National History Day promotes historical inquiry, knowledge, and understanding among elementary and secondary students. Through an educational program culminating in nationwide competitions, National History Day encourages the development of research skills, analytical thinking, and creative expression.

National History Day originated in Cleveland, Ohio in 1974. Concerned about the state of history education in local schools, the History faculty at Case Western Reserve University organized a history fair. The contest quickly expanded to other states, and in 1980 the first national contest was held in Washington, D.C. Since then, National History Day has grown to include an annual participation of more than 600,000 students and 40,000 teachers from across the country.

The fundamental purpose of History Day is to reform the way history is taught and learned in elementary and secondary schools by challenging students to conduct meaningful historical inquiry and providing a positive learning environment in which students' work is evaluated outside the classroom.

Structure:

Each year National History Day selects a contest theme, one that is broad enough to encompass entries on subjects in world, national, state, local and family history. The purpose of the theme is to give a central focus to the work of all participants. Students must show the relationship of their topic to the theme, forcing them to analyze and interpret their topic's significance in history.

Students compete in junior division (grades 6-8) and senior division (grades 9-12) in one of four formats: papers, performances, documentaries or exhibits. Papers must be the work of an individual; all other categories may be the work of an individual or of a group of two to five students. Students compete on a series of levels: school, district, state and national.
 

The goals of History Day are to:

• encourage teachers to engage their students in active learning
• motivate teachers to use primary sources in their classrooms and to teach students how to analyze and interpret such materials
• provide teachers and schools with a model for meeting educational standards that require performance-based assessment
• promote the study of history by allowing students to express themselves creatively via presentations of historical topics and materials in a variety of formats
• interest students in learning about history by integrating the materials and methods of social studies, art, literature, language, and music into their entries
• develop research and reading skills and refine presentation skills in writing, visual projects, and performances
• improve critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will help students manage and use information effectively now and in the future
• stimulate students to develop a sense of history as process and change, a multifaceted development over time that affects every aspect of human life and society
• get students out of the school buildings and into the community, conducting research in local history
• involve parents and community members in students' education
• expose students to new and exciting educational environments by holding contests on college campuses and at historical societies or museums.

 

• helps foster pride in their heritage and an understanding of the history of our nation and the world
• challenges them to write history for themselves
• respects their ability and stimulates them to strive for excellence
• encourages them to develop research, thinking, and presentation skills which they will use throughout their lives
• gives them a creative outlet for their work, allowing them to use their artistic, dramatic, literary and musical abilities
• leads them to develop poise and self-confidence
• provides them with an opportunity to interact with participants in history as well as with academic and public historians
• inspires them to explore the world around them and to understand viewpoints different from their own
• lets them meet students from other areas and other states in a fun atmosphere

Benefits for teachers:

• provides a model teaching tool for the classroom, based on active learning
• meets the requirements of national and state history standards
• provides an excellent assessment tool
• integrates the study of history with other disciplines, including writing, the arts, and other social sciences
• supplies curricular aids such as lesson plans and bibliographic guides
• supports professional development by offering workshops and summer institutes where they may learn about the latest in historical scholarship and new teaching methods and techniques
• encourages interaction with academic historians, librarians, archivists, and public historians
• involves families and communities in support of education