And the T-shirt Contest Winner is . . .

This year, we organized our first t-shirt design contest. We opened it up to current History Day students, alums, teachers and even parents.

The design criteria were simple, and included the following stipulations: The design had to be inspired by National History Day and/or New York State History Day and could not contain information on a specific annual theme. It had to include the words “New York State History Day,” and be something that a boy, girl, man or woman would want to wear, even if they don’t know much about History Day.

I am pleased to say that we received four entries by our contest deadline, which was Friday, February 26. All entries were from students with History Day experience, either as participants or siblings of a participant. The winner, who I will announce shortly, will receive a $100 cash prize and have his or her design printed on a t-shirt for sale at the state contest on Thursday, April 29th and Friday, April 30th.

But first, let me share with you our four design entries!

From Mickey Quinn, former NYSHD participant from Glenville, NY:


From Stephen Reisig, brother of NYSHD participant Lauren Reisig, from Massapequa Park, NY:


From Sophia Flanagan, participating NYSHD student from New York, NY:

From Albert Tai, participating NYSHD student from New York, NY:


The staff at the New York State Historical Association viewed all the entries this week and were forced to make some tough choices. In the end, we were able to decide on one winner.

And the winner is . . . .

STEPHEN REISIG

Stephen had the following to say about his entry: "This design represents the many different aspects of the great state of New York. There is the Empire State Building in the city skyline, the 'Big Apple' in the center and the Adirondack Mountains. I went with a sort of Urban theme, because I thought that when a person thinks of New York, they obviously think of the city, but I also brought in the mountains to show the rural aspect of New York. The final part of my design is the book at the bottom, which ties this logo to history day itself."

Because every design for this year's contest was fantastic, we will be making all the designs available for purchase on coffee mugs, t-shirts and more at our online store: http://www.cafepress.com/nyshd

Thank you to Stephen, Mickey, Sophia and Albert for your thoughtful designs!