- Lesson Plans
- Teacher's Guides
- Media Resources
Preparing for National History Day
National History Day and National Endowment for the Humanities Scholar Medals.
"In history, a great volume is unrolled for our instruction, drawing the materials of future wisdom from the past errors and infirmities of mankind." — Edmund Burke
National History Day makes history come alive for students by engaging them in the discovery of the historic, cultural, and social experiences of the past. Our collection of resources is designed to assist students and teachers as they prepare their NHD projects and highlights the long partnership that has existed between the National Endowment for the Humanities and National History Day . This Teacher's Guide provides resources for the current theme, tips and advice on conducting research to complete any NHD project type, and access to materials from previous themes and NEH/NHD programming.
Building A More Perfect Union Lesson Book
The National Endowment for the Humanities and National History Day created the Building a More Perfect Union lesson book as part of the NEH’s special initiative to advance civic education and the study of U.S. history and culture in preparation for the 250 th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The two essays and fifteen lessons include primary sources, compelling and guiding questions, inquiry-based activities, opportunities to consider multiple and competing perspectives, and supplementary materials available at EDSITEment. The complete Building a More Perfect Union lesson plan book is available for free download here and at NHD’s site for the 250th . EDSITEment's Building A More Perfect Union media resource page includes the essays and lessons, as well as supplemental materials, lessons, and resources for including themes related to "a more perfect union" across civics and U.S. history curricula.
Guiding Questions
How has technology transformed how we communicate and what has this meant for history?
What have debate and diplomacy produced in history?
What qualifies an event as a turning point in history?
How have conflicts been transformed into compromises across history?
To what extent have those who have taken a stand inspired change?
What factors contributed to the event or action you are investigating?
National History Day began at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1974 and the National Endowment for the Humanities has funded and partnered with National History Day since 1976. Each year, the NEH awards special prizes, and top projects are recognized with a NEH/NHD Scholar medal.
T he Chronicling America : Historic American Newspapers Prize is awarded in both the Junior and Senior divisions to an outstanding entry in any category that utilizes the newspaper resources that are available through Chronicling America : Historic American Newspapers . EDSITEment offers research ideas and a feature on special collections included in Chronicling America at our Chronicling America Teacher's Guide .
The National Endowment for the Humanities produced "In the Field" series included an episode on National History Day to tell the story of how NHD began, and give students space to share why they enjoy the NHD competition and what they take away from participating.
EDSITEment has also partnered with the Smithsonian Learning Lab to create collections of resources and questions to assist students with the relevant NHD themes and development of research skills. You will find collections from the past few years through the drop down menus below and at the Learning Lab Collections created for NHD .
For its outstanding work over the years and across the country, the National History Day organization received the National Humanities Medal in 2011 .
Each year at the National History Day competition the National Endowment for the Humanities awards the Chronicling America : Historic American Newspapers Prize in both the Junior and Senior divisions to an outstanding entry in any category that utilizes the newspaper resources that are available through the Chronicling America database .
You may already know about Chronicling America , the long-standing partnership between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities, which provides free access to millions of digitalized pages of America’s historic newspapers. Users can search and view newspaper pages from 1770–1963 and find information about American newspapers published between 1690–present using the National Digital Newspaper Program. EDSITEment offers research ideas and a feature on using special collections included within Chronicling America at our Chronicling America Teacher's Guide .
Curating Content for the Classroom: The Problem of Bias
Reading old newspapers opens a window into a world with a multiplicity of values, many of which are sharply different from ours. The unfiltered news and commentary of yesterday holds wonders but also requires a teacher’s sharp editorial guidance to be most effective. The existence of racial or gender bias in articles or advertisements that would have raised no concern back in the day, may make modern students or their parents uncomfortable. Be prepared to encounter such moments and to use them to help students understand their own beliefs and values, as well as to learn how complex an encounter with real history is. To assist you in this process, we have linked to a short guide to teaching sensitive material .
Moreover, most historic papers were affiliated with a particular political party and consequently have a strongly partisan editorial policy, in the literal sense. Happily through the tools available, students can easily learn about—and from—the distinctive perspectives of these newspapers. Chronicling America makes it relatively easy to discover the history and political profile of the paper under examination by way of the “about” section that accompanies almost every newspaper title.
