Eagle Ridge Middle School students advance to State History Day competition

In February, several students at Eagle Ridge Middle School participated in the regional National History Day competition held at Central Middle School in Eden Prairie. 

One project, “The Grimké Sisters,” by seventh graders Bersabeh “Bersy” Chakiso, Harmony Mayes and Kamyah Michel, advanced to state competition. The students chose to do an exhibit, which included a process paper and annotated bibliography.

Sarah and Angelina Grimké were the first well-known white American female advocates of women's rights.They were also involved with the abolition movement and were among the first American-born women to engage in public speaking tours. Their tours made connections between the struggles for civil rights for African Americans and civil rights for women. The sisters grew up in a slave-owning family in South Carolina. 

The group chose the Grimkés as the topic of their project because the sisters represented two things that they are passionate about – civil rights for African Americans and women’s rights.   

“Something meaningful to me about this topic was that it was about white women standing up for black women during that time,” said Harmony. “That wasn’t something that was really happening during slavery.”

Kamyah said, “I found that the Grimké sisters were very ahead of their time. You don’t see white women advocating for Black rights at that time. They had the courage to speak out about it.”

Even though their project (poster board) was not as big or exciting as other competitors, in their opinion, they believe it was their content and knowledge of the topic that captured the judges and enabled them to advance in the competition. 

Bersy is excited but really nervous about going to state because they’ll be competing against top projects across Minnesota. 

“I really hope that we can make it to the final round, capturing the judges again with our words,” said Bersy.  

The State History Day competition will be held April 27 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

About National History Day

National History Day is an interdisciplinary research project for students in grades 6-12. History Day teaches students to conduct in-depth research, use primary and secondary sources, read a variety of texts, analyze and synthesize information, and write and present historical content. 

Students choose a topic that relates to an annual theme, do research on that topic and present their research in one of five presentation categories: Research Paper, Exhibit, Documentary, Performance, or Website. Students may then enter their projects into History Day competitions at school, regional, state and national levels. 

To learn more about History Day, visit https://www.mnhs.org/historyday.