Choosing a History Fair topic that you are passionate about is an important foundation for a successful project. Remember, your topic should be related to this year’s annual theme, “Debate & Diplomacy in History”

• Step 1 Video on CMHF YouTube
• Be sure to visit our Theme and Topics page, with much more information about the annual theme including videos, webinar recordings, and essays!
• Check out the topic selection worksheet to understand what makes a good topic.

Asking questions is a great way to spark your research process. When first considering a topic, it is only natural to start by asking questions like what exactly happened? Who was involved? When and where did this take place? As you answer these basic questions, they will lead you to more substantial questions like why did this happen? What was the impact on the people involved? Why does this still matter today? These questions will require your interpretation, meaning that different people might come to different conclusions about them.

• Step 2 Video on CMHF YouTube

Your thesis is a summary of this interpretation. Your thesis should say what happened, but should also include your interpretation of why it happened and why it matters in history. Your thesis will usually be 2-3 sentences long.

• How to Write a Thesis
• Developing and Testing your Thesis

Historical Research can seem daunting, but with the right resources, careful note-taking, and persistence you will succeed in finding the information you need. In fact, good research will take you beyond just the facts, and you will begin to form your own interpretation about what happened, how and why it happened, and how it changed the world!

• Step 3 Video on CMHF YouTube

Finding Sources

Primary and secondary sources are the raw materials of your project. In most cases, you will start your research with more general sources like encyclopedias and other reference books. What you find there will help you refine and focus your topic, and allow you to move on to secondary sources like documentary films, authored books, museum exhibits, etc. Once you have studied these secondary sources, you will have the context you need to conduct effective research with specialized academic articles and primary sources like archival documents and objects.

• Visit our Research page for links to high-quality primary and secondary sources and more!

Taking Notes

Every History Fair project must include an Annotated Bibliography. Visit our Annotated Bibliography page for much more info!

Each time you find a source that helps you understand your topic, write it down! Consider a note-taking sheet like this one, or better yet keep a running Google Doc (share it with your teammates if you’re working in a group) where you write down the vital details for each source: whether it is primary or secondary, the title, author, year it was published, URL, and a note about what you learned from the source, and how to find it again (page number or specific URL). This simple step will save you a lot of effort when you are finishing your Annotated Bibliography!

Analyzing Sources

As you find and work with sources, you will need to analyze them. Analyzing your sources simply means asking questions of your source such as:

• Who wrote this source and why?
• What was different about the time and place this source was created? What was the same?
• What does this source say, and does it “agree” with other sources on the same topic?
• What claims does the author make, and what evidence do they provide to support those claims?

As you complete this process with a variety of sources, you will begin to see multiple perspectives and voices emerge from your research. Which of those perspectives do you find most persuasive, and why? If you can answer that, you are well on your way to building your own historical argument!

A History Fair project is more than just reporting the facts and information that you find. These facts and pieces of information are building blocks that you will use to build your Historical Argument. Your Historical Argument is your own interpretation about how and why the events of your topic happened, and why they are important. Your thesis statement is a summary of your historical argument. Using evidence from sources to demonstrate your Historical Argument is the most important part of any History Fair project!

• Step 4 Video on CMHF YouTube
• This argumentation plan can help you organize your evidence

When your research is complete and you have decided on your Historical Argument, it’s time to start building your project.

• Step 5 Video on CMHF YouTube
• All projects must comply with the NHD Rule Book
  • These helpful checklists for each category will help you ensure your project is fully eligible to compete at Regionals!
  • More details on how to save and submit your project files is now on our Virtual Contests page
  • Check out examples of each type of project from past CMHF contests here
  • View national award-winning projects from previous years at the NHD Project Examples page