WHAT IS NATIONAL
HISTORY DAY
®
?
National History Day
®
(NHD) is a nonprot organization that
creates opportunities for teachers and students to engage in
historical research. NHD is not a predetermined, by-the-book
program but rather an innovative curriculum framework in
which students learn history by selecting topics of interest and
launching into year-long research projects. The mission of NHD
is to improve the teaching and learning of history in middle and
high school. The most visible vehicle is the NHD Contest.
When studying history through historical research, students
and teachers practice critical inquiry, asking questions
of signicance, time, and place. History students become
immersed in a detective story. Beginning in the fall, students
choose a topic related to the annual theme and conduct
extensive primary and secondary research. After analyzing
and interpreting their sources and drawing conclusions about
their topics’ signicance in history, students present their
work in original papers, exhibits, performances, websites, or
documentaries. These projects are entered into competitions
in the spring at local, aliate, and national levels, where they
are evaluated by professional historians and educators. The
program culminates at the national competition held each June
at the University of Maryland at College Park.
Each year National History Day uses a theme to provide a
lens through which students can examine history. The annual
theme frames the research for both students and teachers. It
is intentionally broad enough that students can select topics
from any place (local, national, or world) and any time period
in history. Once students choose their topics, they investigate
historical context, historical signicance, and the topic’s
relationship to the theme by conducting research in libraries,
archives, and museums; through oral history interviews; and by
visiting historic sites.
NHD benets both teachers and students. For the student, NHD
allows control of his or her own learning. Students select topics
that match their interests. Program expectations and guidelines
are explicitly provided for students, but the research journey is
driven by the process and is unique to the historical research.
Throughout the year, students develop essential life skills by
fostering intellectual curiosity and academic achievement. In
addition, students develop critical-thinking and problem-solving
skills that will help them manage and use information now and
in the future.
Students’ greatest ally in the research process is the classroom
teacher. NHD supports teachers by providing instructional
materials and through workshops at local, aliate, and national
levels. Many teachers nd that incorporating the NHD theme
into their regular classroom curriculum encourages students to
watch for examples of the theme and to identify connections in
their study of history across time.
NHD’s work with teachers and students extends beyond the
contest and includes institutes and training programs, which
provide teachers with opportunities to study history and develop
lessons and materials they can share with their students. In
addition, NHD oers continuing education courses for teachers
(for graduate credit or professional development hours) to
improve classroom practice (nhd.org/onlineeducation). NHD
also oers teaching resources to help teachers integrate
primary sources and critical thinking into the classroom. These
resources are free and accessible to all teachers. Visit nhd.org
to learn more.
This publication combines the work of outstanding NHD
educators from across the nation to create a set of bell-ringer
activities to engage students with primary sources from
remarkable women in American history.
NHD is grateful to HISTORY
®
for its generous sponsorship
of this publication. NHD would also like to thank the following
organizations for digitizing and/or for sharing permission
for many of the images and primary sources that appear in
this book:
Bualo Bill Center of the West
Clara Barton National Historic Site, National Park Service
Evans Early American Imprint Collection, University of Michigan
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
Library of Congress
Massachusetts Historical Society
Rotch Visual Collections, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Modern History Sourcebook, Fordham University
Oklahoma Historical Society
NASA
National Archives and Records Administration
Project Gutenberg
Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum
Smithsonian Institution, National Portrait Gallery
Social Security Administration
Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
University of Pittsburgh Library System
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
University of Virginia
U.S. Government Printing Oce
U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health
Wisconsin Historical Society
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