Search New York State History Day: Topics Selecting a Topic   Topic Ideas   Home can't read it? click here for a new image		Home     News     Contest     Teachers     Students     Parents     Staff     Contact Us     Store   Topic Ideas - New York State History Day 2009 The following list provides examples of topics related to this year's theme, The Individual in History. These aren't topics you have to use, just some to start you thinking. The list provides a starting point for teachers and students to brainstorm ideas for New York State History Day projects. Students should keep in mind that many excellent topics can be found in their home towns and cities. Contact your local historical society, archive, library, or museum to uncover a great topic right in your hometown! History Day Topic Ideas Henry Hudson – In 1609, the Dutch East India Company hired Hudson to find an eastern passage to the Pacific Ocean. He did not find China, but Hudson did reach New York Harbor and sailed up the river that now bears his name to present day Albany. Samuel de Champlain – Considered the "Father of New France" (present day eastern Canada), Champlain was a French explorer who was one of the first Europeans to explore northern New York State. He made contact with the Algonquin and Huron Indians, with whom he later set up a fur trade. Robert Fulton – This engineer and inventor is credited with developing the first successful steam-powered boat. In 1807, he built the first commercial steamboat, known as the Clermont, which steamed up and down the Hudson River between New York City and Albany. Willem Kieft – As an early Governor of New Amsterdam, Kieft attempted to tax the Native Americans. He allegedly demanded food and furs, and attacked those who refused. The resulting conflict, known today as Kieft's War (1643-1645), took a huge toll on both sides. Kieft was fired from his job and died in a shipwreck on the voyage back to Holland. Hiawatha – As an Onondaga, Hiawatha believed in and followed "The Great Peacemaker," a prophet and spiritual leader who sought to end the fighting between the native tribes of New York. Hiawatha worked hard to make the peace real, and is credited with persuading the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, and Mohawks to band together to become the Five Nations of the Iroquois confederacy. Cornplanter – (c. 1740 – 1836) – Cornplanter (John O'Bail) the son of a Seneca Indian mother and a Dutch father, was Seneca leader during the American Revolution. He believed that supporting the British was the best way to protect his people's land and rights. He led attacks against American settlements across New York and helped to capture forts for the British. After the war, Cornplanter met with George Washington to make treaties between the Iroquois and the new United States government. Deborah Moody – (1586 – 1659) – Moody was the first woman to establish a town in colonial America, which is today's Gravesend, New York. She created a municipal government based of freedom of religion, and was considered "dangerous" by many men of her time. John Peter Zenger – Zenger opened a printing shop in New York City in 1726 and soon after began publishing the New York Weekly Journal. He often printed complaints about New York's governor, and as a result he was arrested and jailed. In 1735 Zenger was put on trial for libel and sedition, two serious crimes against the government. Zenger was acquitted from all charges, and his trial set a precedent for the freedom of the press in America. Sir William Johnson – In the 1740s, William Johnson settled in the Mohawk Valley and started a trading post for other white settlers and Native Americans. He developed strong friendships with the Mohawks and other native tribes. He learned their languages, dressed in their clothing, welcomed them into his home and worked to save their lands. Johnson eventually became the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Six Nations by the governor of New York. George Clinton – Clinton served as a soldier during French and Indian war and during the Revolution, Washington made him a leader in the Continental Army. After the war he became New York's first governor. Today he is known as the "Father of New York." Jupiter Hammon – (1711 – 1806) As a slave on Long Island, Hammon wrote poetry. Eventually he became the first African American to publish poetry in America. Today he is considered a founder of African American literature. Sybil Ludington – On April 26, 1777 when she was just 16 years old, Sybil rode 40 miles through the middle of the night to warn area militiamen that the British were attacking nearby Danbury, Connecticut. She encouraged them all to meet at her father's home to prepare for battle. By time she arrived home, over 400 soldiers had gathered and were ready to fight. Anna Strong – (1740-1810) – Strong was a Long Island resident who served as a spy for in the Culper Spy Ring during the American Revolution. She both spied and communicated messages by hanging different colors of laundry in her yard. Samuel Fraunces – As a tavern keeper in Manhattan, Samuel provided a safe haven for the Sons of Liberty during the Revolution. After the war, George Washington invited Samuel to become the steward of his executive mansion in New York City. When the capital moved to Philadelphia in 1790, Samuel went with the president and became the steward of the new mansion. Margaret Corbin – On November 16, 1776 Mary, her husband John, and 600 other New Yorkers fought 4,000 Hessian troops at Fort Washington in northern Manhattan. After John was killed in the battle, Margaret took over firing his cannon until she was seriously wounded herself. Three years later, Margaret became the first woman in the United States to receive a military pension from Congress. Joseph Hodge – Hodge was an escaped slave who became the first non-native settler in Western New York, in present day Buffalo, in the 1780s. When the first white settlers arrived, they found Hodge already there, supporting himself and his family as an Indian trader. Margaret St. John – St. John was an American Patriot who lived in Buffalo. In 1813, when the British entered the city and threatened to destroy it, she refused to leave her home. She allegedly said, "When my property goes, my life shall go with it." The British burned Buffalo to the ground, yet her home was the only building to survive the fire. DeWitt Clinton – As New York