Collegiate Students Excel at National History Day  
                                                                                  posted 7/7/2005  

Seventh graders Sjobor Hammer and Anna Hamilton’s History Day journey began last June at History Day camp. It culminated a year later on June 16, 2005 when they won second place in the group documentary category at National History Day in College Park, Maryland with their examination of William Allen White’s battle against the KKK in Kansas, titled “Walking the Path of Duty: William Allen White and the Ku Klux Klan.

Along the way, the two young historians spent hours poring over microfilm of White’s Emporia Gazette editorials denouncing the Klan. In 1924, White ran for governor, not because he aspired to the office, but to expose the KKK, telling voters he had chosen to “walk the path of duty.”

Sjobor and Anna say most people are unaware of the prominence of the Klan in 1920s Kansas. But when the two girls presented their documentary at a Topeka retirement home in the spring, that little-known period of Kansas history came alive for them. An elderly woman told them her father had joined the Klan when she was ten, thinking it was a charitable organization. He took her to a Klan rally where she became frightened when she couldn’t find her father among all the hooded men. Later at home, her father burned his white robe and told her never to tell anyone. She didn’t until she told her story to Sjobor and Anna.

At the national contest, the girls were responding to a judge’s question about what surprised them in their research. They used a poem to illustrate how people felt about the Klan at the time. Sjobor began with the line “I’d rather be a klansman,” then Anna remembered the rest:

“In a robe of snowy white
Than to be a Roman Catholic
In a robe as black as night.”

The poem goes on for several more lines. When Anna recited the entire verse by heart, the judges were clearly impressed. History teacher Travis Lamb, who was in the audience, says his students “knocked the judges’ socks off!”

Anna and Sjobor were among the 14 finalists chosen in their category. At the time, that seemed like reward enough. Still, as Sjobor remembers, “After the finals came out, I kept telling myself it didn’t matter if we got in the top three, but you’d still be disappointed if you didn’t.” They weren’t disappointed. At the awards ceremony, they heard third place announced, then the words, “In second place, from Topeka, Kansas…” But they had to hear the actual title of their entry before they would let themselves begin the trip to the stage to accept their medals.

The girls describe their families as “ecstatic”. Their teacher is equally delighted. “It’s an amazing experience,” says Mr. Lamb, “watching these students’ hard work and consistent effort over the course of the year pay off.”

As for Anna and Sjobor, they’re taking a two-week break, then they’ll be back in History Day camp, teaming up once again to choose a topic for next year’s History Day documentary.

Topeka Collegiate eighth grader Robert Hamilton finished 14^th in the individual performance category at National History Day with his depiction of a Kansas public health crusader, “Dr. Samuel J. Crumbine: Communicating Public Health Reform in Kansas.”  Seventh graders Quentin Chediak, David Gast and Daniel Mandel represented Kansas and their school in the group exhibit category with their project, “Native American Code Talkers: Secret Military Code Changes a Nation.”

National History Day is a year-long education program that engages students in the process of discovery and interpretation of historical topics. Students produce dramatic performances, imaginative exhibits, multimedia documentaries and research papers based on research related to an annual theme. These projects are then evaluated at local, state, and national competitions.