FIVE NATIONAL HISTORY DAY PROJECTS ON DISPLAY AT MUSEUM

The works of seven young historians are on display at the National Museum of Health and Medicine through Oct. 1, 2002. Each of the projects, three exhibits and two documentaries, focuses on history as it relates to health and medicine. The projects were created for the 24th National History Day (NHD), an annual national competition of more than 700,000 students in grades 6-12. This year, students competed to convey the theme "Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History."

After researching and designing their projects, students competed at multiple levels. The entries were judged at the local and state levels for historical quality, clarity of presentation, and adherence to the theme. Finally, about 2,000 students were invited to compete at the national level at the University of Maryland, College Park.

"I continued to improve my exhibit through each competition," said Emily Fusco, a 12-year-old student at A.C. Reynolds Middle School in Asheville, N.C. "It looks completely different now than it did when I first started."

When Fusco's sister was sick, she was given antibiotics. Fusco's curiosity about germs prompted her to create, "The Face of the Enemy: Leeuwenhoek's Germs."

Alexa Zolkower, a junior at Dunedin High School in Dunedin, Fla. created "Burke and Hare: The Uncovered Bodysnatchers," an exhibit that chronicles the involvement of two Scottish men in a medical cadaver supplying scandal.

"I was in Scotland last summer on a marching band trip. We went on a witching tour, which is similar to a ghost tour, and Burke and Hare was one of the topics that was discussed. I remembered it, and thought that it was interesting and fit the National History Day theme," said Zolkower.

The three-member group of sixth grade students from Sycamore School in Indianapolis did not need to travel overseas to develop an idea for their documentary, "Prozac: Revolutionizing the Perception and Treatment of Depression," because Prozac was invented in their hometown.

"There were a lot of resources and they were easy to find," said Tom Schroeder. "We interviewed people at Eli Lilly and the co-inventor of Prozac."

All entries were required to be student-produced. The group began working on their project last September.

"We had to shoot our own film and do our own editing," said Nick Huster. "I learned a lot about movie making."

Many other lessons were learned by the students in this group.

"I learned I had to work diligently and as a group," said Alan Murugan. "From the project, I learned that depression is not a character flaw but an illness."

The second 10-minute documentary being shown at the museum is by Gerald Creech, a 14 year old from Waldorf, Md. When researching for his project, "Medicine During the Civil War," Creech used a variety of resources including the National Museum of Health and Medicine.

This is Creech's second year entering the NHD contest. From this project, he has learned that "medicine is always improving. The Civil War was a great time for us to learn about medicine and some great medical practices came from it."

After setting up their exhibits, the students and their families were given tours by museum staff and curators. They also answered questions about their projects and were awarded a plaque.

"I am delighted for these students and congratulate them on their exceptional work," said Dr. Adrianne Noe, museum director. "It is very rewarding to meet such a talented group of young students with a genuine interest in medical history. We're proud to share their work with medical professionals and the public here at the museum."

The exhibits are on display in the lobby of the museum and the documentaries are being shown in the museum's classroom.