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 2021 is Communication in History: The Key to Understanding.
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.
Judges for student projects at the state contest are needed now. Click here to get involved.
The National History Day Georgia Topic Explorer
First launched in 2019, the National History Day Georgia Topic Explorer has been redesigned. It now includes more than 40 topic profiles grouped by categories, including individuals, groups, events, literature and media, and history and advocacy.
This online, interactive, and Georgia-inspired topics list 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
Savannah Teacher Selected for National Professional Development Opportunity
Angelina Muskin is one of just 58 teachers selected for a new course focusing on online Library of Congress primary and secondary sources.
Angelina Muskin
Angelina Muskin, a teacher at Hubert Middle School in Savannah, Georgia, is one of only 58 teachers selected for a National History Day® (NHD) fall professional development program. This new course focuses on using online Library of Congress primary and secondary sources to develop and support student research skills.
“This course has particular value now as teachers and students continue to address challenges of non-traditional learning settings required by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said National History Day Executive Director Dr. Cathy Gorn. “The crucial skills Miss Muskin is learning and honing over the course of this series will benefit her students for many years to come.”
For several months, Muskin will work with her peers around the country and National History Day staff to build knowledge for teaching with primary sources.
Locust Grove Student Researches the Story of World War II Hero
Student Nicole Cortes is researching the untold story of Seaman First Class Lawrence J. Waszkiewicz, an American service member memorialized at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.
(L to R): Jennifer Coleman and Nicole Cortes
Nicole Cortes, a student at Luella High School, and her teacher, Jennifer Coleman, are researching the untold story of Seaman First Class Lawrence J. Waszkiewicz, an American service member memorialized at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. Their research is part of Sacrifice for Freedom®: World War II in the Pacific Student & Teacher Institute, a cooperative learning program coordinated through National History Day®, and sponsored by Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum, the USS Missouri Memorial Association, and Pacific Historic Parks.
This institute brings together 16 student-teacher teams from Hawaiʻi, American Samoa, and the U.S. mainland for a once in a lifetime journey through history. Each team selected a Silent Hero® who died in the Pacific Theater of Operations. They spend months conducting research and analyzing such primary sources as war records, draft cards, maps, letters, and, when possible, family interviews.
In June 2021, the teams will assemble in Honolulu to learn more about their Silent Heroes and the unique role Hawaiʻi played in World War II. While there, Cortes will deliver a eulogy at the Courts of the Missing for Seaman First Class Waszkiewicz at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. To complete this task, Cortes asks anyone who knew Seaman First Class Waszkiewicz, his family, or other sailors who served aboard the USS Fanshaw Bay to get in touch with Mrs. Coleman at jennifer.coleman[@]henry.k12.ga.us.
National History Day Georgia Students Selected for Student Research Awards
The Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council Honors Georgia Student Projects
(L to R) Students Destiny Butts, Eva Cheraisi, and Mary Christian McCoy. Not pictured are students Lillian Harper and Tai-leea Jones.
The Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council (GHRAC) recognizes and honors outstanding efforts in archives and records work in Georgia through its annual awards program.
This year, two National History Day Georgia student project groups received the GHRAC Excellence in Student Research Using Historical Records award. The student award recipients represent National History Day Georgia student projects at the middle and high school level.
Destiny Butts, Lillian Harper, and Tai-leea Jones, students at Miller Fine Arts Magnet Middle School in Macon, were honored for their junior group documentary titled, “That Very Rich Negress.”
Eva Cheraisi and Mary Christian McCoy, students at Columbus High School in Columbus, were honored for their senior group documentary titled, “Suffrage, Smuggling Schizophrenia: The Barrier-Breaking Ethos of Katharine Dexter McCormick.”
National History Day Georgia Students Selected for Student Research Awards
The Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council Honors Georgia Student Projects
(L to R) Students Destiny Butts, Eva Cheraisi, and Mary Christian McCoy. Not pictured are students Lillian Harper and Tai-leea Jones.
The Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council (GHRAC) recognizes and honors outstanding efforts in archives and records work in Georgia through its annual awards program.
This year, two National History Day Georgia student project groups received the GHRAC Excellence in Student Research Using Historical Records award. The student award recipients represent National History Day Georgia student projects at the middle and high school level.
Destiny Butts, Lillian Harper, and Tai-leea Jones, students at Miller Fine Arts Magnet Middle School in Macon, were honored for their junior group documentary titled, “That Very Rich Negress.”
Eva Cheraisi and Mary Christian McCoy, students at Columbus High School in Columbus, were honored for their senior group documentary titled, “Suffrage, Smuggling Schizophrenia: The Barrier-Breaking Ethos of Katharine Dexter McCormick.”
Student Filmmaker Temple Lester Named for Smithsonian Documentary Showcase
The National Museum of African American History and Culture Selected Lester’s Film for a Smithsonian Learning Lab Showcase
Temple Lester
Temple Lester, a student at Midtown International School in Atlanta, was among a select group of middle and high school students who had their National History Day documentaries screened by the Smithsonian Learning Lab.
National History Day (NHD), the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), and the Smithsonian Learning Lab selected just 35 documentary films, produced by middle and high school students in the 2020 National History Day Contest, to be featured in an online showcase. The films were selected and screened by NMAAHC staff, and premiered Wednesday, June 17, as a special collection of the Smithsonian Learning Lab.
In order to be selected for the showcase, students needed to address topics and stories in their documentaries consistent with the mission of the NMAAHC. Each documentary also reflected the 2020 NHD theme, Breaking Barriers in History.
Lester’s ten-minute documentary, Shirley Chisholm: The Good Fight, received first place in the National History Day Georgia State Contest earlier in May.
Team Georgia Earns Top Marks at the National Contest
The virtual National History Day National Contest was held June 9–14, 2020.
The 2020 National History Day Georgia buttons.
More than 60 Georgia students qualified to compete in the National Contest after earning top marks at the virtual National History Day Georgia State Contest held earlier in April. In both the junior and senior divisions, students competed a range of projects including papers, documentaries, exhibits, and websites, in relation to the theme “Breaking Barriers in History.”
Georgia students competed with peers from all 50 states and U.S. territories and countries as far away as Singapore.
For the second year in row, the Outstanding Entry on Native American History award, sponsored by the National Park Service, was awarded to a Georgia student. The award is given in recognition of demonstrated excellence in the study of Native American history. The 2020 recipient of this award, Sophia Shepherd, is a student at Druid Hills High School.
For the first time in National History Day Georgia history, a Georgia student’s documentary was selected to be screened in a virtual showcase sponsored by the Smithsonian Learning Lab. Midtown International School student Temple Lester’s documentary, “Shirley Chisholm: The Good Fight,” was one of just 35 student documentaries selected for this prestigious opportunity by the staff of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
See the full list of NHD Georgia’s national contest results >
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.
