2024 David McCullough Essay Prizes Winners

2024 David McCullough Essay Prizes Winners

2024 Winners

A panel of Gilder Lehrman master teachers selected the pool of finalists from 621 submissions, from which a jury of eminent historians selected the winners. A total of 252 schools participated in the 2024 competition from 38 US states, Washington DC, the US Virgin Islands, Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Morocco, and North Macedonia. Essays were evaluated for their historical rigor, clarity, correctness of style, use of evidence, empathy, and imagination.

Interpretive Category Essay Winners

Interpretive Category

Place Name Essay Title School State
1st Caleb Smith “Torn by Ribbons: John Adams on the Dangers of ‘Ambition’ for the Republic” The Key School MD
2nd Michael Isayan “Charles De Gaulle’s Address to Congress: Shifts in the U.S.-European Relationship and the Rise of Détente” North Hollywood High School CA
3rd Allyson Yang “Alexander Addison’s ‘Liberty of speech, and of the press: a charge to the grand juries of the county courts of the fifth circuit of the state of Pennsylvania’ and the Efficacy of the Sedition Act of 1798” Canyon Crest Academy CA
3rd Brianna Park “The Fugitive Slave Act: An Issue of Ethics or Political Strategy?” International Academy MI
3rd Christopher Bai “The Ill-fated Freedmen’s Bureau: The Complexities of Reconstruction” The Lawrenceville School PA
3rd Lucille Rader “Beyond the vote: Annie Brown Adams and a Bold Perspective of the Fight for Women’s Rights, circa 1880s” Herron High School IN
3rd Spencer Kojima “Unrecognized Insights: Scientists’ Struggles with U.S. Atomic Policies Post-World War II” Collegiate School NY

Research Category Essay Winners

Research Category

Place Name Essay Title School State
1st Harper Quale “Going Viral: How Esther DeBerdt Reed and the Ladies Association of Philadelphia Revolutionized Women’s Political Participation” Westlake High School TX
2nd Mia Lipson “The Personal Was the Political: Successive Administrations’ Hairpin Turning Points in U.S. Foreign Policy During the Haitian Revolution” University of Chicago Laboratory High School IL
3rd Kingsley Amponsah “Pachuquismo: The History and Legacy of Sleepy Lagoon and the Zoot Suit Riots” North Springs Charter High School GA
3rd Maggie Fleischer “JFK’s ‘Optimism Without Infrastructure’: A Pivotal Moment for Mental Health Care in America” Academy of Information Technology and Engineering CT
3rd Michael Isayan “The Chilean Coup of 1973: American Triumphs, Failures, and Implications for Today” North Hollywood High School CA
3rd Tavin Roth “Uranium Mining: Atomic Authority at the Expense of the Navajos” Duluth East High School MN
3rd Wayland Morris-Flood “The Myth of the Untouched Wilderness: How Indigenous Land Management Was Lost in the Pacific Northwest” Lakeside School WA