Ingrid Mundt has been immersed in the life of Margaret Sanger for the past several months. Before she completed eighth grade this year, the 14-year-old from St. Paul spent her lunch hours crafting, editing and re-editing a paper about the birth-control activist.
The process culminated at the University of Maryland in College Park on Thursday when she won first place in the junior paper category at the National History Day competition.
"I'm still a little bit in shock. … It doesn't quite feel real, even though the medal is still around my neck," she said.
Mundt, who attended Capitol Hill Magnet School, was one of two students from St. Paul who took home top awards.
She was joined by Grace Philippon of the Twin Cities German Immersion School, who won second place in the same category for her paper, "Rachel Carson's Silent Spring: Standing Up for Women, Science, and the Environment."
National History Day offers yearlong programs for students to conduct research-based work on historical topics. For the junior paper category, students must complete footnoted research papers of 1,500 to 2,500 words.
Students whose projects win at local and affiliate levels advance to the national competition, which this year included more than 3,000 students from the U.S. and several other countries. Minnesota sent 61 students from grades six to 12.
Mundt had twice before participated in History Day, but this was the first year she qualified for nationals. She said she was drawn to Sanger's life because she's interested in "the lead-ups to big events," such as creation of the first contraceptive pill.