GC students hear fromCarter
GROVE CITY — Former President Jimmy Carter has taken an active role in the National History Day events at Grove City Middle School. Five students there received a personal, hand-written note from Carter as part of their research project for the event.
Andrew Fenstermacher, Jamie Dillaman, Shaina Williams, Sam Potter and Mark Jaskowak, all eighth graders, wrote to Carter for answers to questions they had about Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, their selected History Day subject.
Walker received a Congressional Medal of Honor for her service as a nurse and surgeon for the Union Army during the Civil War. In 1917, the medal, along with the medals of 910 others, was taken away when Congress revised the medal standards to include only actual combat with an enemy. In 1977, Carter signed the medal back over to Walker posthumously.
Carter's note came as a response to a letter the students wrote to him at the urging of school librarian Jamie Scott.
"We found out Jimmy Carter was involved and we thought it would be nice to write to him, and she thought it was a good idea," Fenstermacher said. "We figured if we could get something back that would help us."
In their letter, the students asked Carter three questions regarding why he reinstated the medal, who encouraged him to do so and whether he felt he did the right thing.
Carter wrote back: "I returned the Medal 6/11/77, because it was the right thing to do. Her descendants, plus some members of Congress urged me to do so. I've never doubted that I acted correctly."
Dillaman said that Carter's input was a necessary part of the group's research because there were questions to which they could not find answers anywhere else. Jaskowak said information on Edwards' medal was so scarce the group considered choosing a different subject.
But the students were looking for a topic that would be unusual to judges at the districtwide History Day competition, to be held April 4 at Westminster College. If the group performs well, it will go to a statewide competition in May and from there to a national competition in June.
The topic also resonated with the group because it fit well with the national theme, "Taking a Stand in History." Walker's great niece, Ann Walker, took a stand by continuing to lobby for the medal's reinstatement even after Mary Edwards Walker died. The students knew of the story because of a passing reference in a social studies class and a history video shown there.
To arrange communication with Carter, Scott called Robert Bohanan, deputy director at the Carter Library and Museum. Bohanan then sat in on a conference call with the students and Scott. He told the group their interest in Edwards intrigued him because the museum only gets about three calls maximum each year on the topic.
However, even with the contact at the museum, receiving a response from Carter was not certain.
"He probably gets a lot of letters each year," Fenstermacher said.
"We were very surprised," Dillaman said of receiving the response.
The students said receiving the note has encouraged other people to be interested in their topic, which they enjoy discussing, and in National History Day in general. Potter said, however, that all the other attention is second place to him after being recognized by a man who used to be president.
Armed with the presidential note, research provided by the Carter Library and Museum and a dramatic presentation complete with costumes, the group looks forward to the April 4 competition.
"I have high hopes because we have a lot of primary sources," Williams said.
Participation in National History Day is voluntary at Grove City Middle School. Students begin thinking about projects in the fall and form groups in December. This year, 27 students are participating.
