Peter Hopper of West Windsor has won several state and national awards for his National History Day paper, “No Paper Compromise: The Federal Response to the Pratt Street Riot Escalated What Proved to be a Costly Conflict between Maryland and the Union.” Hopper, a former home schooled student, is a rising freshman at Princeton Day School.##M:[more]##
His paper was honored at the NJ History Day awards ceremony with prizes in two of the four special award categories. At the 27th annual National History Day competition at the University of Maryland in June, Hopper’s paper was a finalist in the Junior Division Historical Paper category and he won the Civil War History Special Prize, selected from all entries in both junior and senior divisions in all categories including group and individual exhibits, documentaries, performances, websites, and individual historic papers. The award, sponsored by the Civil War Preservation Trust, includes a cash prize and a medal.
“Peter’s paper was the result of over a year of reading and research about Lincoln’s response to the first bloodshed of the Civil War, when angry citizens attacked Federal troops marching through Baltimore,” says his mother, Lisa Hopper. “Peter’s extensive reading of Lincoln’s daily logs, newspapers of the time, and other primary and secondary sources revealed that the President’s angry response to overtures from Baltimore delegates set the stage for long-standing conflict between the citizens of Maryland and the Federal government.”
“NHD is a great experience not only because you learn so much from the past, but because you get to share your work with others,” says Peter. “It’s a feeling of real accomplishment. I am so grateful to the Civil War Round Table, the Record, and the Civil War Preservation Trust, who encouraged and rewarded my paper. Most of all, I am grateful to my advisor, Dr. Joan Ruddiman, for all her support.”
