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 2026 NHD theme is Revolution, Reaction, Reform 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 the Submission Guide.
Websites
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.
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:
Kristin Schnerer
Bowling Green State University
Department of History
128 Williams Hall
Bowling Green, Ohio 43403
p. 419.372.2030
e. [email protected]
Contest Date & Location: Sat., March 7, 2026 | 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 28, 2026 | 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 7, 2026 | 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 28, 2026 | 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
p: 330-293-3852e: [email protected]
Contest Date & Location: Sat., March 14, 2026 | 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 14, 2026 | 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 7, 2026 | Carillon Historical Park
Registration Dates and Fees
Counties:
Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, Highland, Warren
Register Here
Coordinator:
Valerie Horobik and Megan Parker
Cincinnati Museum Center
1301 Western Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45203
p. 513.287.7000 ext 7201
e: [email protected] and [email protected]
Contest Date & Location: Sat., March 14, 2026 | Cincinnati Museum Center
Registration Dates and Fees
Counties:
Athens, Gallia, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Pike, Ross, Scioto, Vinton
Register Here
Coordinator:
Dan Rowbotham
Director, Madog Center for Welsh Studies
University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College
p. 740.245.7186
e. [email protected]
Contest Date & Location: Sat. March 28, 2026| University of Rio Grande
Registration Dates and Fees
2026 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 28, 2026 | Muskingum University
Registration Dates and Fees
The 2026 State Contest was held in-person on Saturday, April 18, 2026 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 2026 State Contest was held directly after the competition on April 18 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
2026 National Contest Qualifiers
Junior Group Documentary
Students: Bodi Elliott, Gabe Elliott
Project Title: The Bridge that Changed America
School: Independent Entry
Teacher: Gwen Elliott
Students: Viyan Kshettry, Haadi Nouman
Project Title: Toxic Wake-Up: The 1993 Lead Summit That Stirred Citizens and Shaped Reform
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joe Parrino, Todd Boyer, Edward Hume
Senior Group Documentary
Students: Joshua Gordon, Joshua Chen, Joshua Thomas
Project Title: “Justice for Vincent Chin!” The Murder that Mobilized a Movement
School: St. Ignatius High School
Teacher: Joe Ptak
Students: Gabriel Heard, Masen Nelson
Project Title: A Silver Lining in a Performative Paradox: The Legacy of the Aristocrat of Harlem (The Cotton Club)
School: Toledo Early College
Teacher: Zachary Shepler, Allison Edler
Junior Group Exhibit
Students: Skye Bondy, Kamari Carpenter, Genevieve Hess
Project Title: The 1918 Flu Pandemic Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio
School: Buckeye Trail Middle & High School
Teacher: Toni Gallow
Students: Lucas Cook, Zhiying Yuan, Sophie Hao
Project Title: From Patients to Athletes: The Revolution of Respect in the Paralympic Games
School: Mason Intermediate School
Teacher: Jill Hartsock
Senior Group Exhibit
Students: Samuel Claspy, Saint Anthony Crawford V, Joseph Friguglietti, Matthew Moore
Project Title: “The George Washington of Saint Domingue,” Toussaint Louverture’s Revolution and the Global Reaction to Slavery
School: Shaker Heights High School
Teacher: Sarah Davis, Joseph Konopinski
Students: Mariana Smith, Anajoselyn Cruz, Karina Cruz
Project Title: The United Farm Workers
School: Toledo Early College
Teacher: Zachary Shepler, Allison Edler
Junior Group Performance
Students: Devang Pareek, Mia Woodley
Project Title: From Challenge to Change: Revolutionizing Women's Rights through Moritz v. Commissioner
School: Independent Entry
Teacher: Independent Entry
Students: Eve Thompson, Trisha Sriniketh, Architha Reddy
Project Title: Church Reformation of England
School: Mason Intermediate School
Teacher: Jill Hartsock
Senior Group Performance
Students: Rachel Klein, Pom Ziv, Saya Walters
Project Title: Radium Girls: Doomed to Die
School: Shaker Heights High School
Teacher: Joseph Konopinski
Students: Vibha Balasubramaniam, Laura Holbrook, Ava Mason
Project Title: "Don't Pass the Babies By" - Martin Couney's Coney Island Incubator Exhibit
