2009 Student Online Essay Contest

 
Click here for essay contest winners

The National WWII Museum asks…

“E Pluribus Unum”
How Then / How Now?

TEACHERS: CLICK HERE to print out a 2009 Essay Contest informational flyer

This spring The National WWII Museum will present a special exhibit, Fighting for Democracy: Who is the “We” in “We the People”?  This exhibit explores the stories of seven diverse Americans who chose to fight for equality, freedom, and justice before, during, and after World War II.  Click here to learn more about the exhibit.

After December 7, 1941, millions of Americans, among them women and people of color, enlisted in the military and filled jobs in the war industries.  For many, it was an opportunity to find work in positions previously unavailable to them.  Many of these Americans found that they were fighting for a double victory—one against the enemy overseas and a second for equality at home.  In a unified effort to defend their country, men and women, regardless of race, class, or gender, worked together on the factory assembly lines and on the battlefields.  These ordinary people, who had fought for democracy in the armed forces, returned home to continue that fight—to ensure the Constitutional rights of all Americans.  The legacy of their courage and sacrifice would lay the foundation for the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Movement, and other campaigns for equality.

The National WWII Museum invites you to tell us, in your own words, “E Pluribus Unum”: How Then/How Now?  How best can people of different backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences come together to ensure a vibrant, successful country, thus becoming one, out of many?  Use WWII as a starting point and base your answer in part on examples you find in this history.  But don’t stop in the past.  History teaches us lessons.  How can diversity today contribute to making the U.S. stronger?  This is NOT a research paper about WWII.  Your essay will be judged for originality, clarity of expression, adherence to contest theme, historical accuracy, grammar, spelling, and punctuation.  The best essays will include specific examples from both WWII and today.  You may use examples from your own experiences, if you wish.  Museum education staff will judge entries.
 

First place winner will receive $1,000; second place winner will receive $750; and third place winner will receive $500.  Each winning essay will be posted on The National WWII Museum’s web site.  Excerpts of the first place entry will also be printed in our quarterly newsletter V-Mail (which is mailed to more than 130,000 people across the United States).  The top 50 essayists will receive honorable mention on our website.

• Contest is open to all high school students in the United States, United States Territories, and military bases.
  
• Your essay must be 1,000 words or less.  Only one essay per student may be submitted.
  
• Submissions must be emailed to The National WWII Museum by March 27, 2009, 5:00pm CST.
  
• Museum will accept the first 500 valid entries only.  The website will indicate when 500 essays have been submitted. 
  

The 2009 Essay Contest has reached
500 entries and is now closed.

Please do not include any other materials, illustrations, or correspondence with your entry.