BWK & GA: Magazine of History 2024 by Brunswick School

Brunswick and Greenwich Academy

Magazine of History

The Brunswick and Greenwich Academy Magazine of History

2024 Editor

Dr. Brian Hoffman

Student Editor

Nicholas Grippo

Editorial Office

Department of History

Pettengill Campus

Brunswick School

100 Maher Avenue

Greenwich, CT 06830

E-mail:bhoffman@brunswickschool.org

Volume 21, 2024

National History Day Projects

Research Paper:

A Storm of Change by Ioannis Petrotos ‘26

Documentary:

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967): A Turning Point in Film’s Representation of Interracial Romance and Marriage

Nicholas Grippo '25

How Penicillin Changed the Medical World by Tyler Burke ‘27and Owen Dwyer ‘27

Performance:

Meeting with Metternich at Last by Delaney Enright ‘27 and Caroline Stickel ‘27

Website:

The Discovery of Penicillin by Harrison Saunders ‘27 and Ryan Kaseta ’27

Sigmund Freud: Uncovering the Mystery of the Mind by Dakota Barlow ‘27 and Chloe Huh ‘27

During the 2024 Spring Semester, the Brunswick History Department participated for the third time in the National History Day program. Created in 1974 to encourage the development of historical research skills, the National History Day program provides an opportunity for students to submit their research at local and state contests to win prestigious prizes and to advance to the National Contest. Over 500,000 Middle School and High School students compete each year around the nation. At Brunswick, freshmen, sophomores, and juniors enthusiastically selected their topics, spent weeks doing primary source research and then creating their projects. Exhibiting creativity, thorough research, and excellent writing, the work of several Brunswick and Greenwich Academy students advanced to the state level.

This volume of the Brunswick and Greenwich Academy History Magazine will highlight the many different ways that students presented their historical research. In addition to accepting the traditional history research paper, the National History Day program invites students to submit research as an “exhibit,” “documentary,” “website,” or “performance.” Each project category has its own unique rules while requiring all students to use research skills to work with primary sources, develop a strong thesis statement, and to carefully organize and present their conclusions. The exhibit category, for example, restricts the words students can include in their trifold and asks students to craft a narrative through the way they arrange their sources, similar to an installation in a museum. The documentary allows students to share their research as a dynamic ten minute video presentation narrated in their own voice. A website also restricts the words and multimedia students can use in order

to focus students’ efforts on formatting their research to be presented digitally. The Performance category asks students to act out their research, incorporating primary sources into their costumes, sets, and dialogue. Brunswick and Greenwich Academy students participated with great results in each category. This Volume of the Brunswick and Greenwich Academy Magazine of History, as a result, has adopted a new digital format to better present these highly interdisciplinary and creative projects.

Another change in this Volume of the Brunswick and Greenwich Academy Magazine of History is the publication of both individual and group projects. Students can chose to compete in the National History Day program with another student or individually. This introduces the benefits and challenges of collaboration. The opportunity to divide tasks, to take advantage of different skill sets, and to share ideas produced wonderful student work. The projects also all engage the National History Day’s required 2023 theme of “Turning Points in History.” The theme encouraged students to conduct research on a variety of historical events and debates in American and World history and to craft arguments about their significance in shaping history. Each student project published in this Volume includes a “process” paper, a 500 word explanation of their research and how it engages the year’s theme. Please enjoy reading and viewing the incredibly creative, interdisciplinary, and well-researched projects of the students at Brunswick and Greenwich Academy.

Ioannis Petrotos ‘26

A Storm of Change Process Paper

Katrina was a turning point in American history as it was a once-in-a-lifetime event that showed how fragile and outdated the federal relief plans were. This storm was essential in showing what went wrong, and how it could be fixed.

I conducted my research through videos on YouTube that documented the disaster, and primary accounts through mass media and news articles after the storm that helped to provide a timeline of events. My initial research was primarily focused on the medical standpoint of this disaster, and slowly, I started to shift toward the broader aspects of the storm such as the flooding and lack of civilian evacuation.