governor, Clinton was a big supporter of the construction of the Erie Canal, which provided a navigable waterway between the eastern shore of Lake Erie and the upper Hudson River. Many Americans the project was impracticable, and they referred to it as "Clinton's Ditch." Nevertheless, Clinton convinced the state legislature to fund the project in 1817. When the Canal was finished in 1825, Clinton sailed the entire Canal from Buffalo, and then down the Hudson River to New York City. The Canal was a big success, and it carried immense amounts of passenger and freight traffic. John Russwurm – In 1827 Russman and Samuel Cornish published Freedom's Journal, an abolitionist newspaper that was the first paper in the United States to be owned, operated, published and edited by African Americans. Horace Greeley – Greeley is best known for founding the New York Tribune, America's most influential newspaper from the 1840s to the 1870s. The Tribune was a penny paper that focused mainly on moral reform. Greeley very involved in Whig and later Republican politics. He believed in temperance, abolitionism, women's rights, public education, and vegetarianism. William Seward – Seward was a Governor of New York, United States Senator and the United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Seward's He is most famous for negotiating the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, which included 586,412 square miles of land for $7,200,000 (approximately 2 cents per acre.) The purchase of this frontier land was alternately mocked by the public as "Seward's Folly." Walt Whitman – Born on Long Island and raised in Brooklyn, Whitman was a famous poet of the mid-nineteenth century who's most famous work, Leaves of Grass, was written in common language and themes. As a result, Americans of every class were able to read and enjoy his work, although some people thought his imagery was obscene. Emma Willard – Willard was an early advocate for women's rights, and she was passionate about providing women a strong education. More than 12,000 women attended the Troy Female Seminary she founded between 1821 and 1872, and many of them went on to found their own institutions for female education. Elizabeth Blackwell – (1821-1910) – Blackwell was an English immigrant to the Unisted States who became the first woman doctor in the United States. She and her sister Emily founded the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children in 1857. Lewis Tappan – As a New York abolitionist, Tappan was largely responsible for freeing the Africans from the slave ship Amistad, who had revolted and gained control of the ship in transit. Tappan hired quality lawyers for the captives, and ensured that they were not found guilty in court by advocating for the innocence to the American public. Once freed, Lewis organized the trip home for the captive Africans. Elisha Graves Otis – Between 1852 and 1854, Otis developed the first functional elevator in Yonkers, New York. His ingenious safety device prevented elevators from falling if the hoisting cable broke. Lucretia Mott – Mott was an influential member of the Seneca Falls Convention. She was a teacher in Poughkeepsie who earned half of what male teachers earned. At the Convention convention, she spoke out for equal pay for equal work. Matthew Brady – Brady was popular 19th century American photographer who was best known for his documentation of the American Civil War. He often considered the father of photojournalism. Before the Civil War, he owned and operated a photo studio in New York City that specialized in making portraits of famous Americans. Jacob Riis - (1848-1914) - Riis was a journalist, photographer, and social reformer, who is known for his dedication to using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the less fortunate in New York City. His most famous book, How the Other Half Lives, opened American's eyes to the horrors of living in tenement housing. Rose Schneiderman – (1882 – 1972) – At 16 year old, Schneiderman began working in a hat factory in New York City. Disgusted by the inhumane and crowded work conditions, she began active in the labor and socialist movements. In 1905, she led a 13-week strike for better hours and fair pay. She eventually became the leader of a women's labor union, and occasionally advised president Franklin Delano Roosevelt on labor issues. Kate Mullany – (1845 – 1906) – Mullany, who is in the National Women's Hall of Fame, was a leading female labor organizer in the late 19th century. At nineteen years old, she worked in a laundry in Troy for fourteen hours a day, six days a week, and earned only $2 a week. In 1864, in an attempt to improve the pay and poor conditions, Mullany started the Collar Laundry Union. It was the first major women's labor union in the United States. With the union, Mullany led 200 workers in a strike and won a pay increase. Frederick Law Olmstead – Olmstead is considered the father of American landscape architecture, and is famous for designing many well-known urban parks, including Central Park. George Eastman – (1854-1932) – In 1884, Eastman invented roll film, which revolutionized photography and made it possible for average people to own their own cameras. In 1888, he founded the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester. Asa Philip Randolph – (1889-1979) – Randolph was a prominent Civil Rights leader in the early 20th century who helped African American railroad workers organize a union in 1925. During his time as union president, workers received better pay and worked shorter hours. Hank Greenberg – This baseball star of the 1930s and 1940s grew up in New York City and became one of the first Jewish players in Major League Baseball. In 1934, he garnered national attention when he refused to play baseball on Yom Kippur, even though his team (the Detroit Tigers) were in the middle of a pennant race. Robert H. Jackson – (1892-1954) – Jackson, who was raised in Jamestown, New York, served as United States Attorney General from 1940–1941 and as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1941–1954. He is most famous for being the chief United States prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials. Shirley Chisholm – (1924-2005) – Chisholm was an American politician, educator and author of the 20th century. In 1968, she became the first African-American woman elected to Congress, and she represented New York's 12th District between 1969 to 1983.