Anna Biddle

Junior

Won the National Endowment for the Humanities “Chronicling America Award”

Q1:  Is history your favorite subject in school?

A1:  I love history and right now I really enjoy my AP Gov class. Along with history my favorite classes are German IV and Page to Stage. 

Q2:  What were your experiences like in creating your paper?

A2:  Writing my paper took a lot of time, research and effort. I started my rough draft in October and never stopped editing it until the final competition in June. It was definitely a stressful experience, but I also made some really nice discoveries along the way. Finding new primary sources that I hadn’t known about before was always exciting.

Q3:  What advice would you give to someone that may have an interest in History Day?

A3:  Pick an original topic that you are really interested in, find as many primary sources as you can and start early!!

Q4:  How do you feel you were able to capture this year’s theme “Rights and Responsibilities in History” within your project?

A4:  My project was about Dr. Harvey W. Wiley and his battle to make American food safe and nutritional. My argument was that it was the right of the people to know what kind of adulterants were added to their food, and the responsibility of the government to regulate the food industry and protect the public’s health.  Harvey worked at the turn of the 20th century, when the federal government was just beginning to accept responsibility for the health and safety of Americans.