District History Day
Students can exhibit their research in one of five different modes: paper, performance, documentary, exhibit or website. The performance, documentary or exhibit may be done as a group or an individual entry. Papers are individual entry only. Websites are both group and individual entries.
The top three winners in each entry category from the District contest are eligible for the Nebraska State History Day contest held April 1, 2025. The The National History Day Contest will be held June 11 - 15, 2025.
History Day competition is open to students in grades 6-8 (Junior Division) and grades 9-12 (Senior Division). Each entry needs a teacher sponsor, but does not necessarily have to be part of a class assignment. The entry deadline is January 31, 2023 and the entry fee is $10.00 per student.
For questions or more information, please contact Dr. Jason Phillips . The Social Science faculty and Peru State College are looking forward to working with you and your students.
History Day 2025 Competition
February 23, 2025
Please see sidebar for past group/individual winners
The 2024 Contest Theme - Turning Points in History
For sample topics, you may download
the National History Day Themebook.
Contest Location: Peru State College Campus
Entry Fee: $10 per student
Registration Deadline: January 31, 2025
Registration Opens:
For Teachers - January 1, 2025
For Students - January 12, 2025
Special Awards
Special Awards for Peru State College's District History Day Contest. Peru State College will also have special awards, presented by local historical groups.
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Peru State College Foundation will award scholarships to all winners in the senior division, in both individual and group contests. The award is a tuition-only grant to Peru State, and grants may only be used for tuition costs of on-campus classes. The grant may not be used for early entry or online classes.
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Homestead National Historical Park is awarding trophies for best individual or group entry that mentions a National Park Service site in the entry and uses 2 primary sources or photos from a National Park Service website. Submissions that mention Native American history, the prairie ecosystem, agricultural history, or immigration history will also be considered. The winning individual or group will be invited to Homestead National Historical Park for a personal tour. Winner(s) who qualify for state will also have a project development session while at the Park.
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Presented to a Junior level individual entry or group who displays extraordinary leadership in promoting a cause or idea. The award includes:1. A one year pass (for awardee and immediate family) to the Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark Center in Nebraska City, NE 2. A copy of the book Undaunted Journey by Stephen Ambrose 3. A certificate
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Phi Alpha Theta, Peru State College's History Honorary Society, is sponsoring this special award. All sponsoring teachers are encouraged to nominate one of their History Day competitors for this award no later than 1 week before the contest date by email to Dr. Jason Phillips. The members of the College's Phi Alpha Theta Society will review the nominations and make the awards presentation.
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The Kregel Windmill Museum in Nebraska City is sponsoring a special award for the best entry on a subject dealing with machinery used in agriculture, past or present.
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Peru Historical Foundation is sponsoring a trophy for the best entry, individual or group, focusing on a historical event/innovation in Nebraska.
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Nebraska City Museum Association is sponsoring an award with individual trophies for the best use of a museum archive or collection (i.e. photographs, video, audio, documents, etc.)
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Arbor Lodge is sponsoring an award for best individual entry with a topic relating to the environment and/or Nebraska. The book, It Happened in Nebraska and a one year individual Explore It All pass from Arbor Day Farm and Arbor Lodge Tree Adventure will be awarded to the winner.
Past Winners
Award Descriptions & other information can be found here: https://www.nebraskanhd.org/perucontest
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Junior Group Exhibit
- 4th Place: Lexie Bennett & Macyn Wilkie-Kupfer, “Women’s Voting Rights” (Lourdes Central Catholic School; Beth Box)
- 3rd Place: Annalynn Beach & Ava Mohr, “Chaos in England: The Divorce of King Henry VIII from Katherine of Aragon” (Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca; Sarah Burr)
- 2nd Place: Ayla Eggers & Alayna Helms, “The Founding Fathers of Aviation” (Johnson-Brock; Mitch Roberts)
