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

March 4, 2025

The Supreme Court Historical Society, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and the ABA’s Division for Public Education are thrilled to announce an upcoming Supreme Court and My Hometown program in Chicago, Illinois during the 2025 fall semester. This immersive federal court experience is FREE for high school students.

Throughout the program, students will explore the judicial branch through the lens of a local case, Escobedo v. Illinois (1964). They will engage with federal and state judges, attorneys, historians, professors, and community members to investigate the case and gain an in-depth understanding of how it moved through the state and federal court system.

All current 9-11 grade students are eligible to apply. Students are responsible for obtaining a letter of recommendation from a local educator or community member who can speak to their academic and personal qualifications. Applications and letters of recommendation are due by April 25, 2025.

Learn more about this opportunity.

January 10, 2025

Online Seminar Series: Exploring Illinois’ Inclusive Learning Mandates

The Illinois Council for the Social Studies is pleased to offer an online professional development seminar series. Each 2-hour online session explores a different Illinois Inclusive Learning Mandate. ICSS members may earn Professional Development credit as they explore holocaust/genocide education, Asian American History, Native American History, and Disability Education.

Session dates and times, membership links, and registration links can be found at https://www.illinoiscss.net/.

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.

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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.