I chose my topic because of my innate desire to research these natural disasters and how reform was able to be taken from these dark times. Hurricane Katrina came into my vision after watching the Apple TV show “Five Days at Memorial” showing what happened at Baptist Memorial Hospital and what the doctors had to do to survive the storm. This show intrigued me as I wondered what happened after Katrina and what possible reforms sprung from it. Hurricane

I created my project through some months of hard work and determination. I first collected as much data and information as I could, stockpiling what I could find and branching off using sources from secondary documents to find more primary documents along with other secondary sources to keep the chain going. As I began my paper I noticed that there were gaps in my research, for example in terms of the levees I knew when and where they came down but now how and who was supposed to be maintaining them before the storm. As I wrote I continued to research these niche topics and added them to the stockpile of information that I had already gained.

My historical argument is that Hurricane Katrina proved to be a storm of change and a storm that ravaged our outdated structure for governmental relief. Another portion of my argument is that after the storm and reshaping of relief efforts, many reforms were put into place such as the Post Katrina Emergency Reform Act and others that helped with future storms. One of these storms that wasn’t as bad as Katrina was Superstorm Sandy. Many plans and relief actions that were outlined in these reforms from Katrina were used and implemented successfully in the New York City area.

My topic is significant in history as it was a once-in-a-lifetime storm that was unfortunately not anticipated. This storm left the city of New Orleans decimated, but many changes were implemented to help make the city safer from these disasters. Overall, Hurricane Katrina had a massive impact on American History and will be remembered forever as the storm that wasn't prepared for, and that sparked massive change within relief departments and the city of New Orleans.

Ioannis Petrotos ‘26

Third Place, Paper Senior Division Fairfield Region

Connecticut History Day

As the United States entered 2005, nobody would know what would come later in the year, and how this event proved to be one of the most influential natural disasters in American history. As August of 2005 dawned on the United States, it seemed like a normal month, Mariah Carey's “We Belong Together” was number one on the charts in the US1, and a new hurricane named Katrina was brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. On August 28th, Hurricane Katrina made landfall and began to move towards the New Orleans Parish and Mississippi as a category 3 hurricane. On August 29th it developed into a high, once-in-amillennium, category 5 hurricane as it hit New Orleans.2 Between 4:30 to 10:30 A.M., the city's walls for storm protection, called levees, broke letting in strong water surges and waves up to 10.5 feet into the city and “wards” surrounding the city. The

ninth ward was hit by three levee breaks, causing hundreds of deaths and waters up to 10 feet, devastating homes as it rolled through the neighborhood.3 This devastation caused mass panic and confusion between the on-the-ground assets of the federal government and officials in Washington DC. As officials in New Orleans watched the floods continue and the water rise, the FEMA Chief at the time, Mike Brown, stated “We have some areas where the lake and the rivers are continuing to spill over” only for a report to come in three hours earlier about extensive breaches and flooding in the lower ninth ward and Saint Bernards Parish.4 As the storm raged on, many loved ones, community members, and innocent people were lost within these floodwaters due to a lack of preparedness in the city of New Orleans, and the failures of the levees which were essentially the protective guardians of these lowland neighborhoods. After the storm, federal officials and departments made many changes to their disaster doctrines, and the Department of Defense put forward new legislation for nation and state-wide security measures for natural disasters. Hurricane Katrina showed flaws in federal disaster relief and in countermeasures to protect cities against natural disasters, resulting in new, more practical plans at both the federal and state levels to prevent loss of life and limit damage from these storms.

From the beginning, the levees were a flawed system as their development was done incorrectly and in an unstable area. The Army Corp of Engineers began construction on the levees in 1965 and the levees were planned to be completed in

2015. As the levees were beginning their construction, they were designed to withstand winds up to around 101 miles per hour, which was the congressional standard at the time. As the levees were being built, it was known that if a lingering category 3-5 storm was to hit New Orleans, water levels would be up to 20 feet, and this information was not taken into account as the levees were built.5 The levees were built too low against the sea and the levees could be easily passed and overtopped by these waters. As time went on, these levees were not improved upon or updated to the new NOAA information on possible future storms.6 The Katrina catastrophe showed just how weak the levees were due to being built upon previous standards and upon material that had eroded without any attention for years. Many levees fell before they even reached their failing points due to confusion in management by the Army Corp of Engineers, the New Orleans government, offset organizational dysfunction.”8As the levees around the residential canal area fell at around 8:30 am9, there was a communication crisis between the assets on the ground observing the hurricane and the federal government in Washington DC. Officials in New Orleans observed the flooding and sent emails and messages to officials in Washington informing them of the 20-foot tidal surges that came as the levees collapsed and mass amounts of flooding within the city. However, officials in the city and Washington, would either be confused by varying reports, or they believed that the flooding was exaggerated.10 Mike Brown, the FEMA director, was a key player in this communication crisis. As the levees fell, he was receiving

emails and reports of levees coming down, and flooding within the wards of New Orleans and in the city. He was getting additional reports of water overtopping the levees, and the flooding was not from the levees collapsing. Later he would go onto a press conference saying “We have some, I'm not going to call them breaches, but we have some areas where the lake and the rivers are continuing to spill over.”11

