1 00:00:02,366 --> 00:00:05,000 AMNA NAWAZ: Every year for 50 years, some 500,000 middle and high schoolers from across the country 2 00:00:07,333 --> 00:00:11,000 have competed in a contest called National History Day, using arts to portray their research stories. 3 00:00:13,100 --> 00:00:17,433 Jeffrey Brown spent a day with the finalists at the University of Maryland in College Park 4 00:00:17,433 --> 00:00:22,200 to see how this year they defined the very timely turning points in history. 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,400 The story is part of our new series Art in Action, 6 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:30,400 exploring the intersection of art and democracy, and our ongoing Canvas coverage. 7 00:00:38,300 --> 00:00:39,900 (SINGING) 8 00:00:39,900 --> 00:00:43,000 WOMAN: Welcome to the National Human Genome Research Institute. 9 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:47,566 JEFFREY BROWN: It was history brought alive through performance such as this one titled 10 00:00:47,566 --> 00:00:52,533 "Turning the Tide of Hatred: The Killing of Vincent Chin," through documentary films, 11 00:00:59,166 --> 00:01:03,633 and with eye-catching exhibits on the widest range of topics, including the birth of 12 00:01:03,633 --> 00:01:08,633 Children's Television Workshop, how the Dust Bowl revolutionized agriculture, the Manhattan Project. 13 00:01:10,866 --> 00:01:14,933 Some 3,000 students from around the country presenting work based on 14 00:01:14,933 --> 00:01:19,033 research topics that had taken the better part of a year to complete. 15 00:01:19,033 --> 00:01:20,600 CATHY GORN, Executive Director, National History Day: The most important reason why 16 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,433 we teach history and we believe that it is absolutely crucial, 17 00:01:24,433 --> 00:01:29,433 as important as STEM education is, is because it helps build quality, thoughtful, engaged citizens. 18 00:01:32,900 --> 00:01:37,000 They want to do something a little bit different. So, they get to be creative and 19 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:42,000 present that information in different ways. And that's part of the fun. And it is fun. 20 00:01:42,733 --> 00:01:43,600 How are you doing? 21 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:44,600 STUDENT: Pretty good. 22 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:46,800 CATHY GORN: Nice to meet you. 23 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:49,833 JEFFREY BROWN: Historian Cathy Gorn, executive director of National History Day since 1982, 24 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,233 has developed the organization into an acclaimed international academic program, 25 00:01:55,233 --> 00:01:56,733 integrated into curriculum. 26 00:01:56,733 --> 00:01:58,966 MAN: The hat is a different story. 27 00:01:58,966 --> 00:02:02,700 JEFFREY BROWN: Throughout the year, students met with advisers and honed their skills, 28 00:02:02,700 --> 00:02:07,700 then competed in local and state contests before these national finals, where the competition and 29 00:02:09,933 --> 00:02:14,133 energy was most intense,as finalists gathered with their families and practiced their lines, 30 00:02:18,633 --> 00:02:23,633 and judges scored the displays, all following in the footsteps of thousands of previous 31 00:02:25,566 --> 00:02:28,800 competitors over the past half-century, including alumni such as current National 32 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:33,800 Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Pulitzer Prize-winning classical composer Caroline Shaw. 33 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:39,933 High school sophomores Emma Hua Josephine Calzada, And Chloe Crable from Needham, 34 00:02:41,833 --> 00:02:45,200 Massachusetts, produced a documentary on the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study. 35 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,166 STUDENT: Their malicious intent was never revealed to the subject 36 00:02:48,166 --> 00:02:50,433 and some were never even told they had syphilis. 