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History Day Contest Features Tinker
The State Historical Society of Iowa has announced 25 students qualified for the National History Day national finals at the University of Maryland where they will compete with nearly 2,000 students from across the country for cash prizes up to $1,000.
The NHD in Iowa junior division contest featured 307 students in grades 6-8 at the State Historical Building April 24. The senior division contest featuring 205 students in grades 9-12 will be May 1.
Working individually or collaboratively in groups of two to five, NHD students prepare and present research papers, exhibits, documentaries and performances about historical issues, ideas, people and events. The year-long academic-enrichment program fosters their enthusiasm for learning and encourages them to use primary, secondary, community and statewide resources on a subject of their choice related to an annual theme. This year’s theme is “Taking a Stand in History: People, Ideas, Events.”
More than 4,000 Iowa students participated in NHD school district competitions this academic year. About 60 winners from the junior division contest and senior division contest will advance to the national finals June 11-15 at the University of Maryland. Last year, Iowa had four national winners.
A highlight of Monday’s event was a presentation by Des Moines native, John Tinker, who rose to national prominence in 1965 when he joined four other students to protest the Vietnam War by wearing black arm bands in defiance of school policy. Suspended on disciplinary grounds that were upheld in federal court, the students took their case to the Supreme Court, arguing that they had been denied their right of freedom of expression under the First Amendment. In 1969, the Court ruled in their favor, determining that arm bands did not constitute a sufficient reason to abridge free speech – a decision which helped provide a legal foundation for subsequent anti-war protests.
In his remarks to about 650 NHD students, teachers, parents and volunteers, Tinker said he grew up in a household that embraced civil rights causes, especially when his father became the peace education secretary for the American Friends Service Committee after working as a minister for a number of churches in Iowa.
“A lot of people questioned whether our decision to wear the black arm bands was ours or whether we were put up to it by our fathers,” Tinker said. “Truthfully, it was our protest. When my dad found out what we were going to do he said I shouldn’t do it. After we talked about it, he realized it was a matter of conscience and said he would support me.”
Tinker, his fellow students and their families received a large amount of criticism for taking a stand on the Vietnam War.
“I’ve been called unpatriotic,” he said. “We had red paint dumped on our property and buck shot sprayed at our house from drive-by shootings. But free speech is important, perhaps the most important – it’s amendment number one. The ability to think what you want and the ability to communicate what you think is imperative for a free society.”
Tinker and his sister, Mary Beth Tinker, will also present at the senior
division contest May 1.
