HIspanic Participation in National History Day

National History Day is a competition for students grades 6-12th. Winners from the county level, compete on a state level. State winners proceed to national competition.

In the past little or no topics on Hispanic/Latino history have been included as recommended topics for student projects. However, the theme is usually broad enough to include a wide range of historical figures or events as a possible subject. The theme for 2006 is Stand Up for History, an invitation for active participation.

I have been involved on a County level and can certainly attest to the enthusiasm generated by the competition. The young people cheered the winners like athletic heroes. The quality of the entries were outstanding and were expressed in a variety of formats, displays, monologues, papers, websites, dramatizations, slide presentations, etc. The entries could be by an individual, or group.

The Mission of National History day is to improve the teaching and learning of history in elementary and secondary schools so that students become better prepared, knowledgeable citizens.

This year National History Day celebrated its' 25 year of competition. Hispanics need to be part of this wonderful educational program. Now is the time for concerned Hispanics to get involved in giving national visibility to Hispanic/Latino history, with the support and involvement of teachers and students across the nation. If teachers are not historically aware of Hispanic contributions, how can they guide guide students towards the selection of a Hispanic/Latino topic.

http://www.nationalhistoryday.com/
http://nationalhistoryday.org/02_contest/02.html

Who is Involved?

This is a program that has developed over the last 25 years, building support and partnerships of school districts, community volunteers, business and governmental agencies who see the value of historical knowledge. Not all school districts are involved. Teacher involvement is voluntary; however, some teacher's wrap their social studies curriculum around the yearly competition, strongly encouraging participation.

I was asked to participate as a judge, and was able to solicit support from members of the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research to be involved as well. We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I was amazed at the quality of research that the student's produced.

I was also asked to give some money awards. I gave two, one in the name of my Uncle and Aunt that had passed away, Rodolfo and Deyanira Amparan and one in as the Lozano Family. They were small awards, but well received. Students with the encouragement of their teachers, researched on Hispanic topics. Thus, not only the students, but the teachers, and the public benefited by students vying for the two awards.

How Can I Get Involved?

State coordinators:

http://nationalhistoryday.org/02_contest/02.html

1) Contact your state coordinator and local school district to find out which counties and schools are are participating.

2) Volunteer to help on the day of competition. You'll enjoy the performances and displays and show the staff that we Latinos do care about our history.

3) Consider giving a money award and/or plaque to winners on a Hispanic theme of your choice, i.e. Hispanics in the Civil War, Hispanics that fought to protect the Alamo from Santa Ana, Early Mission Indian Musicians, etc..

You will read in going to the National History Day homepage and list of topics that the approach is world-side historical events. Stand Up for History is perfect theme for our youth. Let them claim their heritage with research and documentation.

There are so many little know facts about Hispanic contributions in the development of the United States and the world. The emphasis is always on the Spanish as conquistadors, BUT they were colonizers, Spanish soldiers that married and formed families with indigenous women throughout the world, and also they were colonizers who brought wife and family with them.

Each state has a National History Day coordinator and they will help facilitate your involvement. Do get involved on some level.

4) I plan to give personal family awards, and are hopeful that the organizations with whom I am associated will consider giving awards as well.

How Much Will it Cost?

The amount of the award that you decide to give, can be as little as $25 on a local level. On the state and national level the awards are quite generous.

Two county directors emphasized that it is really the honor of winning that promotes student (and teacher) involvement.

The American way . . competition.

Please ask your local school district and state coordinator for guidance.

If you are representing an organization or historical site you may want to include a plaque in the gift for schools to hang among their school awards.

For ten years an Arab group in California has been giving a plaque, but no award money, so you can see that support for National History Day is very flexible.

SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENT TOPICS

In the past some winning entries were personal family immigration research, based on oral histories and family records.

