WEBVTT 00:02.366 --> 00:05.000 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: Every year for 50 years, some 500,000 middle and high schoolers from across the country 00:07.333 --> 00:11.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% have competed in a contest called National History Day, using arts to portray their research stories. 00:13.100 --> 00:17.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Jeffrey Brown spent a day with the finalists at the University of Maryland in College Park 00:17.433 --> 00:22.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to see how this year they defined the very timely turning points in history. 00:22.200 --> 00:25.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% The story is part of our new series Art in Action, 00:25.400 --> 00:30.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% exploring the intersection of art and democracy, and our ongoing Canvas coverage. 00:38.300 --> 00:39.900 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (SINGING) 00:39.900 --> 00:43.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% WOMAN: Welcome to the National Human Genome Research Institute. 00:43.000 --> 00:47.566 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JEFFREY BROWN: It was history brought alive through performance such as this one titled 00:47.566 --> 00:52.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% "Turning the Tide of Hatred: The Killing of Vincent Chin," through documentary films, 00:59.166 --> 01:03.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and with eye-catching exhibits on the widest range of topics, including the birth of 01:03.633 --> 01:08.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Children's Television Workshop, how the Dust Bowl revolutionized agriculture, the Manhattan Project. 01:10.866 --> 01:14.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Some 3,000 students from around the country presenting work based on 01:14.933 --> 01:19.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% research topics that had taken the better part of a year to complete. 01:19.033 --> 01:20.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% CATHY GORN, Executive Director, National History Day: The most important reason why 01:20.600 --> 01:24.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we teach history and we believe that it is absolutely crucial, 01:24.433 --> 01:29.433 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% as important as STEM education is, is because it helps build quality, thoughtful, engaged citizens. 01:32.900 --> 01:37.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% They want to do something a little bit different. So, they get to be creative and 01:37.000 --> 01:42.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% present that information in different ways. And that's part of the fun. And it is fun. 01:42.733 --> 01:43.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% How are you doing? 01:43.600 --> 01:44.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% STUDENT: Pretty good. 01:44.600 --> 01:46.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% CATHY GORN: Nice to meet you. 01:46.800 --> 01:49.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: Historian Cathy Gorn, executive director of National History Day since 1982, 01:51.800 --> 01:55.233 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% has developed the organization into an acclaimed international academic program, 01:55.233 --> 01:56.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% integrated into curriculum. 01:56.733 --> 01:58.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% MAN: The hat is a different story. 01:58.966 --> 02:02.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: Throughout the year, students met with advisers and honed their skills, 02:02.700 --> 02:07.700 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% then competed in local and state contests before these national finals, where the competition and 02:09.933 --> 02:14.133 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% energy was most intense,as finalists gathered with their families and practiced their lines, 02:18.633 --> 02:23.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and judges scored the displays, all following in the footsteps of thousands of previous 02:25.566 --> 02:28.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% competitors over the past half-century, including alumni such as current National 02:28.800 --> 02:33.800 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Pulitzer Prize-winning classical composer Caroline Shaw. 02:35.800 --> 02:39.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% High school sophomores Emma Hua Josephine Calzada, And Chloe Crable from Needham, 02:41.833 --> 02:45.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Massachusetts, produced a documentary on the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study. 02:45.200 --> 02:48.166 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% STUDENT: Their malicious intent was never revealed to the subject 02:48.166 --> 02:50.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and some were never even told they had syphilis. 02:50.433 --> 02:55.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: From 1932 to 1972, the U.S. government conducted research on 02:55.266 --> 03:00.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% nearly 400 African American men with the disease. The men weren't informed of the 03:02.100 --> 03:05.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% nature of the experiment. More than 100 died who could have been saved. 03:05.100 --> 03:07.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% The students found echoes to today. 03:07.500 --> 03:11.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOSEPHINE CALZADA, Student: Tuskegee instilled a lot of distrust in Black 03:11.233 --> 03:14.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Americans and marginalized communities in general 03:14.300 --> 03:19.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of the government. So there is still this idea that vaccines, for example, 03:21.300 --> 03:23.500 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% which there's a lot of concern now, that there are nefarious purposes behind it. 03:23.500 --> 03:25.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% EMMA HUA, Student: As we did further research, 03:25.700 --> 03:30.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I think the primary sources we saw were really like a lot of images of doctors' handwriting, 03:32.866 --> 03:36.800 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% doctors' notes, and the correspondence between doctors and officials. It was really, like, 03:39.933 --> 03:44.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% eerie and it's really uncomfortable to see. And I think that's something that really shocked us all. 03:44.633 --> 03:48.800 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% JEFFREY BROWN: You know, you're also all growing up at a time of incredible divisions 03:48.800 --> 03:53.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in the country and a lot of people fearing for the future, the future of democracy in 03:53.500 --> 03:58.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% this country. And I wonder how this project -- did it offer any special insights into that? 04:00.466 --> 04:02.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% CHLOE CRABLE, Student: Looking at what happened in the past and I guess just 04:02.900 --> 04:06.700 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% applying it to what's happening today to, like, avoid making the same mistakes, 04:06.700 --> 04:10.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I think that's one of the main points of studying history. 04:10.666 --> 04:13.