2020 National History Day Award Winners
As part of听, the Center of the American West sponsors an award for the best paper by a Colorado student on a topic in Western American History, and Center staff are involved with regional and state-level competitions.
Best Project on Western History
鈥淔or her prize-winning History Day project, Maya presented a re-enactment of Betty Herian telling her story and reflecting on its meaning. Reminiscing about Herian鈥檚 childhood on a family farm in Colorado, and her early ventures into the arena of local rodeos, Maya literally lent her own vitality and life force to bring her departed relative back into our company.鈥
-Patty Limerick,听Faculty Director and Chair of the Board
Best Writing on Western History, Junior Division
鈥淚n her essay on the Central Pacific Railroad, Lindsey tells the complicated story of the development of the railroad and its impact on the lives of people out West and in the U.S. more broadly. She makes great use of primary sources so the whole process comes to life for the reader!鈥
-Brooke Neely, Research Fellow
Best Writing on Western History, Senior Division
鈥淚n her winning essay on Western American history, Katya shares the largely-untold story of Uravan, CO, a community that boomed with mineral mining in the early 20th century, later served as a key locale for the Manhattan听Project, but in the mid-1980s ceased to exist over worries about radiation exposure. With vivid details and a great sense of story-telling, Katya highlights how Euro-American mining interests, the rise of atomic science, and the unique geology in Southwestern Colorado intersected in fascinating and troubling ways for the people who lived in Uravan.鈥
-Brooke Neely, Research Fellow