1. Spanish language family history research is doable, the records have not all been burned. Si, se puede.

2. Early colonization by Spanish explorers, adventurers or evangelists, or a bit of both.

3. DNA research solving the question if the human race is one family

4. 500 years after Spanish colonizers in the Americas, many monolingual non-Spanish speaking indigenous tribes exist

5. Ancient roads in the Americas reveal expansive network of contact and commerce.

6. Christopher Columbus, a curse or a blessing

7. The California Orange, example of 1000 years of world-wide commerce, from the Arabian peninsula to Southern California.

8. Fathering mestizo children, Gonzalo Guerrero, Spanish slave of the Mayan, is an example of early (1500s) assimilation.

9. The 1512 Laws of Burgos of Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand guide for the protection of the indigenous subjects in Nueva Espana.

10. Hernán Cortés description in 1519 of the magnificence of Mexico City startling contrast with European cities.

11.Silver pesos known as cobs are proof that an integrated global economy existed more than 300 years ago.

12. Ship's carpenter, Martin Lopez, was the key to the survival of Hernán Cortés small crews against the estimated million of Aztec soldiers.

13. Hospital de Jesus in Mexico City, first hospital in the Americas has continued without interruption since it was first built and funded by Hernán Cortés in 1523.

14. The honor for the first attempt to establish a European settlement in North America was in 1526 (Georgia coasts) should go to Lucas Vásquez de Ayallon, not 49 years later
in 1585 (Virginia coast) under the direction of Richard Grenville and Ralph Lane, both attempts failed.

15. Texans set May 9, 1541 as the first European Thanksgiving, not the traditional Pilgrims' date of 1621, and that it took place in present day Palo Duro State Park of Texas near Amarillo, not in Jamestown, Virginia.

16. Early California Goldminers adapted both mining techniques and the Spanish mining laws that had been developed over centuries of experience in Mexico and South America.

17. Discovery of Princess Tecuichpo will, last daughter of Moctezuma II reveals a woman ahead of her time and society.

18. St. Augustine, Florida established in 1565 by the Spanish is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the United States was governed by the Spanish for 230 years.

19. 1600 century Spanish miners, Andrés de Aruana and Bartolomé de Medina should be honored among American scientists.

20. Manila galleon trade, Spanish official inquiry against Manila's governor, Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera in 1644, "whose greed was great".

21. In 1674, 200 different nations and languages were identified in Honduras, international cross road.

22. The Northeast and Southeast trade winds facilitated and encouraged trade between Europe and the Americas, Cuba played a major role.

23. Great differences in the lives of mission Indians in California and Texas

24. Early styles of banking practice varied: Gerónimo de la Garza home-bank in San Antonio, Texas was based on trust.

25. 16th century Crown of the Andes honors the Virgin Mary for sparing the town of Popayan, Colombia

26. José Alzate should be recognized as the inventor of the cotton gin, not Eli Whitney.

27. Spain's Financial Contributions to the American Revolution.

28. Spanish General Bernardo de Galvez Crucial Military Support to the American Revolution

29. The Paniolos of Hawaii: the 1830 legacy of 200 hundred Mexican Vaqueros

30. In California 1830s, Capt. Henry Fitch was fined the cost of a 50 pound church bell as reparation for the abduction of his bride, Josepha Carillo

31. Mission priest, Pablo Tac, tri-lingual Luiseño sent to Rome for training at the age of 12.

32. Tragic California love story, Concepcion Marcela Arguello and Nickolai Petrovich Rezanov

33. Santa Anna, Chewing Gum Innovator

34. The Basque, sheepherders of the world

35. Elfego Baca, myth, legend, or fact

36. Sephardic David Belasco, prime mover in Early American Theater

37. Monterey Jack Cheese should be called Monterey Cota Cheese

38. Through a fabricated genealogical lineage, the state of Arizona almost became private in 1895

39. Cuba, first hospitals to separate mentally ill from criminals

40. Pancho Villa, hero or bandit, $130 million U.S. chase

41. Filipino who fought in WW II were deprived of their veteran's rights and benefits for 44 years