Napoleon Bonaparte. The inventor of sliced bread. Taylor Swift. These seemingly random topics mesh together as topics of discussion at the weekly meetings of Walter Johnson’s History Club. Every Friday during lunch, students go to room 114 to spend time with their friends and learn and discuss the many different aspects of history. The club started in 2021 as a space to hold interdisciplinary conversations on history, civics, government and culture.
“It’s really about learning history for the sake of having fun with it – the nitty-gritty [and] the weird,” club co-president senior Defne Ustundag said.
Every club meeting typically starts with announcements, followed by an officer-led or member-led witty presentation.
“My favorite part of the club is listening to all the presentations,” junior club member Quinn Lapthorn said.
Usually, meetings end with a group engaging activity like Kahoot, Family Feud or opening up the floor for discussion.
Recently, History Club held a combined meeting with the Hispanic Heritage Club in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Their meeting followed the same format as usual, but had members and officers of another club leading the meeting. This allowed for the meeting to become more collaborative as they created a sense of cultural appreciation.
“Having another club come in makes sure that we don’t have insular discussions and instead broaden the space History Club offers to others,” Ustundag said.
This sentiment was echoed by club treasurer, junior Kansiri Sukduang.
“It was beneficial because we got to hear from another club about a topic that’s very important to them and meet new people that don’t typically come to history club,” Sukduang said.
Besides this meeting, History Club has also worked with other clubs including Political Analysis Club to talk about the 1960 Presidential Election and Cryptography Club to talk about the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II.
One of its most significant achievements include their joint meeting with WJ’s Black Student Union in February 2022. The two clubs hosted guest speaker Ralph Buglass from the county historical society to come in to talk about the history of school segregation in Montgomery County. Large groups of people showed up, not necessarily from either of the clubs, but just to be able to listen and be a part of the conversation.
“It impacted our club because we got many people involved and related history to current day issues,” Sukduang said.
Educating so many WJ students helps raise awareness and create a better future for every MCPS student. However, despite all the seriousness, History Club also leaves room for fun.
It’s really about learning history for the sake of having fun with it – the nitty-gritty [and] the weird.”
— Senior co-president Defne Ustundag
“We have trivia games and prizes! We do silly presentations on the history of bread and on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When [we] lead meetings, we always try to keep them engaging. We also have cookies, and plenty of jokes,” Ustundag said.
When asked to describe History Club in three words, Lapthorn described it as “fun, historical and interesting.”