For example, the “about” section of The Toiler gives a fascinating “biography” of the “Official Organ of the Communist Labor Party of Ohio.” Though short lived, it was merged with another title to form what became known as the Daily Worker , the Communist Party of America’s national paper. For an introduction to the partisanship of 19th- and early 20th-century newspapers and an interesting argument about the positive side of this partisanship, see the article " The Fall and Rise of Partisan Journalism ."
Teaching Diverse Perspectives with Historic Newspapers
Special collections of newspapers serving particular identities and interests are an especially exciting and revelatory part of Chronicling America. Irish , Latin American , and Jewish newspapers have now been joined by a significant number of German language newspapers and newspapers serving Indigenous communities .
Most impressively, there are now more that one hundred African American newspapers from thirty states and the District of Columbia. South Carolina alone is represented by eleven papers! These papers allow us to trace the daily lives and opinions of Black people from the days of Emancipation and Reconstruction through the establishment of Jim Crow, World War I, and the Great Migration.
A feature essay on using these newspaper collections and what the perspectives they bring to U.S. history provide is available at our Chronicling America Teacher's Guide . Or, you can go directly to Chronicling America and use the “All Digitalized Newspapers” tab in the search menu.
The “Golden Age” of Newspapers
The greatest concentration of Chronicling America material currently available online runs from 1900–1922, offering an unrivaled view of the heyday of what historian Doris Kearns Goodwin has called the “golden age of journalism.” Here one can immerse oneself in the Populist and Progressive Eras, the leadership of Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, and the return to “normalcy” under President Warren Harding. On the world stage, this is the period of the Great War, the Russian Revolution, and the worldwide influenza pandemic—all of which are covered in great and fascinating detail in these pages.
The date range and states included in Chronicling America ’s newspapers collection are constantly expanding. You can begin to explore the riches of this database by simply searching Chronicling America by keyword or by using the suggested list of topics arranged by subject, decade or large theme.
Teaching and Researching with Chronicling America
EDSITEment provides a robust collection of resources and lessons that incorporate Chronicling America . Teachers and students will find these materials helpful in navigating the database, creating research questions on a given NHD theme or project topic, and incorporating historic newspapers into classroom discussions and projects.
Chronicling and Mapping the Women's Suffrage Movement —This lesson brings together digital mapping and the Chronicling America newspaper database as part of an inquiry into how and where the women’s suffrage movement took place in the United States.
Thomas Edison's Inventions in the 1900s and Today: From "New" to You! —Students can trace the history of Thomas Edison's inventions through EDSITEment's lesson plan and this fascinating article on the history of the incandescent bulb from Chronicling America .
The Industrial Age in America: Sweatshops, Steel Mills, and Factories —Technological innovation isn't always entirely beneficial. Read Upton Sinclair's first hand account of the abuse that accompanied the industrial revolution while engaging in this lesson on the era of industrialization in the U.S.
Chronicling America : Uncovering a World at War —This lesson gives students the opportunity to interact with historical newspapers from the WWI era available through Chronicling America and engage in dialogue as they decide: Should the United States remain neutral or join the fight?
The National Endowment for the Humanities and National History Day collaborated to produce videos featuring NEH grant recipients for the benefit of students and teachers as they prepare their projects. The "Ask an NEH Expert" videos below offer advice from scholars and educators that can be applied to work on any NHD project topic and type.
NEH Project Skills and Resources
Each institution represented in this section was awarded a CARES Act grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2020 to develop digital resources and expand access to their materials for schools and the public.
Ask an NEH Expert: Wide Research —Jeffrey Ludwig, Director of Education at the Seward House Museum (Auburn, New York), discusses the benefits of wide research when developing any project. The video includes examples of primary sources and other resources available at the Seward House that illustrate how wide research works.
Ask an NEH Expert: Historical Significance —Shatavia Elder, Vice President of Education at the Atlanta History Center (Atlanta, Georgia), offers advice on the importance of historical significance when writing about a topic, event, person, or era. The video includes materials available at the Atlanta History Center that show how researchers can evaluate historical significance across time.
Ask an NEH Expert: Multiple Perspectives —Anne Petersen, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (Santa Barbara, California), addresses why multiple perspectives are important to developing a rich understanding of historical events and topics. The video includes how maps and primary documents available at the Santa Barbara Trust can be used to analyze multiple and competing perspectives in history.
