A look back at the origins of the Suffrage Movement leading to national voting rights for women, as well as where the Negro Baseball League was conceived and how a tragic loss led to the Amber Alert system will be highlighted Saturday during the Riverside County National History Day Competition.
More than 400 elementary, junior high and high school students from seven school districts countywide, along with four private and charter schools, are slated to take part in the daylong event, beginning at 8 a.m. in Canyon Springs High School, 23100 Cougar Canyon Road, Moreno Valley.
“The annual Riverside County National History Day Competition is an excellent way for our students to gain a deeper understanding of how our nation’s past shapes our current and future direction,” county Superintendent of Schools Edwin Gomez said. “By becoming students of history, this next generation of leaders is discovering a greater understanding of their own rights and responsibilities as they shape the future.”
The contest, this year themed “Rights & Responsibilities in History,” will feature presentations of documentaries, posters, maps, photographs and other items related to each subject.
“Women’s Suffrage” will be among the narratives showcased, detailing “a great turning point in history” that not only ultimately guaranteed voting rights for women, but also “opened the doors for many other Americans to gain the right to vote,” according to the project description.
A group from the Riverside Unified School District will present “The Negro Baseball League Comes to Life,” delving into the roots of the Chicago American Giants and the ensuing successes of Black baseball teams nationwide.
A team from the Corona-Norco Unified School District will provide a chronological account of the Amber Alert system, beginning with the 1996 abduction and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman in Texas, culminating in public safety broadcasts “which effectively protect the rights of missing children and harnesses the responsibility of the community to collaborate in solving these critical cases.”
The top four finishers in the competition will move on to the National History Day-California State Competition scheduled the first week of May in Sacramento. Whoever prevails in that match will head to the national contest, set for June 8-12 at the University of Maryland.
Additional details are available at rcoe.us/student-events/history-day.