A Teen “Take”: Solving Mysteries With Science and History

This post was written by college student Lauren Gracie, a participant in the Informal Learning Office’s 2022 summer teen internship program, and a teen volunteer at the 2024 National Book Festival. 

When I walked into the 2024 National Book Festival, I was welcomed by two exciting things: science and mystery. Because of the new STEM District, the Festival felt like a home for my younger self, who was just as enthused to learn about the worm in bookworm as she was about the books. Throughout the festival, the intersection of science, literature and good old fashioned intrigue created an environment where many of my interests merged harmoniously. I was hooked from the beginning.

The first presentation I attended was in the Library of Congress Pavilion, where mysteries were solved. I was not the only one who wanted to crack the case, because the crowd overflowed out of the pavilion. The presentation Reading Under the Lines: Exposing Alexander Hamilton’s Redacted Letter to His “Betsey” was given by the Library’s Preservation, Research and Testing Division, and they had secrets to share.

At timestamp 3:23, the scientists described the forensic processes used to uncover blacked out portions of old letters Alexander Hamilton sent to his wife Eliza Hamilton. They detailed the imaging techniques employed to distinguish different layers of ink, allowing us to read what had been masked for generations. At timestamp 10:32, the scientists walked the audience through a hidden conversation between Alexander and Eliza Hamilton, showing the power of technology and chemistry through this amusing anecdote. In another example highlighted at the timestamp 8:45, they even found that Thomas Jefferson originally wrote “fellow subjects” in the Declaration of Independence, before he changed it to the more thematically consistent “fellow citizens.” Through the power of science and engineering, these preservationists can uncover new perspectives and details of pivotal documents such as this.

More than just being entertaining, the presentation was a powerful discussion on the convergence of science and history, two professional fields I did not often associate before. For me, it demonstrated the importance of this type of science outside of a simple anecdote. It highlighted the knowledge we would have lost without these innovations. The presentation focused not just on solving the mystery, but also about exciting jobs in science that one might not immediately think of. While I left the presentation with new facts, I also gained a deeper understanding of the breadth of science-based careers, particularly for those with love of reading and history. This information might just be a clue to a mystery in the mind of a child watching, one that often still confounds me as a college student. What career will I love when I grow up?

The intrigue continued as I walked to my next panel. In the STEM District, Candace Fleming discussed her new book The Enigma Girls. This talk was an exciting bonus presentation in addition to Fleming’s regular appearance at the festival. It discussed the teen code breakers stationed in Bletchley Park, an estate in England, during World War Two. Fleming spoke about the girls’ recruitment, how they left home without even knowing where they were going or what they were doing (sparking a nervous laugh from parents close to me). These girls were trained to crack German codes, an effort that helped turn the tide of the war.

The panel resonated with me because of a focus on the agency of young people. The harrowing story of these young women demonstrated to me a valuable lesson, that one is never too young to act on their values and passions. Fleming ended with a round of puzzles that the children in the audience could try, and stories of young people who sent her ciphers they cracked or even created. I was really struck with the ingenuity of these children. These ciphers were complex and colorful, and a reminder to never underestimate the power of a child’s imagination.

It is easy to believe when you are young that the world is too big for you to make a difference. However, while the identities and ciphers of these Enigma Girls were mysterious, their sizable contribution to the war effort was not. Fleming cited that the work of these girls was a factor that contributed to shortening World War Two by two whole years. It is not every day I hear a story like this one, where it is the young people who create history. I left feeling empowered, as I hoped the children in the audience did. I hope they left knowing that if these girls made so great a difference there was nothing stopping them from doing the same.

While the mysteries in the panels were vastly different, they both centered on the strength that comes from combining a love of reading and a love of science. To me, these panels were a haven for the curious, and spoke to the power in fostering this curiosity. As these panels showed, it is the power to both understand history and write it ourselves. With this lesson in all our pockets, the only mystery left is what curiosity to chase first. What an exciting thing for us to solve!