NEH Project Skills
This set of "Ask an NEH Expert" videos focuses on the skills related to writing, researching, and editing that are applicable to all National History Day project categories and topics.
Ask an NEH Expert: Building an Argument —Margaret Hughes, Historic Hudson Valley 's Associate Director for Education, provides guidance on crafting an argument, and strategies for how to successfully incorporate that argument into a National History Day project. Margaret has also served as a judge for the Lower Hudson National History Day regional competition.
Ask an NEH Expert: Validating Sources —Leslie Hayes, the New-York Historical Society 's Director of Education, offers valuable advice and questions students should ask in the process of validating primary and secondary sources for use in National History Day projects. Leslie is an NEH grant recipient and has led NEH summer institutes for K-12 educators, including American Women, American Citizens: 1920-1948 .
Ask an NEH Expert: Writing and Editing —Dana Williams, Howard University 's English Department Chair and professor of African American literature, shares her experiential insight and guidance for success in the writing and editing process for National History Day projects. Dr. Williams has received five NEH grants, and is currently completing a book-length study on Toni Morrison's editorship, which will be published by Amistad, a division of Harper Collins.
NEH Project Categories
These five videos—one for each project category—feature experts in the fields of documentaries, exhibits, papers, performances, and websites.
Ask an NEH Expert: Documentaries —Eric Stange, a documentary filmmaker, and Kevin Shirley, a NHD coordinator in Georgia, discuss successful practices for developing documentaries for the NHD competition.
Ask an NEH Expert: Exhibits —Marci Raven of the New-York Historical Society and Whitney Olsen, a NHD coordinator in California, provide strategies and advice for designing and presenting successful NHD exhibits.
Ask an NEH Expert: Papers — Author and editor Christina Thompson provides expert tips on developing one’s voice as a writer, along with advice for organizing and revising your paper.
Ask an NEH Expert: Performances — Jenny Inge is a performer and playwright and, in this video, she discusses how students can integrate their personal perspective into their performance as they portray the perspectives and events of history they have researched.
Ask an NEH Expert: Websites — Betsy Newman is an award-winning documentary and web-content producer and in this video, she provides a behind-the-scenes perspective on how to produce digital NHD projects.
The 2024 National History Day theme Turning Points in History invites students to explore how ideas, events, or actions cause change in direct and indirect ways. Through researching this theme, students will find that a turning point can be one individual’s personal decision, a mass movement, or anything in between. Students are asked to consider various consequences, from the tangible to the symbolic, the local to the global, and the immediate to the long-term. Many examples can be found within military history, political history, and legal history, but students are also encouraged to consider topics related to innovation and business, health and medicine, natural events and the environment, and science and technology.
This year’s theme narrative shares how the Chronicling America newspaper database can be used to explore debates around turning points in history. Using the examples of Hawaiian annexation and 1919's Red Summer, this essay encourages students to discover multiple perspectives through digitized newspapers. It prompts them to identify the goals and viewpoints of newspaper staff and to consider whose perspectives are highlighted, whose perspectives are missing or obscured, and how other current events shaped opinions. More resources can be found on the NHD Website as well as in this year’s theme book .
The National History Day theme video is a useful starting point for any topic and project.
EDSITEment Resources for Turning Points in History
- Nelson Mandela & South Africa
- "Sí, se puede!": Chávez, Huerta, and the UFW
- Places and People of the Civil Rights Movement
- Latino Americans: War and Peace
- I Remember: Japanese Incarceration During WWII
- Holocaust and Resistance
- Music of the Harlem Renaissance
- The Mexican Revolution
- Chronicling and Mapping the Women's Suffrage Movement
- Hawai'i's Annexation and Statehood: How the Island Nation Became an American Frontier
- Who Belongs on the Frontier: Cherokee Removal
- Arts of the Afro Atlantic Diaspora
- The Aztecs: Mighty Warriors of Mexico
- Galileo and the Inevitability of Ideas
- The Path of the Black Death
- The Cuneiform Writing System in Ancient Mesopotamia: Emergence and Evolution
The 2023 National History Day theme Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas encourages students to investigate what it means to be a pioneer and where pioneers throughout history can be found. Students researching this theme will find that frontiers and pioneers can be found throughout history in some surprising places. Topics from military history abound, but students are encouraged to explore economic, social, scientific, and political frontiers as well.
