Chicago Metro History Day

Where Students Make History!

Chicago Metro History Day, formerly known as the Chicago Metro History Fair, is a project-based inquiry program that empowers students to become historians who conduct research and share their conclusions. Guided by their teachers, students in grades six through twelve choose their own topics connected to an annual theme, and then conduct research, analyze sources, make an argument, and finally produce a project to show their work. Students make websites, performances, documentaries, papers, and exhibitions which are evaluated by community volunteers at annual competitions in the Chicago metro area. This rigorous and rewarding program prepares students for high school and college expectations and helps young people become informed, engaged citizens. Come make history with us!

See this year’s important dates and deadlines.

News and Opportunities

September 26, 2024

The United States Courts within the Seventh and Eighth Circuits are hosting the Fifth Annual Bill of Rights Day Contest and we want YOU to be a part of it! Students in Grades 5-12 from Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin are encouraged to submit art and essays on the importance of the Bill of Rights. Detailed contest prompts, guidelines, and online submission form can be found here.

Submission deadline is Nov 1, 2024. Finalists from each grade level category will receive a $50 prize and advance to the finals. Grand prize winners will be awarded a $500 cash prize, be able to take part in a virtual award ceremony with a federal judge on Wednesday, December 4, and have their name and submission shared on the websites of the participating United States District Courts.

September 4, 2024

Professional Development for 2024–25

We invite teachers to learn about CMHD by attending our fall Teacher Kickoff or History Day 101 events. Teachers planning to start History Day in their classrooms are encouraged to attend History Day Methods.

Learn more about these events and see the full list of offerings.

August 27, 2024

CHM is excited to announce that we have received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The grant will support and expand “Rethinking the Gilded Age and Progressivisms: Race, Capitalism, and Democracy, 1877–1920,” a seminar-style program for K–12 teachers. Now in its seventh year, the three-week summer institute in Chicago will continue to engage 30 participating educators with readings, discussions, lectures with leading historians, guided excursions, and opportunities to develop classroom materials rooted in their own inquiries.

We’re thrilled to continue to give educators a space to contemplate and debate this critical period in US history when radically different perspectives often dominated public discourse. See the press release and full list of awards.

August 19, 2024

Educator Learning Opportunities for 2024/2025

National History Day has announced two virtual professional development opportunities for teachers in the 2024/2025 academic year. The first is Researching Silent Heroes and the second is Teaching African American History. Teachers will have options to receive professional development hours or graduate extension credits. Teachers may apply to either or both opportunities from the NHD website linked below

Applications for these programs will close at noon ET on Friday, October 18, 2024. Selected teachers will be notified on or before Friday, November 1, 2024. Learn more and apply here.

June 14, 2024

National History Day Accolades

Congratulations to the 66 students who represented Illinois at the National History Day® National Contest held June 9‒13, 2024! Their 36 entries advanced from a statewide pool of nearly 10,000 students who created History Day projects at the classroom level.

Their achievements include seven students placing in the top 10 entries in their category; special prizes such as the U.S. Constitution Award, Equality in History Prize, Asian American History Prize; two entries winning Outstanding Affiliate Awards; and three projects featured in National History Day’s Showcase Events.

See the list of area award-winners.

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Our Sponsors

Chicago Metro History Day, a program of the Chicago History Museum, is made possible by participating History Day schools and the generosity of area organizations and individual donors. We gratefully acknowledge support provided by Busey Bank, HBK Engineering, the Minow Family Foundation in honor of Josephine Baskin Minow, and the University of Illinois Chicago. Additional programmatic support is provided by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Program, the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, the Latin School of Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University Libraries, and our many prize sponsors. Chicago Metro History Day is a regional affiliate of National History Day.

Support from donors makes it possible for Chicago Metro History Day to reach more than 10,000 students annually from numerous schools in the Chicagoland area. Help us spark a lifelong love of history through this wonderful program. Consider making a gift today.