Every year National History Day frames students' research within a historical theme. History is more than facts and dates. The annual theme is broad to allow students to explore topics in ancient, world, national or state history. Students draw a connection to the theme by understanding their topic's historical context and significance. The 2025 NHD theme is Rights and Responsibilities in History!
Need some ideas to help get you started? Check out what previous Ohio History Day students have done in the sample projects below.
Documentary
Exhibit
Paper
Performance
Website
See below for brief descriptions of the contest submission procedures for each category. Pay close attention to the requirements for the written materials (title page, process paper, annotated bibliography). Please note: For full instructions and required guidelines read the2025 Submission Guide
URLs for Website entries should be submitted through your contest’s NHD registration site.
Papers
Students who compete in this category should upload their papers and written materials to their contest’s registration site. Please note, your original paper uploaded with your registration at the regional level will follow your project to the state contest registration if you advance to the state contest. If you need to edit your paper, remember to upload the updated entry before the registration deadline.
Documentary
Documentary students need to record and save their projects in .MP4 format and their required written materials as a PDF. These will then be uploaded to your contest’s registration site.
Exhibit
All exhibit participants are required to create a physical exhibit for all regional and the state Ohio History Day contests. Students are required to save their written materials as a PDF and upload them to your contest’s registration site.
Performance
All performances will take place live at the in-person contests. Students are required to save their written materials as a PDF and upload them to your contest’s registration site.
Allen, Defiance, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Lucas, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert, Williams, Wood
Register Here
Coordinator:
Becky Brown
Bowling Green State University
Department of History
137 Williams Hall
Bowling Green, Ohio 43403
p. 419.372.2030
e. [email protected]
Contest Date & Location: Sat., March 8, 2025 | Bowling Green State University
Registration Dates and Fees:
Counties:
Ashland, Crawford, Erie, Huron, Marion, Morrow, Ottawa, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Wyandot
Register Here
Coordinator:
Alex Eveleth
Ohio History Connection
800 E. 17th Ave
Columbus, Ohio
e: [email protected]
Contest Date & Location: Sat., March 22, 2025 | Terra State Community College
Registration Dates and Fees
Counties:
Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Summit
Register Here
Coordinator:
Dr. Mary Manning
Cleveland History Center
10825 E. Blvd.
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
p. 216.721.5722 x1503
e. [email protected] | History Day at Western Reserve Historical Society
Contest Date & Location: Sat., March 1, 2025 | Cleveland History Center
Registration Dates and Fees:
Counties:
Ashtabula, Geauga, Mahoning, Portage, Trumbull
Register Here
Coordinator:
David Simonelli
Youngstown State University
Department of History | DeBartolo Hall, Room 537
One University Plaza
Youngstown, OH 44555
p. 330.941.1601
f. 330.941.2304
e: [email protected]
Contest Date & Location: Sat., March 29, 2025 | Youngstown State University
Registration Dates and Fees
Counties:
Carroll, Columbiana, Harrison, Holmes, Jefferson, Stark, Tuscarawas, Wayne
Register Here
Coordinator:
Stephanie Bohnak
First Ladies Library & Museum
205 Market Ave. S
Canton, Ohio
e: [email protected]
Contest Date & Location: Sat., March 1, 2025 | First Ladies Library & Museum
Registration Deadlines & Fees
Counties:
Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Knox, Licking, Madison, Perry, Pickaway, Union
Register Here
Coordinator:
Emily Volkmann
Museums & Programs Coordinator
Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board
Ohio Statehouse
p. 614.466.9335
e. [email protected]
Contest Date & Location: Sat., March 8, 2025 | Capital Square
Registration Dates and Fees
Counties:
Auglaize, Champaign, Clark, Darke, Greene, Logan, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, Shelby
Register Here
Coordinator:
Steve Lucht
Carillon Historical Park
D1000 Carillon Blvd
Dayton, OH 45409
p. 937.281.4404
e: [email protected]
Contest Date & Location: Sat., March 8, 2025 | Carillon Historical Park
Registration Dates and Fees
Counties:
Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, Highland, Warren
Register Here
Coordinator:
Tony Lawson
Cincinnati Museum Center
1301 Western Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45203
p. 513.287.7000 ext 7201
e: [email protected]
Contest Date & Location: Sat., March 15, 2025 | Cincinnati Museum Center
Registration Dates and Fees
Counties:
Athens, Gallia, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Pike, Ross, Scioto, Vinton
Register Here
Coordinator:
David A. Moore & Gwen Daniels
Gallia-Vinton ESC
University of Rio Grande, Wood Hall Rm. 131
p. 740.245.0593
e: [email protected] | [email protected]
Contest Date & Location: Sat., March 1, 2025 | University of Rio Grande
Registration Dates and Fees
2025 Region 10 Contest Results
Counties:
Belmont, Coshocton, Guernsey, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Washington
Register Here
Coordinator:
Alex Eveleth
Ohio History Connection
800 E. 17th Ave
Columbus, Ohio
e: [email protected]
Contest Date & Location: Sat., February 22, 2025 | Muskingum University
Registration Dates and Fees
The 2025 State Contest will take place in-person on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at Capital University.
