National History Day
National History Day (NHD) Georgia is a program of Georgia Humanities and LaGrange College. NHD encourages middle and high school students to engage more deeply in historical research and analysis.
About National History Day Georgia
Over the course of the school year, students select a topic related to a yearly theme and develop their projects through extensive primary and secondary source research. The NHD theme for 2023 is Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas.
Under the guidance of a sponsoring teacher, students choose both their subject matter and a vehicle to present their research within the following categories: documentary, exhibition, paper, performance, or website. NHD attracts thousands of participants each year, and competitions occur at the regional, state, and national levels.
The National History Day Georgia Topic Explorer
First launched in 2019, the National History Day Georgia Topic Explorer includes more than 40 research topics grouped by categories, including individuals, groups, events, literature and media, and history and advocacy.
This interactive list of Georgia-inspired topics is a collaboration between NHD Georgia, the New Georgia Encyclopedia (NGE), and the Digital Library of Georgia (DLG). Each topic profile includes an image, contextual information from the NGE, and sample primary sources from the DLG. Connect with Georgia history in a new way through the National History Day Georgia Topic Explorer!
“It is inspiring to research and share untold stories with the public. I learned how to do that through National History Day.”
—Dr. Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin, National History Day alumnus
Getting Started
The National History Day Georgia website offers valuable information. Find answers to common questions and learn how to register for the program here.
Get Involved
Volunteers play a crucial role in National History Day Georgia at every level of competition. Learn more about how you can contribute to the National History Day experience in Georgia as a judge or as a day of event volunteer.
National History Day Georgia News
Georgia Students Earn Top Marks at the National History Day National Contest
The virtual National History Day National Contest was held June 12-19, 2022.
The 65 members of Team Georgia were among 3,000 students from across the country and around the world who participated in this year’s National History Day national contest.
In both the junior and senior divisions, students competed with various projects, including papers, performances, documentaries, exhibits, and websites, related to the theme “Debate and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences.”
This year, Team Georgia had two entries place 2nd in the nation in their categories, another entry finished 10th nationally, three were in the top 20, and six more ranked in the top 30. A student was also selected for the White House History Award sponsored by the White House Historical Association.
See the full list of NHD Georgia’s national contest results >
Congratulations to all who participated in National History Day 2022!
National History Day Georgia Student Selected for 2022 NHD Documentary Showcase
Temple Lester, a student at Chamblee Charter High School, will represent Georgia in the 2022 National History Day® Documentary Showcase, made possible by the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Smithsonian Learning Lab. This year’s virtual showcase will feature NHD-themed documentaries that explore topics consistent with the museum’s mission. Lester’s documentary is titled “The Diplomatic Style of Andrew Young,” and her teacher is Sally Stanhope. Student films will be available to stream online via the Smithsonian Learning Lab from June 13 to June 27, 2022.
National History Day Georgia Students Selected for 2022 National Exhibit Showcase
Lilly Phillips and Wetherly Ridley of St. Luke School (Columbus) will represent Georgia in the 2022 National History Day® Exhibit Showcase hosted in partnership with the National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Learning Lab. Their project is titled “Annexation of Hawaii: Hang Up the Crown,” and their teacher is Brandi Waldheim. Student exhibits will be available exclusively on the Smithsonian Learning Lab from June 13 to June 27, 2022.
National History Day Georgia Students Selected for 2022 National Performance Showcase
Six Georgia students have been selected to participate in the 2022 National History Day® Performance Showcase, hosted in partnership with the Ford’s Theatre Society. The showcase features oratory performances addressing the 2022 National History Day theme of “Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences.” Student performances will be available at www.fords.org from June 13 to June 27, 2022.
Students: Francisco Rodriguez, Jonathan Hines, Steven Bryant, Joseph Johnson, Kingston McFarland
Junior Group Performance Title: “1968 Olympics: Game Changers, Debating Human Rights Through Athletics”
School: McDonough Middle School
Teacher: Karen Hunley
Student: Imani Milligan
Senior Individual Performance Title: “I Am Claudette Colvin: From Sitting on the Sidelines to Becoming Her Own Headline”
School: McDonough High School
Teacher: Zachary Barfield
Winners of the 2022 Georgia State National History Day Contest are Announced
Once again our state National History Day contest took place virtually this year, but that didn’t stop the NHD Georgia community from committing to the hard work of historical research and presentation!
This year our state contest witnessed 426 students from across the state present 249 history day projects. These projects were evaluated by 122 judges to whom we are grateful for their time and expertise. All things tallied, the state of Georgia has 66 national qualifiers for the 2022 national contest.
Click here to see a list of this year’s state contest winners.
Congratulations, students and teachers! Let’s get ready for Nationals!
Henry County Student Selected for National History Day Georgia Fellows Scholarship
Congratulations to Imani Milligan of McDonough High School (Locust Grove, Georgia) for being awarded as the inaugural recipient of the National History Day Georgia Fellows Scholarship, given in recognition of demonstrated excellence in the study of history. This scholarship provides a full-tuition scholarship, renewable for up to four years, to LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia, to a graduating senior from a Georgia high school or home school program, that qualified to participate in the 2022 NHD Georgia State Contest.
Georgia Teachers Selected for 2022 National History Day Georgia Classroom Award
The National History Day Georgia Classroom Award supports National History Day program efforts in high-needs classrooms. This award comes with a monetary prize paid directly to the educator for use in meeting their National History Day Classroom program needs and is sponsored by Alisa A. & Joseph B. Alonso and The Lafayette Alliance. This year three educators were selected: Mr. Matthew Cook of General Ray Davis Middle School (Stockbridge), Mrs. Kimberly Miles of McDonough Middle School (McDonough), and Mr. John Travis of Luella High School (Locust Grove).
Georgia Teachers Selected for 2022 Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Award
The Georgia teachers were chosen from a pool of all of NHD’s 58 affiliate programs.
The Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year award is an opportunity to recognize teachers who demonstrates a commitment to engaging students in historical learning through innovative use of primary sources, implementation of active learning strategies to foster historical thinking skills, and participation in the National History Day Contest. This year two teachers from Georgia were nominated to represent the state: Mr. Zachary Barfield of Ola Middle School (McDonough) representing the Junior division, and Mr. Chance Giddens of Troup County High School (LaGrange) representing the Senior division. Click here to read more below about Georgia’s 2022 Behring Teacher of the Year nominees.
NHD Partners
State Contest Host
Regional Competition Sponsors
Regional competition sponsors include Augusta University; Bibb County and Houston County Schools; Clayton County Schools; Coastal Georgia Historical Society; DeKalb County Schools; Georgia Southwestern State University; Henry County Schools; Kennesaw State University; LaGrange College; Robert Toombs Christian Academy; Rockdale County Schools; Thomas County Schools; and the University of Georgia.
