Lynn Classical High School

National History Day Project Process Paper

Triumph and Tragedy: The Sharpeville Massacre

Mariana de Leon and Randall Mendez

Honors World History II
Mrs.Dormady
3/25/19
How did we choose our topic?

We wanted to do something on apartheid in South Africa originally, but that soon

changed when we realized the entirety of South Africa was a little too much to handle.
We came across the Sharpeville Massacre after our teacher recommended it to us. At
first, we were a little hesitant, but then we gave it a shot and found out that it was all part
of a domino effect leading toward the end of apartheid. The more we looked into it the
more we felt like we could use it for this project. We didn’t think that we could come
across a better topic that fit so well with the theme of triumph and tragedy.

How did we conduct our research?

Most of our research was done online, there was a lot of interesting articles on
the topic, and some in books, there wasn’t a lot of book options. Some of our research
and understanding came from videos on the topic. We took notes on what we saw/read
to help us a little more, and so we had something to look back on to compare our
sources with one another to see if anything differed. As you could’ve guessed most of
our research was done online but we did use the public library to our advantage as
much as we could. Unfortunately, however, they didn’t have much on the topic.

Why did we choose our category and how did we create our project?

We decided to create a website because we felt that having all of our research
and efforts would last the longest on the internet. We used Weebly to create our website
because when we looked on the national history day website that is what was
recommended to use. Making a website also allowed us to work on our project and
keep track of what the other was doing without being face to face. This way we wouldn’t
have to find a way to meet up. We also used google docs and made a collective file for
both of us to use. First, we decided on our website name and then the tabs to it (this
probably was the most frustrating part as we couldn’t agree on names). We added
pictures and some paragraphs into the website and it was eventually done.
The making of the website

Learning how to use Weebly did take some time, but with the help of some
tutorial videos, we decided to jump in and try it on our own. The interface was simple to
use that we eventually got a grip on it. We went for a more simplistic approach when
designing the website; as most pictures were in black and white, we utilized some red
text to add contrast and highlight important sections of information. A concern we had
was making the site easy to navigate so there are many pages categorized for certain
information rather than it all being piled up in one page. An organized look was our aim
and we believe we were able to achieve that. Once we had a style settled on, we added
the information in a way that would fit the best in regards to our style. We put minor
additions (buttons, etc.), made sure to credit the images and quotes used, and
completed our website.

How does our topic relate to the theme?

Even though the Sharpeville Massacre itself seems like a tragedy, it was
something that helped lead to the end of apartheid. The Sharpeville Massacre was such
an infuriating event to so many people. This started more protests and other countries
started to become revolted by this happening in South Africa. The South African
protests led up to Nelson Mandela being freed from imprisonment and eventually a
president that signed a constitution that ended apartheid in South Africa.