D.A.R. AMERICAN HISTORY ESSAY CONTEST 2009 - 2010

For questions concerning the DAR Essay Contest, please contact:
Laurean T Pope, Historian
Office of the Historian General NSDAR
L776 D Street NW
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: 202-879-3255
Email: 1pope@dar.org


Contest Rules

All grade 5, 6, 7, and 8th grade students in a public, private, or parochial school, or those who are home schooled, are eligible. This contest is conducted without regard to race, religion, sex, or natural origin.

The Completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad
Number of Words: Grade 5          300-600 words
Number of Words: Grade 6-8          600-1000 words

(All words count. Title page and bibliography excluded. Dates count as one word.)


Form

Essay is to be handwritten in ink, typed, or prepared on a computer or word processor, using black type in a non-script font no smaller than 12 point or larger than 14 point.

All of the essay must be the student’s work. Each essay must be the student’s original work. Each essay must have a title page.

The Title page must contain:

  Title of the essay “The Completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad”. (A subtitle is permitted if written below the topic).

  Contestant’s full name and address, Street, RR, P.O. Box, City, State and Zip Code.

  Contestant’s telephone number with area code and e-mail address if available.

  Name of contestant’s school with grade level indicated.

  Name of sponsoring DAR Chapter (Royal Oak).

  Number of words in the essay.


Bibliography

Your essay must have a bibliography listing all references utilized. Internet resources, if used, should be cited in similar format to that used for printed resources. Add the electronic address used to access the document as supplementary information. Any essay with information copied directly from sources without using quotes will be disqualified.

For assistance, please read "How to Prepare a Bibliography."


Contest Topic

The topic for 2009-2010 American History Essay Contest is:

The Completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad


Essay Checklist

Historical Accuracy
Adherence to subject
Organization of material
Originality
Interest
Spelling and Grammar
Bibliography

Essay must have a bibliography listing all references utilized. Internet resources, if used, should be cited in similar format to that used for printed resources. Add the electronic address used to access the document as supplementary information. Any essay with information copied directly from sources without using quotes will be disqualified.

In the reference area of the Smyth-Bland Regional library, we have a DAR display of materials from the reference section, and circulating library. We can provide you with magazine articles or information from pamphlets, videos are also available on the topic and we will be happy to guide you to various Internet web sites.

Library Resources

Come into the library and look over the variety of resources that you may use in your research for the American History Contest.

You may check out books, utilize reference materials, copy magazine articles, and access the Internet and FinditVA electronic databases.

If you need help finding research materials, the reference department staff is available and happy to help you. We have a special D.A.R. display of materials for you in the reference department and you can access a bibliography of available materials by clicking on the link below.