History Day

National History Day® is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes the teaching and learning of history in middle and high schools around the world through a variety of programs for teachers and students. The largest program is the National History Day Contest. Established in 1974, the National History Day Contest encourages more than half a million middle and high school students around the world to conduct original research on historical topics of interest. NHD is a year-long educational program that culminates in a national contest every June at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Messiah University hosts the Pennsylvania Region 8 competition for National History Day. Each year, hundreds of middle and high school students from Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, and Perry counties participate in our regional competition. Students present their historical research by producing documentaries, exhibits, dramatic performances, websites, or papers on a variety of topics based on a theme. The finalists in each category from our region move onto the state finals held each year in May.

The 2023 contest took place on the Messiah University Campus on Saturday, March 18.

The Theme for the 2023 contest is Frontiers in History: PEOPLE, PLACES, IDEAS.

Banner for the 2023 History Day; reads "National History Day 2023, Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas."

For more information on NHD, visit the National History Day website: https://www.nhd.org/

For information on the regional competition here at Messiah University, contact Cathay Snyder, csnyder@messiah.edu