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Selecting a Topic


National History Day Annual Theme

Your topic must be based on this year's theme, Innovation in History: Impact and Change. When considering this topic, you may immediately think of great inventions in science, like Edison's light bulb or Henry Ford's automobile. These are definitely innovations in history, but this theme allows so much more than just science topics. I urge you to consider that innovation can be found in many different forms. To make this easier for you, we've come up with a few broad sub-categories for innovations: economic, social, cultural, technological, and scientific. Can you think of an example of a social innovation? The dawn of the women's movement through a unique convention in Seneca Falls in 1848 could be considered an innovation. How about a cultural innovation? The rise of jazz music during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s is an example. You get the picture, right? Some topics have more than one innovation. Take the Erie Canal, for example. It was an economic innovation because it opened up trade routes to the western United States and made shipping food and other materials cheap. But it also was a technological innovation, in that new construction techniques were developed to make it possible.

There are a couple of other key things you need to keep in mind with this theme. The first is the phrase "in history." This means you must pick a historic topic, and not something that is more of a current event. What is a historic topic, you ask? A good general rule to follow is at least 30 years old. If you would like a little better definition, I urge you to read Lee Formwalt's article, "What's History and What's Not?" in the 2010 annual theme book. You can download it for free here: http://www.nyshistoryday.org/Theme.htm

Lastly – and probably most importantly – are the final two words in the theme: "Impact" and "Change." This is where the critical thinking and analysis part comes in. You can't just describe what your innovation is; you must demonstrate HOW it impacted the community, state, world, etc. Moreover, you need to show that it made a lasting change in society. What this means is you have to put your topic in historical context. What is historical context? It means describing what the world was like BEFORE the innovation, then explaining what the innovation was, and finally, demonstrating how it affected the world AFTER it occurred. A timeline by itself won't cut it, folks. You need to tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end. For more information on this year's annual theme, check out our Theme page at: http://www.nyshistoryday.org/Theme.htm

Suggested Topics

New York State History Day staff has put together a list of suggested topics. You can access it here. You don't have to use any of these topics, and I encourage you to pick a person or event in history that isn't all that well known. For example, pick a locally famous person. Go to your local library or museum and find out who the important people are in your town's history. I think you will be surprised to find some great stories in your own backyard. Or, if that doesn't interest you, dig through your social studies book and find a name you don't know. There are plenty of people who made important contributions in history that no one knows about. It is most important that you choose a topic you find fascinating. Don't hesitate to look at areas you are interested in, even if they don't appear to be historic. History can be found in science, sports, transportation, and fashion. History is not all about dead presidents and treaties. Research something you want to know about!

Learning More and Narrowing Your Topic

Let's say that you decide you are drawn to the Civil Rights movement. You start looking for information in your textbook and on the internet. Woah! There is so much information that your head starts spinning! You clearly need to narrow your topic to something you can research and create a project on in a few months. So now you head to your local library and you find a book called Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965 by Juan Williams. You find out that many people were involved in the movement over several years. Also, you find that there were several focused efforts in the fight for civil rights. A couple that really interest you are, say, the Birmingham Bus Boycott and the March on Washington. When you read a little more about them, you find that the Civil Rights movement affected and involved millions of people with multiple perspectives from all across the country.OK, so you may not be as interested in the Civil Rights movement as we are. That's ok. The lesson is still an important one. While you are narrowing your topic, it is a good idea to jot down people, places or events that get your attention. Take these ideas to your History Day advisor or teacher. He or she may be able to help you focus in on your best topic. Remember, you need to find an event that fits in well with the theme, has important historical significance, and can be developed into one of the project categories.


Topic Selection Worksheet

We've created a worksheet to help you direct your research. Click the link to download it to your computer: Topic Selection Worksheet.