National History Day Honors Peters Students with First Place at States

More than 100 men died in the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, with some of the worst violence taking place in Pittsburgh.

It was this tumultuous chapter in U.S. labor relations, marked by more than $6 million in property damage, that caught the attention of seventh graders Matthias Campion and Dylan Grosz, as they prepared an entry for this year’s National History Day competition.

Their ensuing research earned them first place—at the state level—where they were honored this past weekend at Millersville University in Lancaster.

The boys are third-year NHS veterans, as they previously participated in sixth and seventh grades.

National History Day is a yearlong program in which students choose an historical topic related to an annual theme, conduct extensive primary source research and then present their findings in the form of a performance, documentary, website, paper or exhibit. 

This year’s theme was “Debate and Dialogue in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences.”

The duo chose to construct an exhibit chronicling the violence of the Great Railroad Strike. 

"We wanted to find something unique, something that everyone didn't know about, but still something that was influential and that we could fully research," they said. "We saw that there were many strikes listed on the topic sheet, but we wanted to find the first strike that influenced them all—and it was in Pittsburgh."

Dylan and Matthias poured through 19th century records of the Great Railroad Strike, which first erupted in Martinsburg, WV, when the management of the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad cut the wages of its workers twice in one year. 

Similar events led to unrest in Cumberland, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Chicago, with state militiamen called upon to quell the violence with limited success. Not until President Rutherford B. Hayes sent in federal troops did the violence cease.

"This strike demonstrated that if diplomacy fails it can have very serious consequences," the boys said. 

Among their most valuable sources were four 1877 issues of "The Albany Argus" newspaper of Albany New York, not to mention "The New York Times" and the "American Railroad Journal."

"We'd keep conversing about bits and pieces of the info and whittle it down into categories," they said.

"We'd try to find an artifact to illustrate our topic. In sixth-grade, we had a radio that played the first KDKA radio broadcast. In seventh-grade, we had a train that ran on a track across the board showing the progression of time on the strike."

Last year's project entitled, "Stopped in Their Tracks," towers nearly six feet and analyzes the events of the summer of 1877 that would greatly influence labor/management relations after the Civil War. 

"We wanted to give (this year's project) more of a visual 3-D effect," Matthias said. "So we used matting paper instead foam board. We wanted to put good information on it and make it visibly appealing to the judges."

When asked about their secret to success they replied: 

"Good teamwork—we tried to give it our best effort. Our adviser, Mr. Vaughn Dailey, was a tremendous help. He helped us prepare and organize, and he had a countdown to completion to keep us on track. He also did home visits to help us reach our goal."

Both students said they were excited about their big win and have truly enjoyed the National History Day experience.

"We were shocked when we won—to get first place in states was astounding," they said. "I liked being able to meet people from different states and territories," Matthias said. 

"I learned how to manage time and properly allot my time," Dylan said. "It will be helpful in preparing for college because we will have to continue to do that for projects and reports."

At states this weekend, they were given 50 buttons representing Pennsylvania. They then met other state winners by exchanging buttons.

The boys' research efforts will be recognized by state Sen. John Pippy, and his legislative colleagues, during a special presentation to be made at the state Capitol in Harrisburg on June 6. 

They will then accompany their exhibit to the U.S. competition of National History Day slated for June 12-16 at the University of Maryland in College Park. 

Each state will gather and walk in together. They will be announced, carry their flags and signs, and parade around the area in state T-shirts. The event will be televised on the History Channel. 

During the ceremony this weekend, the boys' project was inducted in the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg and remains on display.

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