The theme narrative for this year explores Citizenship, Race, and Place through the study of Chinese labor on the transcontinental railroad and the Japanese American Internment during World War II. By examining the different ways Asian Americans have experienced frontiers, this essay asks students to think about how people have traversed and transcended frontiers throughout history. More resources can be found on the NHD Website as well as in this year’s theme book.
The NHD theme video also provides students a useful place to start their research.
EDSITEment Resources for Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas
Trailblazers .
- Leonardo da Vinci: Creative Genius
Adiós Amor: The Search for Maria Moreno
Thurgood Marshall Before the Court
Introducing Jane Eyre: An Unlikely Victorian Heroine
BackStory: Hidden Figures - The People Behind the Story You Know
Movements and Ideas
The LGBTQ Community in American History
Was There an Industrial Revolution? New Workplace, New Technology, New Consumers
Afro Atlantic: Paths from Enslavement
Women's Equality: Changing Attitudes and Beliefs
The Freedom Riders and the Popular Music of the Civil Rights Movement
The Impact of the Transcontinental Railroad
Images of the New World
Dust Bowl Days
“The Great Migration” by Minnie Bruce Pratt
Places and People of the Civil Rights Movement
The 2022 National History Day theme “Debates and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences” invites students to explore how various disputes and attempts at resolution have had significant impact throughout history. Researching topics on this theme may take students into areas of political or cultural differences, moments of international crisis, or cooperative economic policies. Students will find ready examples of diplomacy—both successes and failures—in relationships among state actors, but they should be encouraged to consider the diplomatic actions of individuals or organizations as well.
The theme narrative explores Debate and Diplomacy in the Early Republic through the papers of the U.S. War Department . This essay offers examples for research and prompts students to weigh the rights of individuals against the security of the nation, a debate at least as old as the nation’s founding that continues today. More resources can be found on the NHD website and in this year’s theme book .
Students will also find the NHD theme video a useful place to start their research.
EDSITEment Resources for Debates and Diplomacy in History
The Papers of the War Department
The Crisis of American Diplomacy: 1793–1808
Voting Rights for Women: Pro- and Anti-Suffrage
The Battle Over Reconstruction
Civil Rights and the Cold War
Bring Your Classroom to Life Through Diplomatic Oral Histories
The Monroe Doctrine: Origin and Early American Foreign Policy
Women Aviators in WWII
Voices of Democracy: Women Leaders of the Civil Rights Struggle
The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962: The Missiles of October
The Origins of the Cold War, 1945-1949
The Jazz Ambassadors
The Debate in the United States over the League of Nations
From Neutrality to War: The United States and Europe 1921–1941
American Diplomacy in World War II
The 2021 theme " Communication in History " offers students opportunities to explore how individuals and groups have shared information and the technological changes that have expanded how we communicate throughout history. The 2021 NHD theme narrative provides questions and examples for students to consider as they design their research projects. For instance, how do elected officials communicate with the public and why? How has technology shaped how we communicate?
The National History Day theme video for " Communication in History " is a great starting point for any topic and project.
EDSITEment resources for "Communication in History"
"From Time to Time": Presidents and Communicating with the Public
Lincoln's First Inaugural Address: We Must Not Be Enemies
Media and Communication Technology in the Making of America
Chronicling America: History's First Draft
FDR: Fireside Chats, the New Deal, and Eleanor
FDR’s “Four Freedoms” Speech
The President's Roles and Responsibilities: Communicating with the President
President Madison's 1812 War Message
Celebrating Studs Terkel – Interviewer of America
BackStory: Behind the Bylines - Advocacy Journalism in America
Teaching Women’s History through Great Speeches
Winston Churchill on the Origins of the Cold War: The Fulton Speech
"I Have a Dream": The Vision of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The 2020 theme "Breaking Barriers in History" offers students opportunities to explore how individuals and groups have overcome obstacles on their way to changing history. The NHD theme narrative provides questions and examples for students to consider as they design their research projects. For instance, who was responsible for constructing a barrier? How and why did barriers form? Are the barriers natural or human made? Were the barriers reduced, restructured, or removed? Are all barriers negative?
The National History Day theme webinar for "Breaking Barriers in History" is a great starting point for any topic and project.
You can also view acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns curate a Breaking Barriers playlist for ideas and inspiration.
