Isabella Careccia-Johnson Wins African-American History Award

Huntington High School’s Isabella Careccia-Johnson captured the Outstanding Senior Entry on African American History Award at the Long Island regional finals at this year’s National History Day contest at Hofstra University. The award is sponsored by the Oyster Bay Historical Society.

The junior created an exceptional exhibit titled “Unbought and Unbossed: The Political Career of Shirley Chisholm.” Ms. Careccia-Johnson is a spectacular young woman with a variety of talents. She tallied an academic grade average in excess of 105.5 in the second marking period.

“Given my interest in civil rights, as well as my biracial identity, I narrowed down my list of topics to those about Black history,” wrote Ms. Careccia-Johnson in a process paper that accompanied her project. “Shirley Chisholm was a good fit for me as it intertwined women’s rights and civil rights. Although her career may not look like a typical turning point, its unusualness should not discredit its impact on history.”

The national theme of this year’s National History Day program is “Turning Points in History.” This theme must be incorporated into all aspects of every project.

Before Ms. Chisholm there were Black women in politics, but none occupied a top seat in government,” wrote Ms. Careccia-Johnson in her process paper. “Ms. Chisholm changed this by becoming the first African-American woman in Congress and as a presidential candidate. Her commitment to increased representation forever changed America’s political landscape, the definition of a turning point.”

The Huntington teenager said that at the beginning stages of her research she strived to develop a basic understanding of her chosen topic.

“First, I turned to Ms. Chisholm’s autobiographies, ‘Unbought and Unbossed’ and ‘The Good Fight,’” wrote Ms. Careccia-Johnson in her process paper. “I then began to scour the internet for primary sources, predominately using databases such as ProQuest and Library of Congress. I compiled a variety of pictures, newspaper articles and images of objects that further developed my argument, including official testimony from the Equal Rights Amendment hearings. Additionally, I found Pew Research Center to be instrumental, especially when it came time to demonstrate Ms. Chisholm’s long-term impact through concrete data.”

The junior said she initially struggled to choose between creating an individual exhibit or an individual website, but eventually decided the exhibit was a “better fit” given her background and experience in the arts.

“I knew I could manifest my creativity into a physical display, something that was informative and appealing to the eye,” the teenager said. “I stuck to a red, white and blue theme for my display board, with my images backed by red, my quotes by dark blue and my own words by light blue. The connection to American was intentional because people often separate Black history from American history, when the two are actually heavily intertwined. There would be no United States without the contributions of African-Americans, something I wanted to draw attention to.”

Elected to the US House of Representatives in November 1968, Ms. Chisholm went on to serve seven terms representing New York’s 12th congressional district. She passed award on January 1, 2005.

“Mirroring my thesis, my historical argument centers around representation, specifically for women and African-Americans,” Ms. Careccia-Johnson said. “Though both groups were present throughout the entirety of US history, they are often overlooked as key players in government and politics. Ms. Chisholm’s career drew attention to significant contributions of minority groups, while also creating a platform for those voices to continue fostering change. Though Ms. Chisholm did not fully achieve her goal, others have become inspired to finish it in her place.”

Ms. Careccia-Johnson is in the midst of an incredible junior year at Huntington High School, where she has also starred on the Blue Devil mock trial team.