HP150 History Competition
The City of Highland Park’s HP150 Archives and Lakefront Committee and the Highland Park Historical Society have partnered together to create the HP150 History Competition to celebrate and commemorate the 150th anniversary of the City’s founding in 1869. The competition, which is sponsored by YEA! Highland Park, brings attention the City’s rich history and allows participants to not only discover local history collections and other educational tools, but also contribute to Highland Park historical material by encouraging the new study of historical events, people, and groups.
Winners will be announced on July 4, 2019, at the HP150 Big Bash.
Competition Categories:
- Primary – Middle School Students
- High School Students
- Adult
Group projects are also accepted (all group members must be in the same age group).
Forms of Research:
Final research projects may be text, audio or visual including, but not limited to:
- Research Paper (up to 750-1500 words)
- Poster
- Video Presentation (5-10 minutes)
- Oral History
- Other ideas for entry genre may be submitted to the HP150 Archives and Lakefront Committee
Requirements:
All submissions (except oral histories) must include a bibliography with the name of the source and the repository.
At least one primary source must be consulted in its original form.
Born digital objects may be consulted.
Graphic and text files should be submitted as PDFs.
Oral histories can be submitted as a StoryCorp link, Wave or MP4.
Video presentations should be in the MP4 format.
Submissions should be electronic.
Topic Suggestions:
Research for the competition may cover a broad spectrum of local history topics such as farming and immigrant populations in the 19th centuries or 21st century newcomers. How did the Ravines and Moraines affect the development of Highland Park? How did the selection of Jesse Lowe Smith project the development of education in Highland Park? The Chicago History Fair has a developing a topic page that may be helpful: https://www.chicagohistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/HF-developing-a-topic-2019.pdf
Need ideas? Ask an archivist or research librarian at Highland Park Public Library: hppla@hplibrary.org or archives@highlandparkhistory.org.
Additional Information:
The Highland Park Public Library houses archives and special collections. Participants must visit a repository and use original, primary documents related to Highland Park, Illinois.
The competition will be judged by community volunteers who will weigh content, presentation, and analysis.
Deadlines:
- Adults – May 1, 2019
- Youth (Primary, Middle, and High School Students) – June 1, 2019
Prizes (sponsored by YEA! Highland Park):
- First place winners in each competition category receive a $500 prize
- Runner up participants in each competition category receive a $150 prize