Beth Schmid
Headquarters, Washington, DC                                                                       
(Phone:  202/358-1760)                                    June 10, 1999


Mark Robinson
National History Day
University of Maryland, College Park, MD
(Phone:  301/314-9542)

NOTE TO EDITORS:  N99-36

OKLAHOMA STUDENTS HIGHLIGHT NASA AT NATIONAL HISTORY DAY

     A group of Oklahoma high school students who examined the role of 
women in NASA's origins -- and a woman who helped create NASA -- will be 
available for press interviews on Tuesday, June 15, as part of 
theNational History Day competition next week.

     The students, from Minco High School in Minco, OK, are among 2,000 
finalists in this year's National History Day competition, to be held 
June 13-17 at the University of Maryland's College Park campus.  More 
than 500,000 middle school and high school students in 48 states 
competed to participate in this year's event, which had the theme 
Science, Technology and Invention in History.

     Reporters will be able to interview the students and 93-year old 
Eilene Galloway, who played a key role in drafting the National 
Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 and recently received the John F. 
Kennedy Astronautics Award. 

     Galloway will attend the Oklahoma students' presentation at 1:40 
p.m. EDT Tuesday in room 2203 in the Art and Sociology building on 
campus.  She and the students will be available for media interviews 
immediately following this presentation.  Interested media 
representatives should arrive around 12:30 p.m. to have time to look 
around and be escorted to the performance hall.  For more details, 
contact Mark Robinson at the telephone number above.

     Media are invited to view all the students' work at the Stamp 
Student Union on Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 
9 p.m.  The final awards ceremony, also open to the press, will be held 
at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday in the Cole Field House.  Fred Gregory, NASA's 
Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance, will speak.

     NASA's Education Division is a sponsor of the 20th annual National 
History Day, which encourages young people to explore historical topics 
related to an annual theme.

     Participants qualify for the national event through local and state 
competitions.  More than 300 historians, scientists and education 
professionals will evaluate the students' work.  Students choose their 
own topics and present exhibits, multimedia documentaries, original 
performances or traditional research papers.

     This year's projects address the impact of robotics in space, 
living and working on the International Space Station, John Glenn, the 
Hubble Space Telescope and many other topics.  More information on 
National History Day can be found at the following URL:

http://www.thehistorynet.com/NationalHistoryDay/

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