News Releases

Gabriella Tillman of Tougaloo Early College High School presents her project.

A group of Mississippi students will head to the National History Day Contest in College Park, Maryland, in June after winning at the state level at an event hosted by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. 

The Mississippi History Day (MHD) competition on April 5 drew middle and high school students to the Two Mississippi Museums, where they displayed projects on the theme of rights and responsibilities.  

MHD is the state’s affiliate of National History Day, a cross-curriculum program focusing on in-depth research and critical analysis. 

During the current school year, more than 330 students completed a project for Mississippi History Day. Of those, 22 won first or second place to qualify for the National History Day Contest. Third-place winners act as alternates for qualifiers who are unable to attend the national contest held June 8-12, at the University of Maryland.  

The Mississippi students will join nearly 3,000 competitors from the United States, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Department of Defense schools in the Atlantic, China and Korea for the national competition. 

2025 Mississippi History Day winners: 

Senior Group Exhibit: 

• First Place: Phoebe Jones and Michael Taquino from Starkville High School: From Ancient Text to National Tongue: Eliezer Ben-Yehuda's Impact on the Hebrew Language
• Second Place: Emma Barton, Zoe Klement, and Jenae Nicholson from Hernando High School: 900
• Third Place: Roger Patrick and Jacob Scott from Hernando High School: Potato Problems 

Junior Individual Exhibit: 

• First Place: Jessica Fleeger from Simpson Central School: The Integration of the University of Mississippi: Rights and Responsibilities 

Senior Individual Exhibit: 

• First Place: Keylee Lang from Starkville High School: Different Mind, Same Opportunities: The Fight for IDEA
• Second Place: Gabriella Tillman from Tougaloo Early College High School: The Right to Liberty or the Responsibility to “Civilize”: The Spanish-American War
• Third Place: Gabriella Walker from Hernando High School: Love Under Conditional Ties 

Senior Group Performance: 

• First Place: Johnny Ford and Myrto Sergi from Starkville High School: The Satanic Panic: How Religious Panic Compromised Inalienable Rights 

Senior Individual Performance: 

• First Place: Israel Cecil from Mississippi School for Math and Science: Yin and Yang: The Colors of the South  

Senior Individual Documentary: 

• First Place: Ariel Bell from Tougaloo Early College High School: The Right to Abundance and Liberty for All: Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society 

Senior Group Website: 

• First Place: Shriyansh Dash, Kai Saiki, and Kevin Zhang from Starkville High School: Red Tailed Angels
• Second Place: Theo Ahn, Brendan Seo, and Joseph Thompson from Starkville High School: Dilemma, Duty, Legacy: Alvin York’s Heroic Actions and Responsibilities
• Third Place: Peter Buys, Cline Kemp, and Donovan Shaffer from Starkville High School: Rights and Responsibilities: Choctaw Code Talkers 

Senior Individual Website: 

• First Place: Hong Zheng from Mississippi School for Math and Science: Excluded from the Land of Opportunity: The Chinese Exclusion Act
• Second Place: Taja Mock-Muhammad from Tougaloo Early College High School: “Aloha-Oe”: The Rights of the People, the Responsibility of a Queen
• Third Place: Ian Jung from Starkville High School: Wong Kim Ark v. U.S: A Court Case that Defined Citizenship 

Senior Paper 

• First Place: Naomi Simpson from Mississippi School for Math and Science: The Lavender Scare: The Origins and Development of the Eradication of Homosexuals from the U.S. Government During the Cold War
• Second Place: Jasmaan Banipal from Mississippi School for Math and Science: How New York Times Co. v. Sullivan Shaped the Press
• Third Place: Ryan Wei from Mississippi School for Math and Science: A Progressive Leap: How the Progressive Era Revolutionized Labor Laws 

NHD is a non-profit organization based in College Park, Maryland, which seeks to improve the teaching and learning of history. Established in 1974, the National History Day Contest engages more than half a million students every year in conducting original research on historical topics of interest. Projects compete first at the local and affiliate levels, where the top entries are invited to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park. NHD is sponsored in part by HISTORY®, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Park Service, The Better Angels Society, and the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation.  

MDAH was founded in 1902 to collect, preserve, and provide access to the archival resources of the state. The commitment to preservation continues today through the work of the department’s five divisions. By preserving Mississippi’s diverse historic resources and sharing them with people around the world, MDAH inspires the discovery of stories that connect our lives and shape our future.  

For more information, call 601-576-6850 or email info@mdah.ms.gov.