By Ellen Kanzinger
The Rockbridge Historical Society hopes to encourage a new generation of historians as seven high schoolers competed in the organization’s inaugural history bee Saturday morning at Kendal.
Jacob Trout, 16, won the $1,500 first place prize after outlasting other participants in a contest similar to a spelling bee. The questions focused on the history of Rockbridge County and greater Shenandoah Valley. Each student could miss three questions before being eliminated.
The history bee also required a general knowledge of U.S. history. For example, Trout won when he correctly answered the question, “The American Colonization Society was funded by a poll tax in 1850. What was the purpose of this organization?” (Spoiler alert! The answer is at the end of this story.)
Trout was one of seven students from RCHS and Parry McCluer High School who answered questions about local history based on the book Remarkable Rockbridge. Although 20 students originally registered to compete, 13 dropped out due to other conflicts. The contest was open to high schoolers of all ages free of charge.
“There’s so much about Lexington that I thought I had known,” Trout said. “But, in reality, I had no idea. So this just increased my knowledge of everything.”
The junior at Rockbridge County High School plans to use the prize money to pay for a trip to Europe this summer with some of his classmates.
Quinn Hoover, 17, and Yelena Billias, 16, took second and third, respectively. Both students also attend RCHS.
Most students prepared for the questions by studying the book. The historical society donated copies of Remarkable Rockbridge to each high school and public library so that students would have access to the materials. Trout admitted he did not finish the book until the morning of the competition.
Teachers at both local high schools also helped to spread the word about the history bee. Lauren Williamson, a history teacher at RCHS, was in the crowd to cheer on some of her students. Mayor-elect Frank Friedman and Del. Ben Cline were also in attendance.
Planning for the history bee began two years ago when the historical society hired Mary Harvey-Halseth as the director of educational outreach. The board brought her on to connect with the younger generation and to plan an event that would test high schoolers on their knowledge of the area.
Executive Director Eric Wilson said the organization was trying to reach a part of the population that does not normally get involved with the historical society and area history.
“The idea here is that kids get U.S. history, Virginia history and local history doesn’t fit,” he said. “How can we make the case that our local history isn’t just cute and grandma’s attic? It’s hard to work into a school curriculum.”
Wilson hopes that the history bee will grow as word spreads about the event.
The historical society funded the event through contributions by CornerStone Bank, Historic Lexington Foundation, Rockbridge Area Genealogical Society, Rockbridge County Public Schools Foundation, Sunrise Rotary Club and Washington and Lee Community Grants Program.
Dr. Charles Bodie, the author of Remarkable Rockbridge, was in the audience Saturday at the invitation of the historical society. Bodie spent eight years researching and writing the book, which was published in 2013. The historian stressed the application of history in a broader sense.
“Facts by themselves are not important,” he said. “Linking facts and putting meaning to them are the important things… There is meaning to everything.”
As for the winning question: Trout correctly answered that the American Colonization Society wanted to send all free blacks to Liberia.
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