This proved to be false as later in the day, aerial images showed the extent of the levee breaches and how the city was almost completely submerged. This miscommunication by Mike Brown caused countless hours to go to waste that could have been used to start the already tedious bureaucratic process for relief.

Communication during this disaster was a key asset that was not effective in the early days of Hurricane Katrina. Early relief efforts were confused and mixed up as the storm had wiped out most forms of widespread communication and most forms of radio to the public. As the flooding continued and relief efforts grew, communication became more of a focus as the Federal government used radio caches from the Forest Service to connect the efforts and created a betterunified task force of relief.12 The levees initially were researched, but their failures were ignored and they were constructed with too many budget cuts and on an unstable surface. Post Katrina, the levees were also improved, made higher, and were researched and created to handle everything that would be thrown at them.13 Katrina showed numerous flaws within the defenses and preparation of New Orleans,

but these flaws showed what future improvements were required for the city to have better storm survivability.

As Katrina left the city and relief efforts entered, confusion and lack of cooperation between federal and non-profit operations would be a large flaw that needed to be solved for future disasters. Initially, the United States did not have a proper framework to offer relief at such a magnitude that Katrina warranted. Before the storm, as the governors of Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana declared states of emergency, the National Guard was permitted to take action. Around 3,000 airmen and guardsmen passed through New Orleans and other southern parishes.14 These airmen and guardsmen went around and sheltered civilians in place, believing they could ride out the storm.15 Before Katrina, the only other superstorm to have devastated this area was in 1969 with Hurricane Camille, the only recent superstorm was in 1992, 13 years prior.16 Katrina was much worse than anticipated and the 3,000 guardsmen were not enough of a relief force for the city.17 Soon after the storm communications and muster areas for the National Guard were almost totally wiped out by the flooding after Katrina. Ninety-six hours after the storm, 30,000 additional federal personnel along with the Navy and Coast Guard were put into New Orleans to assist with search and rescue among other tasks.18 Many of the systems in place for federal resource distribution and federal relief were antiquated and many of them were impractical.19 Before the storm, a large point in relief etymology was “Let the DoD” do it, and many

the pursuit of Happiness.” These principles extend from John Locke. According to Locke, individuals have “unalienable rights” the government cannot infringe upon, and should be there to protect. This fundamental idea permeates the founding documents of the United States of America. The Declaration continued saying, “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.” {12}

The American founders did not establish a government that, even created in complete democratic fashion, could be trusted with excess power. As James Madison said in Federalist #51: “In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” {13} American founding fathers implemented this government limitation within the Bill of Rights. The first amendment stated “congress shall make no law” infringing upon the freedom of speech and protest of the people. Amendments four and five protect the people from abuse by law enforcement and the judicial system and guarantees them a fair trial should they be accused of a crime. Amendment 8 protects Americans from “cruel and unusual punishments” that may be inflicted by the state. {14} The Bill Of Rights protects the individual rights of Americans from

the government with very few exceptions. In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville articulated that the American government protects individuals, saying, “Moreover, however carried away the national majority can be by its passions, however ardent it may be in its projects, it cannot make all citizens in all places, in the same manner, at the same moment, bend to its desires.” {15}

Of course, America did not universally implement Locke's philosophy of individual rights. It would take time for those rights to be extended beyond white men. However, the Lockean protection of individual rights in America’s founding documents created a government different from those preceding it. The American constitution eventually extended, through much debate and amendment, natural rights to all of its citizens including women and minorities. {16} Locke’s philosophy of a government created to protect natural rights permeates the journey America has taken and continues to take in the extension of those rights. That experience contrasts with the French Revolution, in which the revolutionary government was flawed from the beginning by its failure to protect individual rights over the will of the “majority.”