School: Shaker Heights High School
Teacher: Sarah Davis
Junior Group Website
Students: Niko Constantinou, Noah DeLuca, Millan Babu
Project Title: Revolutionary Resting: How The Akron Sit-Down Strike Brought Reform To Goodyear’s Factories
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joe Parrino, Todd Boyer, Edward Hume
Students: Nicholas Hartman II, Kristen Howard
Project Title: The Influence of The Capitol Crawl
School: Toledo Early College
Teacher: Allison Edler, Zachary Shepler
Senior Group Website
Students: Bram Turturici, Calvin Wilson, Lucas Tcheurekdjian, Marios Kallergis
Project Title: Vera Rubin: A Pioneer in Science and Gender Equality
School: Shaker Heights High School
Teacher: Sarah Davis, Joseph Konopinski
Students: Liam Calabrese, Henry Burkhart, Matias Pusa
Project Title: Ink, Blood, and Crack Cocaine: How Gary Webb's Investigation into the CIA caused Public Outrage, and its Impact on Government Accountability
School: Shaker Heights High School
Teacher: Sarah Davis, Joseph Konopinski
Junior Individual Documentary
Students: Nathan Thomas
Project Title: Echoes of the Plains: The Wounded Knee Occupation and the Fight to Reform Native American Rights
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joe Parrino, Todd Boyer, Edward Hume
Students: Susan Stewart-Pirone
Project Title: Silence = Death: How ACT UP Turned Anger and Fear into Action and Change
School: Walnut Hills High School
Teacher: Joseph Stewart-Pirone
Senior Individual Documentary
Students: Ethan Daniels
Project Title: Frank Lloyd Wright and The Birth of Organic Architecture
School: Toledo Early College
Teacher: Zachary Shepler, Allison Edler
Students: David Machak
Project Title: America’s Burning River
School: Western Reserve Academy
Teacher: Sarah Horgan
Junior Individual Exhibit
Students: Alice Gutridge
Project Title: The 1970s Reclamation of the Pink Triangle
School: Walnut Hills High School
Teacher: Samantha Bramlage
Students: James Ryba
Project Title: The Mold That Mended Millions: The Invention of Penicillin
School: St. Barnabas School
Teacher: Andrea Scullion
Senior Individual Exhibit
Students: Joseph Smith
Project Title: Standing Alone: The courage of Ida B. Wells
School: Berne Union High School
Teacher: Julie Cornell
Students: Stephanie Liu
Project Title: A Study in Deception: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the Reckoning of American Medical Ethics
School: Columbus Academy
Teacher: Tim Morford
Junior Individual Performance
Students: Graham Walker
Project Title: John Muir : Revolution, Reaction, Reform
School: Gallia Academy Middle School
Teacher: Megan Lawhon
Students: Corrado Naples
Project Title: Virtue After Vietnam: How Reactions to the Bui Doi Inspired Reforms in America’s Immigration Policies
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joe Parrino, Todd Boyer, Edward Hume
Senior Individual Performance
Students: Ananya Kandel
Project Title: The Fight of America's Glowing Radium Girls
School: Toledo Early College
Teacher: Zachary Shepler, Allison Edler
Students: Greyson Hearing
Project Title: Revolution on the Airwaves: Sesame Street and the Reaction to Educational Integration
School: Maysville High School
Teacher: Lance Mcgee
Junior Individual Website
Students: Julie Swedeh
Project Title: Killing Polio: The Medical Revolution That Saved Millions from Paralysis
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joe Parrino, Todd Boyer, Edward Hume
Students: Emily Dury
Project Title: Katherine Johnson - One of NASA's Hidden Figures
School: St. Agatha School
Teacher: Nicholas Moore
Senior Individual Website
Students: Ella Tang
Project Title: Víctor Jara and Nueva Canción: A Musical Revolution
School: Columbus Academy
Teacher: Tim Morford
Students: Calvin Lei
Project Title: The Race That Changed Racing: Tragedy and the Safety Revolution in Formula One
School: Hawken Upper School
Teacher: Mati Barker
Junior Paper
Students: Anne Fei
Project Title: Blood or Birthplace? How United States v. Wong Kim Ark Revolutionized Citizenship in America
School: Birchwood School of Hawken
Teacher: Joe Parrino, Todd Boyer, Edward Hume
Students: AirMarie Stanley
Project Title: The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue
School: Spencer Center for Gifted and Exceptional Students
Teacher: Steven Lewis, Ben Rall
Senior Paper
Students: Omar Elbadawy
Project Title: Romania's Revolution of 1989: The Violent Path from Dictatorship to Reform
School: Hawken Upper School
Teacher: Mati Barker
Students: Isaiah Fuhr
Project Title: Tinker vs. Des Moines: Revolution, Reaction, and Reform
School: Rock Hill High School
Teacher: Rhonda Hacker