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% EMMA HUA: Knowing that us as high school sophomores, 04:13.500 --> 04:17.733 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% as 15-year-olds can just do that and make an impact in people's lives, 04:17.733 --> 04:22.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% I think it brings me hope that knowing that, like, everyone can kind of make an impact in the world. 04:24.066 --> 04:26.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JEFFREY BROWN: That's music to the ears of Gorn. 04:26.233 --> 04:31.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% CATHY GORN: They found out that people can make change. Ordinary people can find triumph out of 04:33.200 --> 04:37.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% unspeakable tragedy, that they will look for compromise. And they learn that we're all in 04:40.000 --> 04:45.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% this together. And that's what democracy is about. And that's what history teaches. In the process, 04:46.666 --> 04:50.733 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% it's teaching, empathy. And, right now, we need a lot of empathy. 04:52.700 --> 04:55.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: Thirty-year-old Hayden Washegesic of rural South Haven, Michigan, 05:00.066 --> 05:04.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is part of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. 05:04.000 --> 05:09.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% We watched as he performed before a roomful of judges, family, and fellow students "AIM: 05:11.300 --> 05:14.800 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% The Natives Fight Back." It tells of the founding of the American Indian movement in 1968 to address 05:17.033 --> 05:21.800 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% poverty, discrimination, and police brutality against American Indians. An actor from age 5, 05:23.333 --> 05:27.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Hayden sees performing as a tool for conveying history. 05:27.266 --> 05:30.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% HAYDEN WASHEGESIC, Student: I really feel it can be more powerful because it changes 05:30.400 --> 05:35.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% every time. It's that one set show. And with acting, I just -- I can kind of walk around, 05:37.066 --> 05:39.533 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% I can yell, I can change it up based on how I feel it'll fit the room. 05:39.533 --> 05:42.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And I really feel like just performance gives a way more 05:42.100 --> 05:45.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% powerful -- a way of showing that and conveying the message. 05:45.866 --> 05:47.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% TERRY KALDHUSDAL, Teacher: I remember that character. 05:47.933 --> 05:51.333 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% JEFFREY BROWN: Heather Damario of Alaska and National Teacher Hall of Fame member 05:51.333 --> 05:56.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Terry Kaldhusdal of Wisconsin see those light bulbs go off in their classrooms. 05:58.233 --> 06:00.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% HEATHER DAMARIO, Teacher: They choose something that is of interest to them 06:00.600 --> 06:04.933 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% and they have to show its connection to other parts economic, social and political causes, 06:06.800 --> 06:09.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% impacts and changes, which allows them to learn about other parts of history. 06:09.666 --> 06:11.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% They learn about different parts of the world, when they look at of the world. 06:11.966 --> 06:14.266 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% TERRY KALDHUSDAL: In history, a lot of times, we say, here's what happened. 06:14.266 --> 06:17.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Now tell me what happened. Excellent. You get an A. That's not doing history. 06:17.466 --> 06:21.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So these kids are digging for sources. Am I trying to train them to be historians? No, 06:21.200 --> 06:25.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I'm trying to train to be more critical thinkers, deeper thinkers. And this is 06:25.900 --> 06:29.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the tool that not only gets them engaged in history, gets them engaged to be deep 06:29.900 --> 06:34.266 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% readers. These are all skills they're going to be using no matter what path they take in life. 06:34.266 --> 06:36.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% KEN BURNS, Documentary Filmmaker: You all 06:36.033 --> 06:40.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% represent a kind of front line in all of the work that we're doing. 06:41.366 --> 06:42.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JEFFREY BROWN: Also on hand, filmmaker Ken Burns. 06:42.633 --> 06:46.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% KEN BURNS: We are trying to tell a true, honest, 06:46.833 --> 06:50.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% complicated past that's unafraid of controversy and tragedy, 06:50.633 --> 06:55.633 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% but equally drawn to those stories and moments that suggest an abiding faith in the human spirit. 06:57.900 --> 07:00.900 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JEFFREY BROWN: Students eager to learn about the art of filmmaking, peppered them with questions. 07:00.900 --> 07:03.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% STUDENT: How do you figure out what to include 07:03.400 --> 07:07.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and not to include in order to convey a cohesive story? 07:07.466 --> 07:10.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% STUDENT: How do you research when you have to look at what isn't being 07:10.033 --> 07:12.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% mentioned and draw conclusions about a time period from that? 07:12.800 --> 07:17.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: I asked Cathy Gorn, if the study of history can bring us together, 07:17.033 --> 07:19.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% why is it so much under attack today? 07:19.700 --> 07:24.700 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% CATHY GORN: Why is that happening now? Because we're not teaching enough about 07:26.933 --> 07:29.833 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% how we overcome our issues and our problems. We think that there are solutions that are just so 07:31.900 --> 07:35.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% easy and there are single answers to things. And history teaches us that life is complex. 07:37.566 --> 07:41.266 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% We're helping to create informed citizens, informed patriots, not blind patriots. 07:47.566 --> 07:51.066 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% JEFFREY BROWN: In the end, there were winners in many different categories. 07:51.066 --> 07:56.066 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% CATHY GORN: Taking home the silver from St. Paul, Minnesota, Zania Hierlmaier. 07:58.200 --> 08:01.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: The larger hope, the research and performances and other work shown here will 08:01.533 --> 08:06.533 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% have lasting impacts on these students and the rest of us for years to come. 08:08.200 --> 08:11.233 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% For the PBS "News Hour," I'm Jeffrey Brown at the University of Maryland. 08:11.233 --> 08:14.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: And congratulations to all those winners.