EDSITEment Learning Lab Collections:
Breaking Barriers: Innovation and Industry
Breaking Barriers: Women's Suffrage
Breaking Barriers: United Farm Workers
Breaking Barriers: Race, Gender, and the U.S. Military
Breaking Barriers: The Reconstruction Era
EDSITEment resources for "Breaking Barriers"
Chronicling and Mapping the Women's Suffrage Movement
- Competing Voices in the Civil Rights Movement
- JFK, Freedom Riders, and the Civil Rights Movement
- Nelson Mandela and South Africa
- Was there an Industrial Revolution?
- The Transcontinental Railroad
- Asian American and Pacific Islander Perspectives
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-paper" and the "New Woman"
The 2019 theme of "Triumph and Tragedy in History" offers students opportunities to explore multiple sides of an event or issue to consider the short and long term ramifications in history. Was triumph a positive development for few, some, or many? Did people or places recover from the tragedy? Did a tragedy inspire triumphant actions and/or results in another time and place?
EDSITEment resources for "Triumph and Tragedy"
- Triumph and Tragedy: American Immigrant Experiences
- Triumph and Tragedy: World War I
- Triumph and Tragedy: American Industry
- Triumph and Tragedy: Smithsonian Learning Lab Collections
- Triumph and Tragedy: Lincoln's Enduring Legacy
For National History Day students, the 2017/2018 academic year will be filled with research related to the theme of "Conflict and Compromise in History." This expansive theme allows students to choose from a generous range of topics, whether from the ancient world or the history of their own city. Students need to begin research with some reliable secondary sources in order to gain a broader context before progressing to the appropriate primary sources. They will need to ask a series of questions about their chosen topic: What happened? How did it happen? Why did it happen? What were the consequences?
EDSITEment resources "Conflict and Compromise"
Learning lab collections.
Conflict and Compromise: Origins of the U.S. Constitution
Conflict and Compromise: The War of 1812
- Conflict and Compromise: Chinese Exclusion Act
- Conflict and Compromise: The Mexican Revolution
- Conflict and Compromise: Art and World War I
- Conflict and Compromise: The Vietnam War
EDSITEment Lesson Plans
- Understanding the Salem Witch Trials
- "The Stamp Act" The Coming of the American Revolution
- The Question of Representation at the 1787 Convention
- Washington and the Whiskey Rebellion
- The United States, France, and the Problem of Neutrality, 1796–1801
- The First American Party System: Events, Issues, and Positions (3 Lessons)
- President Madison's 1812 War Message
- Evangelicalism, Revivalism, and the Second Great Awakening
- The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854: Popular Sovereignty and the Political Polarization over Slavery
- What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?
- Battle Over Reconstruction
- Chronicling America: Chinese Exclusion Act
- Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion
- Chronicling America: Pullman Porters
- Topics in Chronicling America: Panama Canal
- Turning the Tide in the Pacific, 1941–1943
- Sources of Discord, 1945–1946
For National History Day students, the 2016/2017 academic year will be filled with research related to the theme "Taking a Stand in History." This expansive theme allows participants to choose from a generous range of topics, whether from the ancient world or the history of their own city. Students will all need to begin research with secondary sources, however, in order to gain a broader context before progressing to the appropriate primary sources. Their final argument will be constructed on this foundation and should address the effects that their research has uncovered on their chosen topic.
2017 NHD Documentary, 1st Place Senior Individual: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
EDSITEment resources for "Taking a Stand in History"
Taking a Stand: American Revolution and the Founder s
- Taking a Stand: Suffrage Movement 1848-1919
- Taking a Stand: NAACP and the Birth of a Nation
- Taking a Stand: Brown v. Board
- Taking a Stand: Freedom Rides
- T aking a Stand: African American Civil Rights Movement
- Taking a Stand: Nelson Mandela and South Africa
The theme of National History Day 2016 "Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History" is broad enough in scope to encourage investigation of topics ranging from local to world history and across any geographic area or time period. Consider this theme an invitation to look across time, space, and geography to find examples in history of when people took a risk and made a change.
EDSITEment resources for "Exploration, Encounter, Exchange"
Lewis and Clark: Exploring Uncharted Territory
- The Diplomacy Challenge
- The Jungle , Muckrakers, and Teddy Roosevelt
- Life in Babylonia: The Importance of Trade
- Trekking to Timbuktu: A Center of Trade
This year’s theme “ Leadership and Legacy in History ” offers a remarkable array of suggested topics for research projects . Students may consider the following questions when investigating history and designing their projects: How should a leader be remembered? Who writes the history of leadership? How do we evaluate the short and long term influences of people and events?