Before the French Revolution, France’s Old Regime was feudal with special privileges for the few at the expense of the many. The French revolution attempted to remedy the inequality of the feudal system with a new form of

bureaucratic elements were in place that delayed any efforts getting to New Orleans, which caused a push and pull effect in the government with no action coming from it.20

As lawlessness broke out after the storm, unorganized civil relief efforts sprang up, as the National Guard was still in the dark and without any command due to these bureaucratic elements and layback feelings relating to beginning relief efforts. Soon after, guardsmen began to take the command of their relief efforts away from the federal government and into their own hands, due to this lack of command. Many federal and national guard efforts along with unorganized relief efforts would band together to form makeshift and betterintegrated relief efforts for the people of New Orleans and surrounding states.21 This integration of the Department of Defense resources was a large focus point for the change in procedure for future storms and future natural disasters.22

As the storm dwindled, and the flooding became calmer, new and makeshift plans for relief efforts were sprung into action as old and antiquated plans had failed the relief efforts for far too long. As days went on, federal relief from the National Guard took around four days to arrive, and in the meantime, countless people were dying from either the flooding, lack of care, or the lawlessness and looting that broke out throughout the city.23 The National Guard Joint Operations Center based in Jackson Barracks within New Orleans was inoperable as it was flooded along with most of the city. After

the flooding subsided, these 3,000 guardsmen and other relief efforts began to work under their command with the idea of “Let the DoD do it” as they had more resources for federal relief, but this proved to not work as much of these resources hadn't arrived yet.24 Soon, the US Navy and Coast Guard began airlift and search and rescue operations within the city, but still, there were people in the hospitals and people trapped in the city who needed supplies and on-theground help.25 This help under pre-Katrina regulations would require a 21-step process to deploy federal assets to the area. This process proved to be too slow and too bureaucratic to work efficiently. This plan consisted of a request sent by local or state governments, that is then sent through the federal government, including FEMA and the DoD, during 21 grueling steps before relief can be dispatched.26 This plan showed how many unproven plans and systems did not meet the critical requirements of Katrina. As a result of this, many were tossed aside as relief efforts became confused and communication was not present.27 These plans were also based upon a situation with perfect communication and perfect knowledge of plans before the storm reached land. These plans were put in place by the federal government but state and city-wide plans were not built in collaboration with these plans nor were they built to withstand such a horrible storm. Even if any of these city-wide plans for post-Katrina were solidified, they would be non-existent due to the entire city going dark.

After Katrina, the United States government realized that the

losses would be even worse if another storm like Katrina hit another large metropolitan area. Several new acts went into effect, the most prominent of which was the Post-Katrina Emergency Reform Act (PKERA). PKERA took many of the lessons learned from makeshift emergency operations and from failed institutions and with this created a comprehensive reform guide for coastal cities and communities, and federal reforms that needed to happen for better government response to disasters.28 Among some of these lessons learned are what to do when foreign nationals are involved in these disasters and how to train federal and state officials for disaster response and relief.29Another large portion of the PKERA was to make new streamlined relief plans. Not only did the federal government do away with this plan, but they also put in new circumstances of disasters to prioritize who needed care and federal efforts the most after a disaster.30PKERA was enacted throughout the United States on a federal and state level and was a changing point in how the US enacted disaster relief plans. Katrina not only taught the United States what to change with its physical protection around the city but also how to train government officials on what to do when these disasters strike.

The lessons learned from Katrina would be replicated in the evacuation and survival of New York City. After Katrina, the reforms and makeshift plans were made official, and put in place under the PKERA. Some of these reforms included New Orleans-specific reforms such as the heightening of the levees or emergency evacuation plans before the storms.31 Other

