National History Day (NHD) is a year-long academic club that engages middle school and high school students in historical research, interpretation and creative expression, transforming young minds forever. Students that participate in NHD practice critical inquiry as they research an annual theme to create unique contemporary history projects, becoming writers, filmmakers, web designers, playwrights and artists in the process. These projects are evaluated in a series of contests at the county and state levels each spring. The culmination is a national competition held each June in our nation's capital.
The NHD contest is divided into the Junior (grades 6-8) and Senior (grades 9-12) Divisions. Each division is further divided into individual and group project categories. Each project category is subject to specific project requirements, rules and regulations that are outlined by the annual National and California History Day rulebooks. The categories of competition are as follows:
Individual Projects
1. Paper
2. Documentary
3. Exhibit
4. Performance
5. Website
Group Projects
1. Documentary
2. Exhibit
3. Performance
4. Website
Important Dates
Saturday, March 14th, 2020: Fresno County Contest @ Fresno Pacific University
Friday-Saturday, May 8th-10th, 2020: California State Contest @ William Jessup University, Rocklin, CA
Sunday-Thursday, June 7th-11th, 2020 @ University of Maryland, College Park, MD