Kent Place Junior from Maplewood Advances to the National History Day National Competition

Kent Place School is pleased to announce that junior Lauren Burr of Maplewood advanced to the Kenneth E. Behring National History Day Contest’s National competition. National History Day (NHD) is a non-profit educational organization based in College Park, MD. NHD offers yearlong academic programs that engage middle and high school students in conducting original research on historical topics of interest. These research-based projects are entered into contests at the local and affiliate levels, where the top student projects have the opportunity to advance to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park. Lauren won the state competition earlier this month, which earned her a place in the national contest.

Lauren chose to enter the Individual Performance category and created an entry about her ancestor, the third Vice President of the United States, Aaron Burr. In her presentation, she argues that the legacy of Aaron Burr has been tainted and misrepresented by two infamous events: the duel with Alexander Hamilton and Burr’s trial for treason. She argues much of Burr’s leadership during the early republic, as a revolutionary war hero and a key architect of the Revolution of 1800, have been overlooked. Her project reflects this year’s NHD theme, “Leadership and Legacy in History.”

To prepare this project, Lauren traveled to Princeton University for archival research. There, she handled letters written by her great-cousin. Lauren crafted a multi-faceted and nuanced argument by employing a diverse array of primary and secondary sources as she wrote, edited and performed this original work of historical scholarship.

“I am very proud of Lauren’s accomplishment. In the midst of the extremely challenging junior year—when students are in the midst of AP classes and exam preparation and SAT and ACT preparation—Lauren volunteered to do more,” stated Timothy Maset, Kent Place Upper School History teacher. “She pushed herself beyond expectations and pursued knowledge for knowledge’s sake. I believe this exemplifies Kent Place’s core values of pursuing your passion, a love of learning and academic excellence.”

In addition to representing the state of New Jersey at the National Competition, Lauren also received the North Jersey Revolutionary War Round Table’s Award for top entry in Revolutionary War Era History.

The National Contest will be held from June 14-18 at the University of Maryland.