MPA Students Advance To History Fair State Finals

CHICAGO - Three Morgan Park Academy eighth-grade students have qualified for the Illinois History Fair state finals. Olivia Fitch, Rianna Kingra and Saanvi Malkani will represent the Morgan Park neighborhood school on Illinois History Day in May after they were recognized by judges at the Chicago Metro History Fair regional competition, according to a news release from the school.

A fourth MPA student, Nora Perry, also competed at the March 30 regional competition at the University of Illinois-Chicago after the four were chosen as best in class by MPA faculty.

According to the school, eighth-graders participate each year in this popular and challenging competition, researching and presenting a long-form research project. Over three months of work, students researched primary sources, including visiting the archives of the Chicago History Museum, and created museum-like exhibits, summary statements, and annotated bibliographies.

About these projects:

• Fitch, of Mount Greenwood, examined how fire codes changed in the wake of a tragic 1958 fire at the Our Lady of the Angels School on the West Side of Chicago.
• Malkani, of Palos Park, researched how the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union affected intersectional feminism in the 1970's before the term was coined.
• Kingra, of Burr Ridge, studied how pioneering black surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams opened doors for other African-Americans by performing the first successful open-heart surgery in 1893.
• Perry, of Orland Park, focused on the invention of birth control and its impact on women's rights.