National History Day 2017
With the start of the school year I wanted to quickly reflect on the past year and the opportunity I had to be a judge for National History Day. The focus them was Exploration, Encounter, Exchange and I was amazed at the level of research and work students from local schools produced from a wide variety of topics covering local history across Pennsylvania to world history. The research students conducted ranged from going into local archives, online primary research, as well as producing oral histories and interviewing subject experts across the nation and world as well as relying on a wide range of secondary sources.
And with the announcement of the theme for 2017 being Taking a Stand in History I took this opportunity to dig through the Cumberland County Historical Society collections to find various individuals and topics in our County’s History who took a Stand:
Robert Whitehill and The American Revolution and the Bill of Rights
Whiskey Rebellion and George Washington Visit to Carlisle
James Sullivan
Daniel Kaufmann and the Underground Railroad
The Fighting Butlers
Drawbaugh vs. Bell: The Invention of the Telephone
Carlisle Indian School and the Pan-Indian Movement
Desegregation of Carlisle Schools
The Shelling of Carlisle
Vance McCormick
The above topics are just skimming the surface of the many collections CCHS holds and with over 10,000 objects and 3 million photographs we are sure to have something for anyone doing historical research. And as we are adding more stories to the Gardner Digital Library there is a chance students can use our digital collections as well. After being introduced to the amazing work students are producing locally and across the state for National History Day I am looking forward to participating again this upcoming year.
Blair Williams, Media Specialist