Albany, NY -- The Board of Regents and the New York State Archives have selected Cooperstown Central High School student Alexandra Rheinhardt as the recipient of the 2007 Laura and Robert Chodos Award for Excellence in Student Research Using Historical Records, Grades 9-12 for her entry The AAGPBL: a Microcosm of Women during World War II.
A framed certificate and a cash gift will be presented to Alexandra at a luncheon ceremony at the State Education Department in Albany on October 22, 2007. Her teacher, Mary Beth Murdock, will also be recognized at the luncheon.
Using a variety of primary sources from repositories such as the Northern Indiana Center for History, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Smithsonian Institute, and the National Archives, Alexandra created an excellent audio-visual presentation about the All American Girl Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). One panelist called this a “major league effort.” Another stated that he was “beyond impressed” with a project that was an “outstanding work which analyzed and integrated the story of one aspect of the home front during World War II to convey the entire time period.” This creative and compelling piece using a variety of images including many posters, videos, and personal interviews managed throughout to allow Alexandra’s own voice to come through with a powerful thesis and point of view.
Named for Regent Emerita Laura Chodos and her husband Dr. Robert Chodos, who created an endowment to encourage the educational uses of historical records in the classroom, the Student Research Awards are presented annually to a student or group of students in New York State who have made outstanding use of historical records in their research. They recognize student work for demonstrating excellence based on specific criteria: using a variety of historical records, drawing on information from those records, and interpreting and integrating that information with creativity and imagination.
The annual Archives Awards program recognizes outstanding efforts in archives and records management work in New York State by a broad range of individuals and organizations. A complete list of this year’s award recipients follows:
Excellence in Research Using the Holdings of the State Archives
Laura Wittern-Keller, University at Albany
Debra E. Bernhardt Award for Excellence in Documenting New York’s
History
Dominican Studies Institute, City College of New York
Program Excellence in a Historical Records Repository
Schenectady County Historical Society
William H. Kelly Award for Excellence in Local Government Archival
Program Development
Suffolk County
Cheryl Steinbach Award for Excellence in Local Government Records Management
Town of Lewisboro
Excellence in State Agency Records Management
New York State Thruway Authority and Canal Corporation
Excellence in the Educational Use of Local Government Records by a
Local Government
Town of Ithaca
Laura and Robert Chodos Award for Excellence in Student Research Using
Historical Records, Grades 4–5
Fourth and Fifth Grade Students from the Stewart School, Garden City School
District
Dolores Volpe, Educator
Laura and Robert Chodos Award for Excellence in Student Research Using
Historical Records, Grades 6–8
Emma Gugerty, Locust Valley Middle School, Locust Valley Central School District
Barbara LaBella, Educator
Laura and Robert Chodos Award for Excellence in Student Research Using
Historical Records, Grades 9–12
Alexandra Rheinhardt, Cooperstown Central High School, Cooperstown Central School
District
Mary Beth Murdock, Educator