37 00:02:50,433 --> 00:02:55,266 JEFFREY BROWN: From 1932 to 1972, the U.S. government conducted research on 38 00:02:55,266 --> 00:03:00,266 nearly 400 African American men with the disease. The men weren't informed of the 39 00:03:02,100 --> 00:03:05,100 nature of the experiment. More than 100 died who could have been saved. 40 00:03:05,100 --> 00:03:07,500 The students found echoes to today. 41 00:03:07,500 --> 00:03:11,233 JOSEPHINE CALZADA, Student: Tuskegee instilled a lot of distrust in Black 42 00:03:11,233 --> 00:03:14,300 Americans and marginalized communities in general 43 00:03:14,300 --> 00:03:19,300 of the government. So there is still this idea that vaccines, for example, 44 00:03:21,300 --> 00:03:23,500 which there's a lot of concern now, that there are nefarious purposes behind it. 45 00:03:23,500 --> 00:03:25,700 EMMA HUA, Student: As we did further research, 46 00:03:25,700 --> 00:03:30,666 I think the primary sources we saw were really like a lot of images of doctors' handwriting, 47 00:03:32,866 --> 00:03:36,800 doctors' notes, and the correspondence between doctors and officials. It was really, like, 48 00:03:39,933 --> 00:03:44,633 eerie and it's really uncomfortable to see. And I think that's something that really shocked us all. 49 00:03:44,633 --> 00:03:48,800 JEFFREY BROWN: You know, you're also all growing up at a time of incredible divisions 50 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:53,500 in the country and a lot of people fearing for the future, the future of democracy in 51 00:03:53,500 --> 00:03:58,466 this country. And I wonder how this project -- did it offer any special insights into that? 52 00:04:00,466 --> 00:04:02,900 CHLOE CRABLE, Student: Looking at what happened in the past and I guess just 53 00:04:02,900 --> 00:04:06,700 applying it to what's happening today to, like, avoid making the same mistakes, 54 00:04:06,700 --> 00:04:10,666 I think that's one of the main points of studying history. 55 00:04:10,666 --> 00:04:13,500 EMMA HUA: Knowing that us as high school sophomores, 56 00:04:13,500 --> 00:04:17,733 as 15-year-olds can just do that and make an impact in people's lives, 57 00:04:17,733 --> 00:04:22,733 I think it brings me hope that knowing that, like, everyone can kind of make an impact in the world. 58 00:04:24,066 --> 00:04:26,233 JEFFREY BROWN: That's music to the ears of Gorn. 59 00:04:26,233 --> 00:04:31,066 CATHY GORN: They found out that people can make change. Ordinary people can find triumph out of 60 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:37,100 unspeakable tragedy, that they will look for compromise. And they learn that we're all in 61 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:45,000 this together. And that's what democracy is about. And that's what history teaches. In the process, 62 00:04:46,666 --> 00:04:50,733 it's teaching, empathy. And, right now, we need a lot of empathy. 63 00:04:52,700 --> 00:04:55,833 JEFFREY BROWN: Thirty-year-old Hayden Washegesic of rural South Haven, Michigan, 64 00:05:00,066 --> 00:05:04,000 is part of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. 65 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:09,000 We watched as he performed before a roomful of judges, family, and fellow students "AIM: 66 00:05:11,300 --> 00:05:14,800 The Natives Fight Back." It tells of the founding of the American Indian movement in 1968 to address 67 00:05:17,033 --> 00:05:21,800 poverty, discrimination, and police brutality against American Indians. An actor from age 5, 68 00:05:23,333 --> 00:05:27,266 Hayden sees performing as a tool for conveying history. 69 00:05:27,266 --> 00:05:30,400 HAYDEN WASHEGESIC, Student: I really feel it can be more powerful because it changes 70 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:35,400 every time. It's that one set show. And with acting, I just -- I can kind of walk around, 71 00:05:37,066 --> 00:05:39,533 I can yell, I can change it up based on how I feel it'll fit the room. 72 00:05:39,533 --> 00:05:42,100 And I really feel like just performance gives a way more 73 00:05:42,100 --> 00:05:45,866 powerful -- a way of showing that and conveying the message. 