Qualify for the State Contest? Congrats! Click here to log in to the state contest. Use your username and password that you registered with for your regional contest. For more detailed instructions, please view the State Qualifier Packet below.
Got questions? Reach out to the Ohio History Day team at [email protected].
Interested in applying for a special award at the State Contest? Nominate yourself through your online registration. Then email [email protected] a copy of your project, your written materials, and a copy of the Special Award Cover Sheet. You MUST send in a full application for EACH award nomination.
A list of available special awards and application instructions can be found below.
The award ceremony for the 2025 State Contest was held directly after the competition on April 26 at Capital University. Congratulations on all of your hard work this year students! We hope that everyone had fun and enjoyed learning more about history!
The Final Stage! Each year nearly 3,000 students, their families and teachers gather at the University of Maryland, College Park for this week-long event. These enthusiastic groups come from all over the United States, Guam, American Samoa, and affiliates in China, Korea, Latin America and southeast Asia. After spending months researching and preparing their projects, and competing at local and state contests, these students are eager to show their hard work on the national stage. For more information visit: https://www.nhd.org/national-contest.
In Person Contest Date - Sun., June 8 through Thurs., June 12, 2025
2025 National Contest
Special Award Winner
Untold Stories in US History
Students: Jerry Jiang and Samuel Chen
Project Title: Bigotry at the Beach: Unequal Rights and Denied Responsibilities of the Euclid Beach Park Riots
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Exhibit Showcase
Students: Bridget Barragate, Demi Burke, Ellie White and Zoeya Chowdhry
Project Title: Plyler v. Doe: Education Without Borders
School: Shaker Heights High School
Teacher: Joseph Konopinski, Sarah Davis
Documentary Showcase
Students: Joshua Chen, Joshua Gordon and Joshua Thomas
Project Title: The Capitol Crawl: Fighting for Disability Rights One Step at a Time
School: St. Ignatius High School
Teacher: Joe Ptak
2025 National Contest
Junior Division
Students: Bodi and Gabe Elliott
Project Title: Drawing Change: Charles Schultz, Franklin, and Responsibility in the Fight
for Civil Rights
School: Bishop Flaget Middle/High School
Teacher: Dana Wiseman
Senior Division
Students: Elizabeth Liu, Lyndia Zheng and Shreya Chellu
Project Title: Truth on Trial: The Legacy of Elizabeth Loftus
School: Independent Entry
2025 National Contest Qualifiers
Junior Group Documentary
Students: Bodi and Gabe Elliott
Project Title: Drawing Change: Charles Schultz, Franklin, and Responsibility in the Fight
for Civil Rights
School: Bishop Flaget Middle/High School
Teacher: Dana Wiseman
Students: Danah Jang and Tzurielle Parrino
Project Title: A Responsible Patriot: John Adams and the Rights of Redcoats
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Group Documentary
Students: Joshua Chen, Joshua Gordon and Joshua Thomas
Project Title: The Capitol Crawl: Fighting for Disability Rights One Step at a Time
School: St. Ignatius High School
Teacher: Joe Ptak
Students: Tommy Harkelroad and Will Ferenczy
Project Title: The World's Champion: How Muhammad Ali’s Views on War and Equality Impacted the World
School: Huron High School
Teacher: John Harkelroad
Junior Group Exhibit
Students: Ingrid Hegley and Ziva Botkin
Project Title: The Anthem that Inspired the World
School: Dominion Middle School
Teacher: Lauren Noble
Students: Jerry Jiang and Samuel Chen
Project Title: Bigotry at the Beach: Unequal Rights and Denied Responsibilities of the Euclid Beach Park Riots
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Group Exhibit
Students: Olivia Panciu and Sophia Panciu
Project Title: The Right to Vote: How the 19th Amendment Transformed Democracy
School: Independent Entry
Students: Bridget Barragate, Demi Burke, Ellie White and Zoeya Chowdhry
Project Title: Plyler v. Doe: Education Without Borders
School: Shaker Heights High School
Teacher: Joseph Konopinski, Sarah Davis
Junior Group Performance
Students: Pearl Zhu, Saira Kakumanu and Virginia Bardwell
Project Title: The Glow of Justice: Rights and Responsibilities of the Radium Girls
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Students: Corrado Naples, Nathan Thomas and Yianni Gountis
Project Title: Pieces of the Parthenon: How the Elgin Marbles Carved Controversy Between the Rights and Responsibilities of Cultural Artifacts
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Group Performance