EDSITEment resources for "Leadership and Legacy"
- Simon Bolivar and Gran Columbia: Leading the Fight for Independence from Spain
- The Congress of Vienna : Legacy of Napoleon’s Downfall
- Alfred Nobel and the Nobel Prize
- Otto von Bismarck and the Unification of Germany
- The Three Leaders: Mazzini , Garibaldi , Cavour and the Unification of Italy
- The Hudson River School : Leading an American School of Art
- Tecumseh and the Western Confederacy: Leading the Battle against Westward Expansion
- Pierre de Coubertin and the Rebirth of the International Olympic Committee
- Linking Europe, Africa, and Asia: “ Ferdinand de Lesseps and the Construction of the Suez Canal
- Invoking the Power of the Federal Government: Grover Cleveland” and the Pullman Strike of 1894
- The Legacy of King Leopold's Vision in the Congo
- William Howard Taft and Dollar Diplomacy
- Pancho Villa : Leading Northern Mexico
- Emiliano Zepata : Leadership for “Reforma, Libertad Ley y Justicia”
- Emmeline Pankhurst : Leading a Militant Struggle for Suffrage in Great Britain
- Eugene V. Debs ’ Leadership of the American Socialist Movement
- Vladimir Lenin ”: Leading the Russian Revolution
- Realpolitik : A New Form of Leadership
- General Billy Mitchell and the Development of the American Air Force
- George Crile , Harvey Cushing , and the Ambulance Americaine : The Legacy of Wartime Medicine
- The Mercator Projection : Leading How We View the World
- Theodore Roosevelt : Leading the Charge to Build the Panama Canal
- Leading Higher Education in America: Harvard , Yale , and William & Mary
The 2013-2014 National History Day theme is “Rights and Responsibilities in History.” Under this broad topic, students have opportunities to explore a variety of topics as they prepare their respective projects. A few research questions to assist with inquiry include: Are all rights equally protected? Are the rights of all people equally protected? What responsibilities do people have to uphold their rights? When and why have rights been restricted and expanded in history? What role does geography play in the expansion and protection of rights?
EDSITEment resources for "Rights and Responsibilities"
- Why Spinoza was Excommunicated
- "After the Mayflower" We Shall Remain
- “John Locke”: Natural Law, Natural Rights, and American Constitutionalism
- Religion in 18th-Century America
- Britain, Napoleon, and the American Embargo 1803-1808
- Who Were the Foremothers of American Equality?
- "Mary Church Terrell" Tennessee Encyclopedia
- “ John Muir, Nature’s Witness” Humanities Magazine
- The Storm that Swept Mexico
- The Mexican Revolution, November 1910
- Philip Randolph for Jobs and Freedom (NEH-supported film)
- "W.L Shirer on Nazi Germany" Annotations: the NEH Preservation
- "Desegregation of Central High School" Encyclopedia of Arkansas
- Building Suburbia: Highways and Housing
- "American Originals" Humanities Magazine
- Why Treaties Matter
- Making the History of 1989
Related on EDSITEment
Chronicling america: history's first draft, investigating local history, oral history as an educational experience, using historic digital newspapers for national history day, ask an neh expert: multiple perspectives, ask an neh expert: historical significance, ask an neh expert: wide research, race and ethnicity keyword thesaurus for chronicling america.
- Our Mission
A Beginner’s Guide to National History Day
National History Day—which, despite the name, runs through the school year—is powerful project-based learning for middle and high school students.
Think of National History Day as a science fair for history classes. It allows students the opportunity to engage in historical inquiry on a topic of their choice and—if they’re interested—enter their project in regional, state, and national competitions.
In our experience, National History Day (NHD) is one of the best forms of project-based learning ; it prompts students to engage in sustained inquiry as well as in critique and revision, all the while making a public product for an authentic audience—hallmarks of effective PBL. This rigor is particularly relevant as state and national social studies standards, like the C3 Framework , encourage students to analyze, explain, evaluate, justify, and interpret content. Real history goes beyond the memorization and recall of names, dates, and places, and NHD can be key to supporting students in making that leap.
Running an NHD competition for the first time can be quite complicated, but here are some steps to simplify it.
