Conventional wisdom dictates that history is considered a low priority among youth.

However, 10 Marshalltown High School students convincingly disproved that notion Tuesday night at the Mowry-Irvine Mansion in Marshalltown during the Historical Society of Marshall County’s (HSMC) monthly “History on Second Tuesday” event.

The students were practicing their presentations using the theme “Rights and Responsibilities in History” for a decisive National History Day contest on April 28 in Ames.

They did so in groups or individually using a documentary format before a standing-room only crowd. One of the students was junior Anessa Morrison.

Last year, she earned the top Women’s History Prize at the National History Day contest held in Washington, D.C. for her project “Running Towards Gender Equality” about Katherine Switzer — the first woman to officially compete in the Boston Marathon.

On Tuesday evening Morrison teamed with classmate Jorja Janssen in a presentation about the tragic implosion and sinking of the U.S. Navy nuclear submarine Thresher on April 10, 1963. It claimed 129 lives. The incident may have happened as a result of an equipment malfunction during a training exercise in the Atlantic ocean.

The event led to the implementation of rigorous testing of equipment on Navy submarines and ships. Team member Harper Wilson was not able to participate due to a scheduling conflict.

Taking on roles as former President Theodore Roosevelt, businessmen and others in “Justice and the Jungle – How a Book Saved a Nation” were students Josue Corral Coronado, Victor Gutierrez Cruz, Conner Holmen and Jaden Schwartz.

The quartet — wearing period costumes – said Upton Sinclair’s groundbreaking book “The Jungle,” published in 1905, had motivated them to document efforts using a compelling one-act play format. Their research spotlighted the use of contaminated and diseased meat by Chicago meatpackers for sale to consumers in the early 1900s – as well as deplorable working conditions.

The book and efforts by Roosevelt, members of Congress, health officials and consumers led to the establishment of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), a regulatory agency responsible for ensuring food and medicines are safe for public consumption.

A third group presentation was “The Tuskegee Syphilis Studies and How They Transformed Human Experimentation Forever.”

Via photos, newspaper clippings, newsreels and more, students Kennedy Goldman, Natalie Nickie and Geneva Splitzi documented shocking and graphic evidence of how the syphilis bacteria was injected into dozens of poor black men from rural Alabama to study the effects of the disease on the human body. The study was conducted from 1932-62.

The men were promised money, burial benefits and more for their participation. They did dot have access to legal or medical advice to make a proper decision, the trio said.

As a result, they died while suffering the debilitating effects to their brains, heart and other organs. Years later, then President Bill Clinton, on behalf of the U.S. Government, apologized to survivors and families of the deceased.

The study brought about strict guidelines and oversight for studies on human subjects by pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and government agencies.

Jacob Seberger presented “The Babel Proclamation,” which documented via interviews, newspaper clippings and more, the state of Iowa’s draconian efforts to restrict the speaking of German and other foreign languages during World War I. That conflict saw the U.S. and allies fighting German forces in Europe. The war, with reports of German atrocities against civilians, had stoked vehement anti-German attitudes among many Americans. Vigilantes, claiming citizen arrest powers, harassed German and Dutch speaking pastors during church services in Oskaloosa and Pella, Seberger said.

Collaborators Parker Christen, Preston Johnson and John Moellers could not attend due to scheduling conflicts. Fritzell said 18 students qualified for the April 28 state event in Ames.

They competed against students from Ames, Des Moines-based schools and others in March at district competitions in Pella.

“The students select their topics, research, compile, format, practice and then present their presentations,” said Susan Hankins Fritzell, Gifted and Talented Coordinator for MHS. “On April 28, the judges will select only a few Iowa students to participate in the National History Day presentations later in Washington, D.C.”

It was the third consecutive year Fritzell and students had presented at the HSMC-sponsored event.

“Once again, the students made an exemplary effort of not only explaining what happened in those ‘hinges of history’ but how the incidents led to meaningful changes by way of impactful legislation or reforms,” said Julie Lang of Marshalltown, who coordinates the programs which are free-of-charge and open to the public.

For more information, contact HSMC at 641-752-6664 or info@hsmcia.org.