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 from History Day Partners

Opportunity – NHD and National Cemetery Administration

Silent Heroes: Untold Stories from the Korean War
Apply for an opportunity to engage students (minimum of two, maximum of one class) in a special project to research and profile the experiences of two veterans of the Korean War. Over the course of nine months, student-teacher teams will research the life of two individuals who served in the US military during the Korean War, came home, and continued to serve their community, and are currently buried or memorialized in a US National Cemetery.

To be eligible for this opportunity, the school must be located within 90 miles of a US National Cemetery that is currently open to burials. Applications are now open and will be accepted through Friday, August 2. All applicants will be notified on or before Friday, August 9, 2024.

Learn More and Apply

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.

The following students placed in the top 10 entries in their category:

• Milo Richards earned 1st place in Junior Individual Exhibit for “War of the Electric Currents.”
• Evan Jin, Jeremiah Jin, Nathan Eng, and Urijah Dalach earned 4th place in Senior Group Performance for “Wong Kim Ark and the Battle for Birthright Citizenship.”
• Davis Smith earned 9th place in Senior Individual Website for “News of the Boston Massacre: Breaking News or Fake News?”
• Ayush Mishra earned 10th place in Senior Individual Performance for “Coal, Compromise, and Change: Teddy Roosevelt’s Presidential Leadership during the Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902 as a Turning Point in Labor History.”

The following students were awarded special prizes:

• Avani Nandi won the U.S. Constitution Award, sponsored by National Archives and Records Administration, for her Junior Individual Documentary, “Separate Is Never Equal: How the Mendez v. Westminster Suit Was a Turning Point in the Desegregation of Schools across the United States.”
• Deepti Koduru, Madeleine Kim, Noa Kim-Cohen, and Selasi Affram won the Equality in History Prize, sponsored by Celie and Tabitha Niehaus, for their Junior Group Documentary, “Rock Revolutionaries: The Chicago Women’s Liberation Rock Band.”
• Evan Jin, Jeremiah Jin, Nathan Eng, and Urijah Dalach won the Asian American History Prize, sponsored by the National Park Service, for their Senior Group Performance, “Wong Kim Ark and the Battle for Birthright Citizenship.”

Two entries earned the Outstanding Affiliate Awards for Illinois:

• Benjamin Davis earned the Junior Division Outstanding Affiliate Award for his Junior Individual Documentary, “Jerry Lawson: A Game Changer.”
• Helena Emerton and Lucie Bhatoey-Bertrand won the Senior Division Outstanding Affiliate Award for their Senior Group Performance, “Miriam A. Ferguson and Nellie Tayloe Ross: A Turning Point for Women in State Government.”

National History Day Celebrates Student Projects Showcased at Cultural Institutions in Washington, DC

Congratulations to Illinois students whose projects were selected by National History Day to be showcased at cultural institutions in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, June 12.

• Karter Fugate and Leonidas Kalantzis-Jimenez’s exhibit titled “Remembering Emmett – Till Justice is Served” will be at the National Museum of American History.
• Lydia Frost, Millicent Norton, Tejah Rana, and Lisa Tao’s documentary titled “The Turn of the Anti-Lynching Movement Through the Work of Ida B. Wells” will be at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
• Henry Everett’s paper “Turning the Tide: How The American Railway Union Changed the Federal Strike Policy” will be in the White House Historical Association’s showcase.

National History Day Celebrates Affiliate Nominees for the 2024 Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Award

National History Day® (NHD) is proud to announce the teachers honored as the 2024 Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year nominees. Each NHD affiliate may nominate one middle school teacher and one high school teacher per year for this prestigious award. In addition to celebrating outstanding history scholarship and innovative classroom instruction, the award comes with a $10,000 cash prize. The 102 teachers selected as the 2024 Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year nominees represent 50 of NHD’s 58 affiliates.

One national winner in the middle school (junior) division and one national winner in the high school (senior) division will be selected by a committee of experienced teachers and historians and announced on Thursday, June 13, 2024, at the National History Day National Contest Awards Ceremony in College Park, Maryland. The Awards Ceremony will begin around 8 am and will be livestreamed at nhd.org/awards-ceremony.

Congratulations to Mrs. Patricia Romano Meegan of Philip Rogers Elementary School, Chicago, for being nominated out of the state of Illinois in the junior division. See the full list of nominees.

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.