Area students participated in the Old Independence Regional Museum’s History Day, Tuesday, Feb. 19. The event was held in coordination with Batesville School District’s gifted and talented (G/T) program and the National History Day organization.
Thirty G/T students from the fourth and fifth grades entered the competition and created poster projects based on this year’s theme: Triumph and Tragedy.
In addition, the students were asked to highlight a family tie to the theme. Dr. Patsy Ramsey, Arkansas’ National History Day coordinator, and Dr. Justin Castro, regional History Day coordinator, along with local historians from the museum, Independence County Historical Society, and Lyon College served as judges.
“We were very impressed with the quality of the projects that the fourth and fifth grade students submitted,” said Ramsey. “We are really looking forward to working with the Batesville School District again.”
First place was awarded to Annaleigh Castleberry (pictured above) for her project titled, “From the Orphanage to the Pulpit.” Castleberry will be receiving a $50 cash prize from a family foundation tied to the National History Day organization.
Maggie Price (above) was awarded the second place prize, $25, sponsored by Old Independence Regional Museum, for her project titled, “Murder,” which focused on mortality rates and changes in medical care in the 1920s driven by medical advancements made as a result of World War I. Unfortunately, those advancements came too late for her great-great-grandfather, who was shot in 1922 in an armed robbery at the coal mine where he worked and died two days later. The “tragedy to triumph” angle is that his infant daughter grew up to become a surgical nurse at the Fulton County Hospital in Salem, helping to save many lives.
Lane Lafitte was awarded the third place prize, $15, sponsored by Independence County Historical Society, for his project, “Pirate or Hero.”
The posters of all of the students will remain on display at Old Independence Regional Museum for the remainder of the week.
