Junior Division
Website
Vera Mansperger
Word Count: 478 Words
How I Chose My Topic
I have two gay dads and even though they do not work in the U.S military, the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Act’s repeal was an important event for them. I had no idea what to do for this year’s history fair, but my dad suggested the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Act and its repeal. I already knew a little bit about it, so I decided, “Why not?” It did fit the theme of Frontiers in History. I had some difficulty with finding sources, but I started getting the hang of it eventually.
How I Conducted My Research.
I started finding sources within my school’s library webpage. I did a deep dive into documents in Brittanica on the subject. It was a tremendous success because I came up with many primary and secondary sources. I sorted through them and cited the ones that I used mostly used. To find reactions to the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell act’s repeal, I went to Google and found the Washington Post and New York times news report on the event. The most helpful resource I found was Brittanica. It had lots of images, a video, and plenty of websites that I could cite easily and use.
How I Selected My Presentation Category and Created My Project
I chose to make a website, because I knew I wanted to do something digitally. The problem was that I had no idea where to start. So, I e-mailed my friends for help and one of them replied with a link to the NHD website. I created an account and started working on my website. I was having some trouble creating a website on there, so I decided to ask my teacher if I could use any other website builders. She said I could, it just meant I would not be able to compete with it. I would rather make a website I am proud of than try to win with one I hate. I asked my dad if he knew any website builders and he suggested WordPress. I worked on the base of my project on PowerPoint. I included all of the information I needed and a few design ideas. Then, I put all of it on WordPress.
How My Project Relates to the National History Fair Theme
The Don’t Ask Don’t Tell act relates to the history theme, Frontiers in History, because it changed history and people’s lives in the U.S. The act kept gay people in the military from being open about their sexuality. This changed a lot of people’s lives because if anybody found out that someone was gay, bisexual, lesbian, etc., that person could potentially be fired. When the act was lifted by Barack Obama in 2010, it finally let people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc.to serve openly in the U.S military till this day.