National Civil War Student Challenge and related media

Related Video
Theodore Roosevelt Island
Civil War Challenge
Video Clip (1:00)

HISTORY® and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) congratulate the scholarship winners of the National Civil War Student Challenge — a nationwide contest in which high school students from across the country put their Civil War knowledge to the test. In addition to the $15,000 scholarship grand prize, HISTORY and HMH awarded a $7,500 first prize scholarship, a $5,000 second prize scholarship and seven $1,000 third prize scholarships.

Over 22,000 students participated in the Civil War outreach initiative through preparation on an innovative Facebook-based game, studying with Civil War curriculum materials and taking the online Challenge in April. The 30 top-scoring finalists were then invited to take an in-school final exam to determine the scholarship winners.

Of the students from all 50 states who took the Challenge, the top winners include:

  • Grand Prize Winner:

    Jordan L.of Joshua, Texas

  • First Prize Winner:

    Alexander F. of Dunellen, New Jersey

  • Second Prize Winner:

    Tyler L. of Ambler, Pennsylvania

* Third Prize Winners:

  • Misha B. of Evanston, IL
  • Brendan F. of Phoenix, AZ
  • Adam E. of Warriors Mark, PA
  • Alexander D. of Raleigh, NC
  • Bryan R. of Kill Devil Hills, NC
  • Jory M. of Niskayuna, NY
  • Charles J. of Ft Worth, TX

HISTORY and HMH sponsored the Challenge as part of their observance of the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. Over the next four years, HISTORY will air a comprehensive lineup of Civil War-themed programming, exploring all aspects of this pivotal chapter in American history.

To receive notification of the next National Civil War Student Challenge, please sign up here.

National Civil War Student Challenge

Related Interactives (5)

Related Videos (10)

  • Last Stand of the Confederacy
    Last Stand of the Confederacy

    Video Clip (3:21)

    In march of 1865, Confederate forces made a valiant last stand against General Sherman's advancing troops, but were undone by the most unlikely of errors

    Video Clip (3:21)
  • Abraham Lincoln
    Abraham Lincoln

    Video Clip (3:48)

    Today he is known as one of the greatest American presidents, but at the time of his election no one would have predicted Lincoln's success.

    Video Clip (3:48)
  • After the Emancipation
    After the Emancipation

    Video Clip (3:30)

    Four million slaves were formally freed when the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863, but with the Civil War still raging, their future was far from certain.

    Video Clip (3:30)
  • Grant and Sherman Lead the Union
    Grant and Sherman Lead the Union

    Video Clip (3:57)

    Two unlikely leaders, Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman become the most essential Union commanders in the Civil War.

    Video Clip (3:57)
  • The Gettysburg Address: A New Declaration of Independence
    The Gettysburg Address: A New Declaration of Independence

    Video Clip (1:45)

    After the carnage at the Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln reaffirms his commitment to achieving freedom for all.

    Video Clip (1:45)
  • Eisenhower Leads America
    Eisenhower Leads America

    Video Clip (3:21)

    This five-star general and 34th U.S. president launched the Space Race and created the federal interstate highway system.

    Video Clip (3:21)
  • George Washington
    George Washington

    Video Clip (2:19)

    How did George Washington turn a rag-tag group of men into a disciplined fighting machine?

    Video Clip (2:19)
  • William McKinley's Presidency
    William McKinley's Presidency

    Video Clip (3:25)

    Explore the presidency of William McKinley, from his modernization of political news distribution to his war policy and assassination.

    Video Clip (3:25)
  • The Last of the Sioux
    The Last of the Sioux

    Video Clip (3:48)

    Resistant to government regulated reservations, the Sioux retreated into the Black Hills until a final massacre at Wounded Knee.

    Video Clip (3:48)
  • Atomic Bomb Ends WWII
    Atomic Bomb Ends WWII

    Video Clip (2:49)

    The U.S. looked to a new weapon to put an end to WWII.

    Video Clip (2:49)

Related Photo Galleries (5)

  • Civil War: Gettysburg
    Civil War: Gettysburg

    12 Photos

    Explore the historic Civil War battle of Gettysburg through photographs of the battlefield, the soldiers, and the memorials.

    (12 Photos)
  • Vietnam War: Leaders
    Vietnam War: Leaders

    15 Photos

    View images of the Presidents, politicians, and military leaders who influenced American involvement in the Vietnam War.

