Hannah Cooper
Individual Web Site
Junior Division
Process Paper
Why I Chose This Topic
As I was looking at topics for National History Day there were several that grabbed my attention. One day my Mom was telling me how the Navajo’s had helped the Marines win World War II. She told me the Navajo language had been used as a code. I was intrigued by the topic and I knew it related to this year’s National History Day theme. I decided to make my web page about the Navajo Code Talkers, to inform people how the Navajo’s contribution helped the United States defeat the Japanese in the Pacific during World War II.
How I Conducted My Research
To start my research on the Navajo Code Talkers, I went to my school library but they only had one book. Next, I went to the Sonoma County Library. Surprisingly, all books on the Navajo Code Talkers were checked out so I had to place holds. I had no idea the topic was so popular. When they arrived, I had enough information, but not enough pictures or quotes, so I went on the Internet and found both.
I was talking with my grandparents who had worked two summers on the Navajo Reservation, and they told me about a friend who had worked with Navajo Code Talkers. I phoned him for an interview. The interview surprised me! He thought that using the Code Talkers was not efficient.
Other primary sources were very hard to locate because the Navajo Code Talkers had been sworn to secrecy and their mission classified. Little information about the Code Talkers was published until the 1990's. At that time President Bush recognized the Code Talkers' accomplishments and awarded them gold medals. My best resources were a video documentary that I checked out from Sonoma State University Library and the interview because they both contained primary information. There were many secondary sources of information but most shared similar facts.
How I Created and Developed My Web Page
First, I prepared my notes, then installed Microsoft FrontPage 2002 on my computer, and started to create my home page. I decided to start with six links for providing information, and chose page titles. I input the information from my note cards, added my bibliography and process paper. Once I was finished typing the information, I edited and changed the alignment of a few things. Next, I hyperlinked sound to some pages. Finally, I posted my web page on the Internet.
How My Project Relates To The National History Day Theme
My web page relates to the National History Day theme in many ways. The Navajo Code Talkers sent secret messages across the Pacific for the United States Military during World War II. They were highly classified communicators. The Navajo language did not have any words for military terminology, so they created words to communicate in code. Basically, it was a code within a code. The Navajo’s code was the only code that the Japanese could not decipher. The efforts of the Navajo Code Talkers helped win the war. Since they used their language to communicate and created a code for their language, this relates to the theme of Communication. (499)