LibGuides: National History Day: Home

Rights & Responsibilities in History

2025 Contest Theme

Rights & Responsibilities in History

To continue the celebration of our 50th anniversary, NHD’s 2025 theme is Rights & Responsibilities in History. To study rights and responsibilities in history, we must ask questions. Who decides who has rights? Does everyone have the same rights? Who decides on the limits individuals should or should not have? Why? What led to establishing certain rights, and to whom were they given? How have people, governments, or institutions decided what parameters should be set to enforce responsibilities? How are such decisions justified?

The key to this theme is addressing BOTH rights AND responsibilities. These are two powerful forces in history, but one does not work without the other.

The following resources are available to start defining your topic and begin your research.

NHD Student Resources

Student Resources
The first step to entering the National History Day Contest is by creating an entry and submitting it at your local level. The top entries from each level move on to the next level. Each state/affiliate has a contest between January and May. The top two projects in every category are invited from these state/affiliate contests to attend the National Contest.

National Postal Museum Resources for NHD

Resources for 2024-2025 National History Day Projects
The National Postal Museum created this page as a resource for students as they complete research on their chosen topics. National History Day encourages students to be historians and we’re here to help! On this webpage you’ll find resources, tips and tricks to support your work and research.

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Newseum Education offers rich online and on-site content for student projects related to the NHD 2020 theme of "Breaking Barriers in History."

The National Archives

Educator Resources
We support the year-long National History Day competition as an exciting way for students to study and learn about historical issues, ideas, people, and events at our locations around the country and online!

The National Archives is the nation's record keeper. We hold billions of primary sources. Many can be incorporated into NHD research and projects. Use the resources on this page to get started. Contact us if you need help.

National Museum of African American History & Culture

CCPCS Databases

JSTOR
JSTOR provides access to more than 10 million academic journal articles, books, and primary source. With our subscription, we have access to Arts & Sciences, Life Sciences, 19th Century British Pamphlets, Ecology and Botany, and Business.
Credo Source
Credo Reference Source includes over 400 general reference titles, and Source information literacy videos and tutorials.

Google Authentication: https://search.credoreference.com/auth/google?state=https://search.credoreference.com
Project Muse
Project MUSE, a non-profit collaboration between libraries and publishers, is an online database of peer-reviewed academic journals and electronic books. Project MUSE contains digital humanities and social science content from over 250 university presses and scholarly societies around the world.

DC Public Library Databases

Databases for Online Research
Here you will find online access to magazines, newspapers and reference materials on a wide variety of subjects. Use the Apply Filter button to narrow down your resources even faster by entering KEYWORDS and/or selecting SUBJECTS. Use the Visit button to access the database resource. These resources are available to all DC Public Library cardholders and are accessible from home, work or in the library. Please enter your card number (without spaces) when prompted.

NHD Theme Book

NHD 2025 Theme Book
Each year, National History Day uses a theme to provide a lens through which students can examine history. The annual theme frames the research for students and teachers alike. It is intentionally broad enough to allow students to select topics from
any place (local, national, or world) and any period in history. Once students choose their topics, they investigate historical context, historical significance, and the topic’s relationship to the theme. This theme book provides resources and guidance for students & teachers on the 2025 theme.

DOCSTeach

The National Archives
The online tool for teaching with documents, from The National Archives.

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Use this special DocsTeach page from the National Archives to help your students prepare for National History Day 2018. Choose teaching activities to get them thinking about conflict and compromise. Share primary sources for possible NHD topics.

Find even more resources for National History Day from the National Archives on www.archives.gov.