Rules

The National History Day Contest Rule Book guides the classroom and statewide implementation of the Minnesota History Day program. Projects at all Regional contests should to follow the general rules for all categories as well as category-specific rules. Please review the National History Day Contest Rulebook on our website.

Minnesota History Day has developed guidelines and procedures to implement the program and administer contests and events. If you would like to know more, please visit our website.
 
 

About Us

National History Day is an inter-disciplinary research project for students in grades 6-12. History Day teaches students to:

• Conduct in-depth research
• Use primary and secondary sources
• Read a variety of texts
• Analyze and synthesize information
• Write and present historical content

Students choose a topic that relates to an annual theme, research that topic, and present their research in one of five presentation categories: Research Paper, Exhibit, Documentary, Performance, or Website. Students may then enter their projects into History Day competitions at school, regional, state, and national levels.

Students participating in this contest advance from one of twelve Regional/District contests and an Off-Site Research Paper competition in Minnesota. The top two entries in each category at this competition will be recognized as National Qualifiers and are eligible to advance to the NHD National Contest.

Awards presented at this contest include:

• 1st and 2nd Place Entries: National Qualifiers and eligible to advance to National Contest
• 3rd, 4th, and 5th Place Entries: Will receive medals and will serve as alternates if a National Qualifier is unable to participate in the National Contest
• Honorable Mention: Entry advanced to the final-round of competition at State but did not receive a medal.
• Topical Prize Winner: Entry recognized for outstanding work connected to a specific area of study or method or project creation and receives a monetary award.

National History Day in Minnesota is sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society.

VIRTUAL STATE HISTORY DAY TIMELINE

• Friday, March 25: State Qualifiers announced for Virtual Regional participants. Within a few days, students that advance to State from Regionals will be sent an automatically generated email from Z-Fairs to register by the deadline. Students will then log in and confirm or change information and apply for Topical Prizes.

• Thursday, April 14, 7:59 pm: Registration and Topical Prize Nominations Due. Students in all categories will need to login to Z-Fairs using the same login they used for Regionals and submit any changes, upload their final projects, and apply for Topical Prizes. You cannot compete in State History Day without registering for the contest.

• Thursday, April 14, 10:59 pm: Website Lockout.

• Friday, April 22: Entry list and Virtual Showcase posted. 

• Friday, April 29: Final-Round entries posted to our website and social media.

• Sunday, May 1, 7 pm: Awards Ceremony - streamed LIVE on Facebook. Results will be posted to our website and social media immediately following.