Back Cover: Bottle of Penicillin Lozenges, England, 1949. Photograph by C. Hulbert. Science Museum Group Collection Online, Object No. 1987-311/302. Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 International licence (image modified). https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co194602/.

What appears to be an otherworldly creature on an extraterrestrial landscape is, in fact, a pair of good old-fashioned fungi right here on Planet Earth. On the cover, Xylaria polymorpha, also known as "dead man's fingers," seems to stretch its tentacles toward nearby Penicillium polonicum, a type of blue mold. Meanwhile, the back cover features an antique bottle of one of the most important medications known to the world--Penicillin.

Though the penicillin lozenges featured here expired in 1949 and have long since crumbled into crystals, they were at the frontier of medical discovery at the time, with the first successful clinical tests of penicillin at Oxford University just ten years earlier and the initial observations of Penicillium rubens (believed to be Penicillium notatum) by Alexander Fleming in 1928.

In this issue of The History Teacher, Harrison Shao leads us through this discovery in "From Small Wonder to Big Salvation: How the Mass Production of Penicillin Became Possible in the Early 1940s," while Zania E. Hierlmaier takes us through a parallel journey in "The Creation of the Birth Control Pill: A Turning Point for American Women's Education, Economics, and Role in Society." These phenomenal student essays were selected as 2024's winning papers for National History Day.

In Memoriam: William Weber, 1940–2024   (p. 7)

Elementary Students' Guided Inquiry into their Local History, the Most Segregated American City
  by John H. Bickford and Jeremiah Clabough   (pp. 9-40)

Teaching Grassroots Local Civil Rights History
  by Elizabeth Belanger   (pp. 41-76)

Teaching for Surprise: Oral History, Document Interpretation, and Historical Thinking in an International Context
  by William Thomas Okie   (pp. 77-106)

Introduction
  by Jane Dabel, The History Teacher   (pp. 107-108)

From Small Wonder to Big Salvation: How the Mass Production of Penicillin Became Possible in the Early 1940s
  by Harrison Shao, Senior Division   (pp. 109-120)

The Creation of the Birth Control Pill: A Turning Point for American Women's Education, Economics, and Role in Society
  by Zania E. Hierlmaier, Junior Division   (pp. 121-134)

6   Contributors to The History Teacher
8   The History of The History Teacher
141   Questionnaire for Potential Reviewers
142   Membership/Subscription Information
144   Submission Guidelines for The History Teacher

Cover 2  Society for History Education: National History Day Winners
135  Rodney Ross: Harrisburg in the World Wars
136  National History Day: Rights & Responsibilities in History
137  National History Day: Stay Connected With Us
138  Society for History Education: Richard & Louise Wilde Award
Cover 3  Society for History Education: Excellence in History Education

Elizabeth Belanger is a Professor of American Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She received her Ph.D. from Brown University and her work has appeared in The Journal of American History, The Public Historian, and The Journal of the Civil War Era.

John H. Bickford earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. He is a Professor of History Education at Eastern Illinois University. He has research interests in the texts and tasks that spark historical thinking.

Jeremiah Clabough is an Associate Professor of Social Science Education at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is a former middle and high-school social studies teacher. His research interests focus on strengthening students' civic and historical thinking skills.

Zania E. Hierlmaier is a freshman at Open World Learning Community in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her paper, "The Creation of the Birth Control Pill: A Turning Point for American Women's Education, Economics, and Role in Society," won first place at the 2024 National History Day competition in the Junior Paper division. She plans to further develop her writing through a feminist and social justice lens.

William Thomas Okie is a Professor of History and History Education at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, where he has taught history pedagogy, research methods, and modern U.S. history since 2013. He is the author of The Georgia Peach: Culture, Agriculture, and Environment in the American South (Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Harrison Shao is a high-school senior at the Mississippi School for Math and Science in Columbus, Mississippi. He made history by becoming the first student from the state of Mississippi to win first place at National History Day in 2024. Shao was named a 2024 National Endowment for the Humanities Scholar. Besides his history passions, Shao loves to swim, play piano, write, and conduct science research. He dreams of a career in medicine and history.