74 00:05:45,866 --> 00:05:47,933 TERRY KALDHUSDAL, Teacher: I remember that character. 75 00:05:47,933 --> 00:05:51,333 JEFFREY BROWN: Heather Damario of Alaska and National Teacher Hall of Fame member 76 00:05:51,333 --> 00:05:56,333 Terry Kaldhusdal of Wisconsin see those light bulbs go off in their classrooms. 77 00:05:58,233 --> 00:06:00,600 HEATHER DAMARIO, Teacher: They choose something that is of interest to them 78 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:04,933 and they have to show its connection to other parts economic, social and political causes, 79 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,666 impacts and changes, which allows them to learn about other parts of history. 80 00:06:09,666 --> 00:06:11,966 They learn about different parts of the world, when they look at of the world. 81 00:06:11,966 --> 00:06:14,266 TERRY KALDHUSDAL: In history, a lot of times, we say, here's what happened. 82 00:06:14,266 --> 00:06:17,466 Now tell me what happened. Excellent. You get an A. That's not doing history. 83 00:06:17,466 --> 00:06:21,200 So these kids are digging for sources. Am I trying to train them to be historians? No, 84 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:25,900 I'm trying to train to be more critical thinkers, deeper thinkers. And this is 85 00:06:25,900 --> 00:06:29,900 the tool that not only gets them engaged in history, gets them engaged to be deep 86 00:06:29,900 --> 00:06:34,266 readers. These are all skills they're going to be using no matter what path they take in life. 87 00:06:34,266 --> 00:06:36,033 KEN BURNS, Documentary Filmmaker: You all 88 00:06:36,033 --> 00:06:40,033 represent a kind of front line in all of the work that we're doing. 89 00:06:41,366 --> 00:06:42,633 JEFFREY BROWN: Also on hand, filmmaker Ken Burns. 90 00:06:42,633 --> 00:06:46,833 KEN BURNS: We are trying to tell a true, honest, 91 00:06:46,833 --> 00:06:50,633 complicated past that's unafraid of controversy and tragedy, 92 00:06:50,633 --> 00:06:55,633 but equally drawn to those stories and moments that suggest an abiding faith in the human spirit. 93 00:06:57,900 --> 00:07:00,900 JEFFREY BROWN: Students eager to learn about the art of filmmaking, peppered them with questions. 94 00:07:00,900 --> 00:07:03,400 STUDENT: How do you figure out what to include 95 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:07,466 and not to include in order to convey a cohesive story? 96 00:07:07,466 --> 00:07:10,033 STUDENT: How do you research when you have to look at what isn't being 97 00:07:10,033 --> 00:07:12,800 mentioned and draw conclusions about a time period from that? 98 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:17,033 JEFFREY BROWN: I asked Cathy Gorn, if the study of history can bring us together, 99 00:07:17,033 --> 00:07:19,700 why is it so much under attack today? 100 00:07:19,700 --> 00:07:24,700 CATHY GORN: Why is that happening now? Because we're not teaching enough about 101 00:07:26,933 --> 00:07:29,833 how we overcome our issues and our problems. We think that there are solutions that are just so 102 00:07:31,900 --> 00:07:35,600 easy and there are single answers to things. And history teaches us that life is complex. 103 00:07:37,566 --> 00:07:41,266 We're helping to create informed citizens, informed patriots, not blind patriots. 104 00:07:47,566 --> 00:07:51,066 JEFFREY BROWN: In the end, there were winners in many different categories. 105 00:07:51,066 --> 00:07:56,066 CATHY GORN: Taking home the silver from St. Paul, Minnesota, Zania Hierlmaier. 106 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:01,533 JEFFREY BROWN: The larger hope, the research and performances and other work shown here will 107 00:08:01,533 --> 00:08:06,533 have lasting impacts on these students and the rest of us for years to come. 108 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:11,233 For the PBS "News Hour," I'm Jeffrey Brown at the University of Maryland. 109 00:08:11,233 --> 00:08:14,633 AMNA NAWAZ: And congratulations to all those winners.