National History Day Student Finalists Hosted at Museum    The nation's top young history scholars presented their award-winning projects in a National History Day (NHD) program at the National Museum of Health and Medicine on Wednesday, June 15. The 11 students selected to present their projects at the museum are part of a larger group of more than 2,200 finalists participating in the NHD national contest at the University of Maryland June 12-16. These young historians brought with them the products of months of research, and creative presentations in the form of dramatic performances, documentaries, and exhibits. Robert Hamilton, 14, performs his project, “Dr. Samuel J. Crumbine: Communicating Health Reform in Kansas” Students selected from Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and Ohio presented their work, reflecting this year's NHD theme, “Communication in History: the Key to Understanding.” Projects finalists include: A performance of “FDR & Polio: Communicating Hope and Understanding to a Nation in Fear” by Derek Appley, Lauren Blinde, Marissa Harvey, Anthony Miller, and Caine Westergard from Akron-Westfield Community School in Akron, Iowa. A performance of “Dr. Samuel J. Crumbine: Communicating Public Health Reform in Kansas” by Robert Hamilton from Topeka Collegiate School in Topeka, Kan. A documentary, “A Voice in the Darkness: Dr. Jonathan Mann, Uniting the World Against AIDS,”by Ohio home school students Ian Shaw, Michael Kreuz, Issac Skaggs, and Ben Spang. “Hamlin’s Wizard Oil: Patent Medicine Advertising and Federal Regulations” an exhibit by Peter Contos from Polymath Academy Home-School in Chicago. The museum’s public affairs officer, Steven Solomon, gives the group of students and parents a tour of the museum The students, along with their parents and teachers, were invited to spend a day at the museum to present their projects. Steven Solomon, the museum’s public affairs officer and coordinator for the program, led the group on a tour of the public display area in the morning, which was followed by a visit to the “behind the scenes” areas of the collections. The curators of each collection showed the students and parents artifacts that are not on display and gave an informed talk about the purpose and history of the collections. The students were able to hold a real brain in the neuroanatomical collections, see and touch a shrunken head and a mummy from the anatomical collections and view embryonic models in the Human Developmental Anatomy Center. Peter Contos, 11, shows his winning project about Hamlin’s Wizard Oil, on display in the museum Following lunch, the students presented their projects to museum staff, guests and families. The two performance groups acted on the stage, the documentary was shown on the screen and the exhibit was set up in the museum lobby. Contos, 11, said he chose the topic for his exhibit, “Hamlin’s Wizard Oil” because he “liked how the medicine was made and how the salesman would pitch it.” Students were then presented with certificates in recognition of the extensive research they conducted for these projects by Adrianne Noe, Ph.D., the museum’s director. Museum director, Adrianne Noe, Ph.D., presents a winning performance group with certificates Two students from the documentary group talked about the editing and camerawork that was required. “It really only takes two [computer] programs. We had to do some research on how to put it together, but we really liked doing it,” said Kreuz and Shaw of Ohio said of their documentary. The students left their projects to be on display in the museum until October 2005.