Students: Elizabeth Liu, Lyndia Zheng and Shreya Chellu
Project Title: Truth on Trial: The Legacy of Elizabeth Loftus
School: Independent Entry
Students: Nan Auten and Penda Gassama
Project Title: I Speak as an American
School: Shaker Heights High School
Teacher: Sarah Davis
Junior Group Website
Students: Henry Petric-Black and Viyan Kshettry
Project Title: Ramp It Up! How the ADA Was Responsible for Granting Rights to Millions of Americans with Disabilities
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Students: Niko Constantinou and Noah DeLuca
Project Title: From Profit to Protection: How Ralph Nader Championed Consumer Rights and Pressured the Auto Industry into Responsibility
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Group Website
Students: Emma Rush and Scarlet Price
Project Title: Blood Sisters, Roll Up Your Sleeves!: Lesbian Community Action in Spite of Government Inaction During the AIDS Crisis
School: Maysville High School
Teacher: Lance Mcgee
Students: Ayat Jaffar, Leanne Zheng, Leen Akras and Linchang Zhao
Project Title: Printing Rights: How Black Newspapers Advocated for Justice in the Jim Crow South
School: Hawken Upper School
Teacher: Kenneth Clark
Junior Individual Documentary
Student: Pricilla Fernandes
Project Title: How Students Changed History: The East LA Walkouts of 1968
School: Genoa Middle School
Teacher: Sara Benge
Student: Gabriel Heard
Project Title: Nina Simone: Enforcing the Power of the Human Voice (The Power to Make a Change)
School: Toledo Early College
Teacher: Allison Edler
Senior Individual Documentary
Student: Will Stoepfel
Project Title: Coal Run: A Half-Century Struggle for Clean Water
School: Maysville High School
Teacher: Lance Mcgee
Student: Thomas Worley
Project Title: Beyond the Diamond: How Roberto Clemente Inspired the Next Generation
School: Shaker Heights High School
Teacher: Sarah Davis
Junior Individual Exhibit
Student: Jaxon Brobst
Project Title: The Ford Pinto Dilemma: Corporate Responsibility vs. Consumer Rights
School: Toledo Technology Academy
Teacher: Katerina Asmus
Student: Mira Patel
Project Title: Excavating Rights and Remains: The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Individual Exhibit
Student: Jonathan Pratt
Project Title: Cleveland Public Schools: The Fight For Integration
School: Lutheran West High School
Teacher: Dave Ressler
Student: Clare Park
Project Title: Social Security Act: Rights of People and Responsibility of the Government
School: Jerome High School
Teacher: Mary Bezbatchenko
Junior Individual Performance
Student: Zora Asalu
Project Title: Resilient Like a Raisin in the Sun: How Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis Dramatized Theatre to Advance Civil Rights for African-Americans
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Student: Rockam Parrino
Project Title: Howard Lyman: A Mad Cowboy Takes Responsibility for Livestock Rights and Healthy Living
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Individual Performance
Student: Greyson Hearing
Project Title: Disney's Neglect: How "Song of the South" Distorted the Legacy of the Uncle Remus Story
School: Maysville High School
Teacher: Lance Mcgee
Junior Individual Website
Student: Jana Alzoubi
Project Title: Rupture and Restoration in the Balkans: How the United Nations Took On the Responsibility to Secure Bosnian Rights
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Student: Nelson Kude
Project Title: United States v. Johnson and the Sherley Amendment: Rights and Responsibility in Drug Labeling
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Individual Website
Student: Calvin Lei
Project Title: Ignored Warnings, Lost Lives: NASA’s Responsibility in the Challenger Disaster
(1986)
School: Hawken Upper School
Teacher: Kenneth Clark
Student: Yunwoo Choi
Project Title: Medgar Evers: Igniting a Unified World
School: Western Reserve Academy
Teacher: Sarah Horgan
Junior Paper
Student: Chrysanthi Constantinou
Project Title: Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier and Rights v. Responsibilities: Student Journalists Put Their Foot in a Closing Schoolhouse Gate
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Student: Sofia Sideris
Project Title: Downstream Consequences: Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and the Irresponsible Use of D.D.T.
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joseph Parrino
Senior Paper
Student: Omar Elbadawy
Project Title: The Lane Seminary Rebels: Balancing Rights and Responsibility in the Fight for Abolition and Free Speech
School: Hawken Upper School
Teacher: Kenneth Clark
Student: Victor Wang
Project Title: The Dawn of Diverse Drug Clinical Trials
School: Western Reserve Academy
Teacher: Sarah Horgan
