National History Day
National History Day®(NHD) is a non-profit education organization based in College Park, Maryland. NHD sponsors the National History Day Contest that encourages more than half a million students around the world to conduct historical research on a topic of their choice. Students enter these projects at the local and affiliate levels, with top students advancing to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park. The 2022-2023 theme is Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas. The 2023 National Contest will be held June 11-15, 2023 at the University of Maryland, College Park.
The Naval Order of the United States supports this program through its individual Commanderies. It seeks to encourage historical research in the areas of maritime, naval and Marine Corps history. A number of Commanderies including San Franciso, PACNORWEST, Texas and others participate in the NHD programs. As an example, the San Francisco Commandery supports the NHD program in the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California, and offers up to $400 per year in awards to students whose projects excel at the state level competition. Students start their projects in their individual schools, and then compete through a series of local and county competitions to win the opportunity to compete at the state and then national level.
Start your inquiry about National History Day California at https://www.nhdca.org, and for the latest NHS news and information, see below.
To make a donation to the Naval Order Foundation in support of NHD, visit the NOUS Foundation page.
May 2022
Historical Paper by Alexander Miller, Junior Division:
“The Cod Wars: Iceland’s Victory Through Diplomacy and the Global Consequences of their Success”
National Maritime Historical Society Award, presented by Naval Order of the United States,
San Francisco Commandery
“What is great about Alex’s topic is that it focuses in on something that appears to be a small and specific conflict between two nations,” said Jon Pang, Alexander’s teacher at Lakeside Middle School, “but has the unintended consequence to have a major impact on worldwide conflicts today.”
Performance by Erika Rose Gates: “The Pirate Who Saved America”
Runner-up, Junior Division
(For best results, sign into your Google account before clicking the link)
Rosie takes on the persona of New Orleans-based Pirate Jean Lafitte who supported Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812. Lafitte was notorious for lending his support to whomever paid him.
March 2022
Senior Individual Podcast by Zachary Brasher:
All Hands on Deck: The Debate Over Racial Integration in the United States Navy, 1861-1865
(For best results, sign into your Google account before clicking the links)
A new category for NHD-CA
February 2022
Award Winning poster by Vishnu Satyanarayana:
“Navajo Code Talkers”
An ancient language on a modern battlefield.
2021 Award for Outstanding National History Day Project in Maritime or Naval History, presented by Naval Order of the United States, San Francisco Commandery
July 2021
Award Winner Jack Brown: “Operation Ivy Bells”
The United States espionage campaign known as Operation: Ivy Bells, in which wiretaps were secretly placed on Soviet undersea communication lines, gave the U.S. unencrypted information on Russian nuclear strike capabilities, which ultimately led to the completion of the SALT II Treaty and indirectly had a hand in ending the Cold War.
July 2021
Award Winners Emily Song, Elise Yu and Fiona Zou: “Shaping Communication at Sea: Naval Flag Signaling”
The ninth grade students from Oregon described their project as follows: “Our project is about maritime communication, specifically flag signaling. Our project focuses on how flag signaling played a key role in several conflicts in history. Furthermore, our project talks about the short term and long term impacts of flag signaling on maritime communication. However, our project also talks about the flaws of flag signaling and conflicts where flag signaling mistakes affected the outcome.”
May 2021
Award Winners Owen Felt and Anthony Zhang: “Miracle at Midway: How Communications Changed the Course of the War”
The Washington state winners attend Timbercrest Middle School in Woodinville.
The Northwest Commandery is proud to be part of National History Day by providing volunteer judges as well as presenting awards for projects related to our nation’s maritime services and heritage. The four states covered by the Commandery include Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Alaska.
November 2019
NHD Launches New Website Platform
National History Day's new website builder and hosting platform, NHDWebCentral, is live and ready to use! All students competing in the website category must use the new platform to build their projects. Students should begin here for instructional videos, NHDWebCentral 101, and FAQs.
May 2018
Award Winner Kyle Hocking: “USS Panay Incident”
12 December 1937 attack on an American gunboat: The Cost of a Failed Compromise with Japan.
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