Step 1: A Quick but Deep Dive Into NHD
Get your feet wet by exploring the NHD website, which includes inspiring examples of yearly winners and advice on how to create competitive historical arguments. Two shining examples of winners include the documentary By Chance: The Story of the First Code Talkers and the website The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: The Tragedy That Struck Alaska .
The site also shares details on the five NHD project options for participating students:
- Website (with interactive multimedia)
- Documentary (including recording interviews)
- Paper (good for students who like to work alone)
- Exhibit (three-dimensional and placed on a physical structure)
- Performance (presented live by individuals or groups of students)
Each category requires access to specific materials in order to be successful. For example, exhibits require access to trifold boards, documentaries require editing and recording software, and performances demand simple props and backdrops. (Take an inventory of your school’s technology so that you know what’s available to students; at a minimum, students need access to word processing software, consistent internet access, and video recording and editing equipment.)
Once you are familiar with the NHD basics, contact your state National History Day affiliate to help you better understand the process. (Every state and territory in the United States has an affiliate.) Typically, students begin researching their topic in late fall in preparation for a school competition in January or February, with upper levels of competition lasting until June.
Step 2: Assess Local Expertise and Student Capacity
If you’re the lead facilitator for NHD at your school, make preliminary contact with area experts who have knowledge of performance arts or documentary making; ideally they’ll be interested in assisting students with their projects.
Also recruit individuals and organizations that can assist students with different stages of the history projects. For example, local librarians can help students find resources, historical societies and museums can help search for unique (local) historical topic ideas, and businesses and booster clubs can support students with travel stipends and scholarships.
Finally, take stock of the strengths and abilities of your students:
- Are they familiar with argumentative writing versus a standard report?
- Do they have familiarity with thesis statements?
- Have they had experience with making citations?
- Are they sufficiently versed in PBL success skills such as collaboration and communication to work in groups?
Once you have answered these, ask yourself how you might help the students build on these skills as they prepare for the rigor of NHD.
Step 3: Facilitate Project Ramp-Up
NHD demands that students be supported by significant structure, scaffolding, and feedback when drafting their projects, particularly given that many are developing their skills with research, thesis statements, and argumentative writing. (Note that this breadth gives you an opportunity to partner with your ELA department on an integrated project.) Students often benefit from having NHD broken into smaller chunks with frequent teacher check-ins for feedback. Suggested opportunities for check-ins include thesis statements, citations, drafting, and rule compliance on the final product.
Keep in mind that NHD isn’t just challenging for students—it’s an immense undertaking for a teacher to organize student projects across the five categories throughout an entire year. To keep yourself organized, try recording weekly video summaries that capture how students are progressing with their NHD projects. These videos can help keep parents informed and engaged with preparations for the big day.
Step 4: Run the School Competition
School competitions require significant planning, which can be difficult when you’re providing feedback on potentially dozens of projects, so start early. NHD competitions require all projects to be judged; recruit judges six to eight weeks ahead of the event. Students often value being judged by members of the community outside the school setting, so work with your local community organizations to recruit judges, although this is not required.
A background in history is not required to be a judge at the school competition, just a willingness to engage with students. Judges, typically assigned in pairs, are provided five or six projects to evaluate on the night of the school competition. We’ve found that the local Chamber of Commerce can be a great resource for recruiting.
Reserve school facilities for the event (plan it for the evening to accommodate judges’ work schedules). Finally, communicate with the community via email and social media to promote the event and competition. On the night of the competition, your main responsibility is to have fun; talk to excited students; and, when judging is over, tabulate results to determine which projects can move forward to the regional competition (your local NHD affiliate will let you know how many top-scoring projects from your school can advance to compete several weeks later).
Step 5: Take Time to Reflect
Both students and teachers learn a great deal when running an NHD program. Ask yourself and your students what could be done differently or better next time. For example, ask yourself the following questions:
- How can I introduce necessary reading, writing, and research skills earlier in the year to make the NHD process easier?
- What other resources might be needed in our school to take students’ NHD projects from good to great?
- How might we better connect students with primary source interviews to further the depth of their research?
Questions to ask students include the following:
- If you were to relive your NHD journey, what would you do differently?
- What were some of the extraordinary things you did to learn or to overcome obstacles?
- How do you think you might use information or skills learned during the course of this project in the future?
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