    (15 Photos)
  • Controversial Generals
    Controversial Generals

    9 Photos

    Throughout American history, a number of controversial generals have clashed with presidents and other officials.

    (9 Photos)
  • Civil War: Union Military Leaders
    Civil War: Union Military Leaders

    13 Photos

    View images of Union leaders from the Civil War, like Abraham Linoln and Ulysses S. Grant, and learn more about the roles they played in this bloody engagment.

    (13 Photos)
  • Civil War: Confederate Leaders
    Civil War: Confederate Leaders

    13 Photos

    View images of Confederate leaders from the Civil War, like Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson, and learn more about the roles they played protecting the southern states.

    (13 Photos)

Related Speeches & Audio (10)

  • Franklin D. Roosevelt on American Progress in World War II
    Franklin D. Roosevelt on American Progress in World War II

    Audio Clip (1:00)

    With the United States now entered into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt uses the occasion of Washington’s birthday to broadcast to the nation on February 23, 1942, an outline of America’s progress in the war.

    Audio Clip (1:00)
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 Labor Day Speech
    Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 Labor Day Speech

    Audio Clip (1:37)

    In his Labor Day radio broadcast in 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt reminds his fellow citizens of the need to devote America’s industrial effort to building weaponry in order to "crush Hitler and his Nazi forces."

    Audio Clip (1:37)
  • John F. Kennedy on Coup in South Vietnam
    John F. Kennedy on Coup in South Vietnam

    Audio Clip (6:06)

    On October 29, 1963, President John F. Kennedy meets with the National Security Council to discuss whether to support the overthrow of South Vietnam's President Ngo Dinh Diem. During the secretly recorded conversation, Secretary of State Dean Rusk and the president craft a detailed plan involving Henry Cabot Lodge, ambassador to South Vietnam, Gen. Paul D. Harkins and the general of the South Vietnamese military, hoping to avoid setting off a civil war in the country.

    Audio Clip (6:06)
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt Delivers D-Day Prayer
    Franklin D. Roosevelt Delivers D-Day Prayer

    Audio Clip (3:37)

    In a national radio broadcast on June 6, 1944, as 160,000 Allied troops land in Normandy in an attempt to liberate France, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asks America to join him in a prayer.

    Audio Clip (3:37)
  • Reagan Speaks on 40th Anniversary of D-Day
    Reagan Speaks on 40th Anniversary of D-Day

    Audio Clip (0:41)

    On June 6, 1984, in Normandy, France, President Ronald Reagan honors the heroes of D-Day, a pivotal moment during World War II.

    Audio Clip (0:41)
  • Nixon on Vietnam War
    Nixon on Vietnam War

    Audio Clip (3:34)

    On March 26, 1971, President Richard Nixon holds a meeting in the Oval Office with his National Security Council to discuss the war in Vietnam. The meeting is secretly recorded. Among the many topics he raises, Nixon recounts a prior conversation with House majority leader Hale Boggs on setting a date for the final withdrawal of U.S. forces.

    Audio Clip (3:34)
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt Reports on Teheran and Cairo Conferences
    Franklin D. Roosevelt Reports on Teheran and Cairo Conferences

    Audio Clip (2:36)

    Following the 1943 Big Four meetings in Teheran and Cairo, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers a Christmas Eve broadcast promising the nation that they can look forward to peace, though at a high cost.

    Audio Clip (2:36)
  • Truman Announces Germany's Surrender
    Truman Announces Germany's Surrender

    Audio Clip (2:04)

    In a May 8, 1945, radio broadcast, President Harry Truman announces the unconditional surrender of Germany, but reminds Americans that the war wages on in the Far East.

    Audio Clip (2:04)
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt's Fourth of July Address
    Franklin D. Roosevelt's Fourth of July Address

    Audio Clip (2:07)

    In a broadcast from his home in Hyde Park, New York, on July 4, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt warns Americans who wish not to get involved in the war that "the United States will never survive as a happy and fertile oasis of liberty surrounded by a cruel desert of dictatorship."

    Audio Clip (2:07)
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt's Fourth Inaugural Address
    Franklin D. Roosevelt's Fourth Inaugural Address

    Audio Clip (6:22)

    With the country at war at the start of his unprecedented fourth term as president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers a short and somber inaugural address at a simple ceremony without a parade or ball on January 20, 1945.

    Audio Clip (6:22)

Most Popular Videos on History.com

More videos

Newest Videos on History.com

More videos

Advertisement

Related Multimedia

Shop HISTORY

See More