MHS History Source

Congratulations to all of the students who participated in Massachusetts History Day—our regional contests are a wrap! This year over 5100 middle- and high-school students and 300 fifth grade students from across the state created historical documentaries, performances, exhibitions, podcasts, essays, and documentaries based on original research. Their topics ranged from Title IX to Bengali Independence to the history of blood banks! Good luck to the 427 students who have advanced to compete at our upcoming State contest on April 11!
Want to learn more or volunteer as a judge? Visit our website using the link in our bio.

Congratulations to all of the students who participated in Massachusetts History Day—our regional contests are a wrap! This year over 5100 middle- and high-school students and 300 fifth grade students from across the state created historical documentaries, performances, exhibitions, podcasts, essays, and documentaries based on original research. Their topics ranged from Title IX to Bengali Independence to the history of blood banks! Good luck to the 427 students who have advanced to compete at our upcoming State contest on April 11!
Want to learn more or volunteer as a judge? Visit our website using the link in our bio.

Charlotte Forten, a Black abolitionist and educator, wrote this 19th century anti-slavery song for a commemoration of Crispus Attucks, a Black and Native man killed by British soldiers during the 1770 Boston Massacre. Forten’s grandfather James was a Revolutionary War veteran, and her song connected the freedom struggle in the War for Independence to the abolitionist cause.

Her song was a parody of the patriotic song “Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean (the Red, White, and Blue)” and was performed by a woman named Mrs. Dutton on March 5, 1863. Black soldiers serving in the 54th Regiment of the Union Army were in attendance.

Broadside: Martyrdom of the Colored American Crispus Attucks!: March 5th, 1770... [Boston:1863], Massachusetts Historical Society, www.masshist.org/database/6516

Image Credit: The Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University.

Last week, the MHS hosted its first in-person Juneteenth exhibit presentation celebrating NHD students whose projects related to the topics of African American history, culture, and freedom. This pop-up presentation was held before a public program in which Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson spoke powerfully about her award-winning book, "We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance", in conversation with MHS Director of Research Dr. Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai.

Students had the opportunity to discuss their work with Dr. Jackson and answer her questions before the book talk. Congratulations to all of our students who participated in this event, and huge shout out to St. Mark's School student Anouk Shin for the excellent question she asked during the talk! We're so proud of you all and look forward to more special chances to spotlight our NHD student's work. Cheers!

Congratulations to all National History Day students who attended the Nationals Competition this year in Washington, DC! Special shout outs to our medalists who placed in the top three within their categories and represented Massachusetts at the epic Winner's Ceremony: Yueshin Yu, Spencer Carman, and Anjie Chen. We are so proud of all our students. You can take a look at some of this year's projects by viewing the annual "Celebrating Juneteenth Exhibit" currently linked in our bio. We hope to see you all next year for National History Day 2026!

We’re excited to show off the great work of students who competed in the 2025 National History Day in Massachusetts competition season!

In honor of Juneteenth, check out selected projects on African American history and culture in a virtual exhibit on the NHD MA website. See some of these projects in person on June 24 before our evening program, We Refuse.

National History Day prompts students in grades 6-12 to conduct research on a historical topic of their choosing and present their work in a variety of ways, including documentary films, performances, and papers.

Visit the NHD Massachusetts website to view the Juneteenth Virtual Exhibit: https://www.masshist.org/masshistoryday/juneteenth2025

Congrats to our Needham students on their amazing project, which was the inaugural recipient of the Northeastern Uni Ted Landsmark "Good Trouble" Award!

Legendary Northeastern professor Ted Landsmark is ‘good trouble’ and now there’s a civil rights award in his honor The Professor Ted Landsmark “Good Trouble” Award for the Best Project in Civil Rights History was presented to Needham High students.

Congratulations to our incredible Bedford student, who was a top ten finalist at Nationals for her individual documentary!

"Going through the process of this project taught me valuable skills in research, critical thinking, and editing, which I anticipate will be useful and applicable to later projects I complete in my life. I want to pursue science in college and despite this being a history project, I was able to pick a topic in the direction of the interest.” Learn more about 2024 documentary finalist Amelie: https://thebedfordcitizen.org/2024/06/bhs-entry-among-the-top-national-history-day-documentaries/