- 1st Place: Hailee Greiner & Hannah Greiner, “The Development of Native American Reservations” (Johnson-Brock; Mitch Roberts)
Junior Individual Exhibit
- 4th Place: Auggie Bruggeman, “The Cabinet Makers Dream” (Oak Arbor Homeschool; Liz Bruggeman)
- 3rd Place: Tyson Lunzmann, “Remembering Pearl Harbor” (Johnson-Brock; Nicole Lade)
- 2nd Place: Luke Fulton, “Nikola Tesla: The Discovery of Alternating Currents” (Johnson-Brock; Nicole Lade)
- 1st Place: Magdalene Falcone, “Picturing History Through Photography” (Lourdes Central Catholic School; Beth Box)
Junior Group Performance
- 3rd Place: Brandy Johnson, Calla Masters, Olivia Foley, Tatumn Walters, & Zoe Kailing, “How Prosthetic Impacted the World” (Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca; Sarah Burr)
- 2nd Place: Leighton Edwards & Mia Benight, “The Seneca Falls Convention” (Johnson-Brock; Nicole Lade)
- 1st Place: Addison Volker, Marleigh Behrends, & Quinlee Sayer, “The Night of Terror: Fight in the Occoquan Workhouse” (Johnson-Brock; Nicole Lade)
Junior Individual Performance
- 2nd Place: Kendall Jeanneret, “The 19th Amendment: Women’s Rights to Vote” (Johnson-Brock; Nicole Lade)
- 1st Place: Noah Metschke, “The Civil Rights Act of 1964—How Standing up for Justice Changed the World” (Johnson-Brock; Nicole Lade)
Junior Group Documentary
- 4th Place: Addison Grotrian & Lauren Behrends, “Women’s Suffrage” (Johnson-Brock; Mitch Roberts)
- 3rd Place: Drake White & Lilly Dorman, “Injectable Ingenuity: How Injectable Insulin Saved Countless Type One Diabetic Lives” (Lourdes Central Catholic; Wendi Buggi)
- 2nd Place: Amelia Moody & Quinlan Weninger, “The World Turned Upside Down: The British Surrender at Yorktown” (Lourdes Central Catholic; Wendi Buggi)
Junior Group Website
- 2nd Place: Audrey Liesemeyer & Hailey Pfeiffer, “From Domestic to Industry: The Influence of Women in the Workforce” (Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca; Sarah Burr)
- 1st Place: Baker Beethe, Coy Behrends, & Landon Ideus, “The California Gold Rush” (Johnson-Brock; Nicole Lade)
Junior Individual Website
- 3rd Place: Edith Blomsted, “Evelyn Sharp: The Story of Sharpie” (Johnson-Brock; Mitch Roberts)
- 2nd Place: Taytum Maddox, “Rosa Parks Bravery: Massive Change for African Americans” (Falls City Middle School; Sharon Jeffries)
- 1st Place: Emily Borer, “Honest Abe: The Fight for Racial Equality” (Lourdes Central Catholic; Wendi Buggi)
Junior Paper
- 4th Place: Deacon Jacobs, “A Turning Point in History: The Bombing of Pearl Harbor” (Falls City Middle School; Sharon Jeffries)
- 3rd Place: Kenley Alexander, “Girl to Hero: The Influence of a Turning Point of the View of Sexism and Sports” (Falls City Middle School; Sharon Jeffries)
- 2nd Place: Lauren Brehm, “Pony Express” (Lourdes Central Catholic; Wendi Buggi)
- 1st Place: Katelyn Melvin, “Give Earth A Chance: Earth Day’s Critical Role in the Environmental Revolution” (Johnson-Brock; Mitch Roberts)
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Senior Group Exhibit
- 1st Place: Andrew Hodges, Gavin Parriot, & Holden Berglund, “Evolution of Firearms: The Metallic Cartridge” (Johnson-Brock; Dan Gossman)
Senior Individual Performance
- 1st Place: Dominic Kouba, “Ramifications of 1898: Imagining McKinley’s Press Conference at the start of the Spanish-American War” (Twenty-Fourth Street Academy; Ann Kouba)
Senior Group Documentary
- Cayden Miller, Jackson Reimers, Manioz Turquiz Ajanel, & Trevor Ferryman, “Oppenheimer from destroyed to destroyed” (Nebraska City High School; Justin Aaberg)
Senior Individual Documentary
- Caleb Bohling, “Turning Points in History: F-22 Raptor” (Johnson-Brock; Dan Gossman)
Senior Individual Website
- Abigail Blomstedt, “The Tennessee Valley Authority: How George Norris Turned the Lights On” (Johnson-Brock; Dan Gossman)
Senior Paper
- Heart Riosa, “The Aftermath of Deinstitutionalization” (Nebraska City High School; Justin Aaberg)
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- The Michelle A. Broady Award: Auggie Bruggeman, “The Cabinet Makers Dream”
- The Arbor Lodge Special Award: Katelyn Melvin, “Give Earth A Chance: Earth Day’s Critical Role in the Environmental Revolution”
- The Kregel Windmill Factory Museum Special Award: Craig Anthony, “Evolution of the Big Round Baler”
- The Peru Historical Foundation Award: Abigail Blomstedt, “Tennessee Valley Authority: How George Norris Turned the Lights On”
- “We Proceeded On” Sponsored by the Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark Center: Ashton Smith, “James Naismith and the History of Basketball
- The Nebraska City Museum Association Award: Hailee Greiner & Hannah Greiner, “The Development of Native American Reservations”
- The Homestead National Historical Park Special Award: Layla Miller, “Railroad to the Future: The Production of the Transcontinental Railroad”
- The Sara B. Crook Award: Kendall Jeanneret, “The 19th Amendment: Women’s Rights to Vote”