reforms for the entire United States including medical evacuation plans, national and federal relief plans, and training for on-site personnel.32 Many of these plans and training courses were practical as they were proven through the Katrina disaster when they were put to the test. In November of 2012, these federal plans were put into action as Superstorm Sandy made landfall in New England, on the path toward New York City. As improved National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) systems warned the city, low-lying residents evacuated and essential resources stayed in place and prepared for the storm as to their new post-Katrina standards.33 Hospitals within the city began to evacuate critical patients and just months before, an exercise in a major unspecified NYC hospital proved that with the post-Katrina standards, the hospital was able to withstand all the tests very well.34 Overall, Superstorm Sandy was only a category one storm and nowhere near the destruction level of Katrina, but it did help to show that post-Katrina plans did help to save people. Sandy was also a different storm whereas Katrina was in a tropical setting, Sandy relief also had to deal with below-freezing temperatures and flooding from the Atlantic Ocean. Katrina was not only a disaster, but it was a crucial turning point in United States history. It showed that in the 21st century, plans for evacuation and national preparedness must always be up to date and ready to be enacted.35It also showed how shortcuts, “efficiency” in using cheaper materials, and confusion relating to lifesaving measures were unacceptable in this modern world.36 Katrina’s effect on the United States also brought many

together in the New Orleans area through a collective “We are in this together” attitude showing true American grit in a time of need. Katrina will forever be remembered as a storm that was unprepared for, even though it was foreseen to be coming, but it will also be remembered as one of the most influential storms in the history of turning points in the United States.

NOTES

1 On This Day. "What Happened on August 29, 2005." On This Day, 17 Jan. 2016, www.onthisday.com/date/2005/ august/29. Accessed 6 Dec. 2023.

2 National Archives. "Hurricane Katrina." National Archives, 30 Feb. 2018, www.georgewbushlibrary.gov/research/topicguides/hurricane-katrina#:~:text=On%20August%2023%2C %202005%2C%20a,intensified%20into%20a%20Category% 205. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023. 3 NOVA PBS. "How New Orleans Flooded." NOVA, PBS, Oct. 2005, www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ orleans/how

nf.html#:~:text=Katrina%20makes%20landfall%20in%20Lo uisiana, part%20of%20Orleans%20Parish%2C%20breach. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.

4 "Timeline: Who Knew When the levees Broke." NPR, 10 Feb. 2006, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php? storyId=5200940. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.

5 Roth, Lawrence H. "Microsoft PowerPoint - 01lessons_of_katrina." American Society of Civil Engineers, Apr. 2007, biotech.law.lsu.edu/climate/ocean-rise/againstthe-deluge/01-new_orleans_levees.pdf. Accessed 12 Dec. 2023.

6 Roth, Lawrence H. "Microsoft PowerPoint - 01lessons_of_katrina." American Society of Civil Engineers,

Apr. 2007, biotech.law.lsu.edu/climate/ocean-rise/againstthe-deluge/01-new_orleans_levees.pdf. Accessed 12 Dec. 2023.

7 Roth, Lawrence H. "Microsoft PowerPoint - 01lessons_of_katrina." American Society of Civil Engineers, Apr. 2007, biotech.law.lsu.edu/climate/ocean-rise/againstthe-deluge/01-new_orleans_levees.pdf. Accessed 12 Dec. 2023.

8 Roth, Lawrence H. "Microsoft PowerPoint - 01lessons_of_katrina." American Society of Civil Engineers, Apr. 2007, biotech.law.lsu.edu/climate/ocean-rise/againstthe-deluge/01-new_orleans_levees.pdf. Accessed 12 Dec. 2023.

9 "Timeline: Who Knew When the levees Broke." NPR, 10 Feb. 2006, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?

storyId=5200940. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.

10 NPR. "Timeline: Who Knew When the levees Broke." NPR, 10 Feb. 2006, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?

storyId=5200940. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.

11NPR. "Timeline: Who Knew When the levees Broke." NPR, 10 Feb. 2006, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?

storyId=5200940. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.

12 Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learnt." George W. Bush, the White House, White House, 15 Sept. 2005,georgewbushwhitehouse.archives.gov/reports/katrina-lessons-learned/ chapter5.html. Accessed 24 Nov. 2023.

13 Roth, Lawrence H. "Microsoft PowerPoint - 01lessons_of_katrina." American Society of Civil Engineers, Apr. 2007, biotech.law.lsu.edu/climate/ocean-rise/againstthe-deluge/01-new_orleans_levees.pdf. Accessed 12 Dec. 2023.

14 Orrell, John, Sgt. "Hurricane Katrina, Eight Years Later: Former Guard Chief Reflects on the Guard's 'Finest Hour.'" National Guard, United States government, 29 Aug. 2013, www.nationalguard.mil/News/Article/574826/hurricanekatrina-eight-years-later-former-guard-chief-reflect s-onthe-guards-f/