What is Massachusetts History Day?
Massachusetts History Day (MHD) is the state affiliate of National History Day (NHD), a highly regarded academic program for elementary and secondary school students.
THE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY IS PROUD TO BE THE STATE SPONSOR OF MASS HISTORY DAY
National History Day is an inter-disciplinary research project for students in grades 6-12 that encourages exploration of local, state, national, and world history. Each year more than half a million students, encouraged by thousands of teachers nationwide, participate in the NHD contest. History day teaches students to:
Students choose a topic that relates to an annual theme, research that topic, draw conclusions about their topics’ significance in history, and present their research in one of five presentation categories: Research Paper, Exhibit, Documentary, Performance, or Website. Students may then enter their projects into History Day competitions at school, local, state, and national levels. The program culminates in the Kenneth E. Behring National Contest each June held at the University of Maryland at College Park.
In addition to discovering the exciting world of the past, NHD also helps students develop the following attributes that are critical for future success:
More than 5 million students have gone on to careers in business, law, medicine, education and countless other disciplines where they are putting into practice what they learned through NHD.
“National History Day taught me that with hard work, anything can be achieved. The experience of competing at the national finals was an amazing one that I will never forget ---from the competition itself to the bonds created with people from across the country, every aspect of this journey was wonderful.”
"I learned just about everything I needed to succeed in college from National History Day---how to do real research, time management, and much more!"