
- Nigel Tate and Canaan Tomlin, "Bear Bryant Desegregating SEC Football"
In the category of Individual Exhibits, five students will advance:
- Brad Yang, "New Journalism! Breaking Barriers in the 1960s"
- Caroline Hamilton, "Not a Footnote: Martha Gelhorn Breaking Journalistic and Gender Barriers"
- Sloane Bernstein, "The Birth of Reproductive Rights"
- Prea Davis, "Breaking Barriers in Entertainment: The Gordon Parks Story"
- Meghan Simpson, "Pop Art"
In the category of Group Exhibits, five teams will advance:
- Dean Katz and Jacob Maged, "How the Brooklyn Bridge Broke Architectural Barriers"
- Jordan Maged and Sidney Smith, "Historically Black Colleges and Opportunities: The Birthplace of Black Opportunity"
- Jerry Cai and Bryan Tan, "John Von Neumann: Breaking the Computing Limit"
- Tyler Royall and Scout Soren, "Woodstock Festival"
- Cole Hanin and Dimitri Sfakiyanudis, "Frank Lloyd Wright."
Congratulations to all of our students who participated in National History Night and helped to make it such a great success!
