What is the topic of your winning essay?
The topic of my essay is the Tulsa Massacre and specifically how newspapers sparked the event and helped cover up the atrocity after the fact.
What are your plans/dreams for after high school?
I am thrilled to be the recipient of the Boettcher Foundation Scholarship, a full-ride college scholarship for academic merit. I am attending Colorado College, where I look forward to studying biology and history. I’d love to pursue a career in the medical field someday.
How did your National History Day project influence you and your interest in the American West?
I am a history nerd. I have participated in National History Day every year since 6th grade. Thanks to NHD, I have learned so much about the world and our history. I’ve also become better at skills like interviewing people and calling strangers to ask for their help. I love Colorado and the American West. I first began learning more about the American West when I tagged along with my older brothers when they were doing National History Day projects. One did a project on the Navajo Code Talkers and the secret, unbroken code they created to help the U.S. triumph in World War II. We got to visit the Navajo reservation and I listened as my brother interviewed surviving Code Talkers. When I learned about the Tulsa Massacre, I was eager to write a paper about it. While I had researched Black history in the past, I was unaware that some Native Americans had enslaved Black people and brought them to Oklahoma with them when they were forced to leave their own land during the Trail of Tears. I learned about how our complicated racial history influenced settlement in the west and how Black people in Tulsa found a way to thrive and create successful businesses more than 100 years ago even under the challenges of segregation. Unfortunately, our history in the U.S. and the American West is full of dark chapters. I think more people should learn about the Tulsa Massacre so we can all be aware of atrocities and prevent them in the future.
What advice do you have for future NHD students?
Jump in! NHD is great. You don’t have to know what you are doing. I had no idea how to do a documentary when I was in 6th grade. But, I asked people for help. I found a simple video camera I could use and I did a project on Ryan White, the teen who taught the world about AIDS. I made it all the way to Nationals in my first year and placed 6th in the country. I also encourage kids to be brave. Call or email people and ask them for interviews. Most adults — even famous people — want to help kids. I got a quote from Dr. Anthony Fauci for my Ryan White documentary. Most people hadn’t heard of Dr. Fauci yet, but he was really nice and helped me. I also found Nina Totenberg’s phone number and called her to ask for an interview. She’s the NPR reporter who first reported the story about Anita Hill. Totenberg was surprised that I found her phone number, but she was happy to help. Also, librarians are super helpful and they love NHD. I have met with librarians many times. The Denver Public Library has a 24/7 chat system that connects you with incredibly skilled and helpful librarians. It is a great starting point. Museum directors and people from the Library of Congress love to help NHD students. I’ve learned that researching history is a little like being a detective. It’s really fun to find clues and keep following them until you learn more and more about what really happened in our past.
For her winning essay, Skye traces the undertold history of the Tulsa Massacre. She links the deadly violence in 1921 in Tulsa to the forced relocation of Native peoples and the ongoing racial tensions in Oklahoma. She situates the racist climate in Tulsa within the broader context of the Jim Crow era. And she highlights how the western U.S. has long been a convergence point for people coming from all directions. Skye writes with vivid details and smooth prose, and she displays keen insight on how to uncover important and complex historical episodes. I’m confident she will put all these skills to great use in the future!
– Brooke Neely, Research Fellow