Raven Burrell National History Day project "Out of the Darkness"

 Nice job Raven Burrell. She was awarded first place in state National History Day competition for her individual exhibit "OUT OF THE DARKNESS The Mary Ellen Case of 1874: A Revolution in the Legal Protection for Children."

National History Day Arizona brings history to life through project-based learning, research, presentations, workshops, and competitions that encourage students to explore historical topics of their choice. Through participation, students develop critical thinking, research, writing, communication, and problem-solving skills while learning to evaluate sources and construct evidence-based arguments.

The Historical League supports this program with volunteers, grants, scholarships, underwriting.

Year Zero: The Khmer Royge Genocide by Isaiah Chau and Stefan Nickerson NHD

Year Zero: The Khmer Rouge Genocide. Quite a topic for Isaiah Chau and Stefen Nickerson for their Group Documentary, National History Day AZ. They took 2nd place in state and advanced to National competition in College Park, MD.
Arizona Historical Society NHDAZ Co-ordinator Leonard Moody comments, "Making the NHD journey all the way up to the National level is an incredible accomplishment.

Committing to finishing a year-long project that requires in-depth research like NHD is an accomplishment in itself, let alone having a project that stands out in the state well enough to make it to the National Competition." 

The Historical League is proud to support this program.

"Running Against The World" 1st place Youth Group Exhibit NHDAZ 2026

 Jim Rex taught 7th grade American History for 29 years to Arizona students. His love for engaging students to think, get excited about their past and apply evidence to show what they know was something he shared with over 10,000 students during his career. In his honor, National History Day Jim Rex award goes to 4 and 5th graders.

Congrats to National History Day AZ 1st place Youth Group Exhibit "Running Against the World" by Jaxon Gonzalez, Stephanie Escalante Rodriguez, and Ben Bradley. The Historical League supports you.

Arizona Women's Hall of Fame Inductees 2026

 Norma Jean Coulter writes about the 2026 Arizona Women's Hall of Fame Inductees, "The five people were beyond impressive, accomplishing great things in race relations and breaking the glass ceiling. 

May Hicks Curtis Hill, Dr. Laura Noble Banks-Reed, Paula Giangreco Cullison, Daisy M. Bell Jenkins, Allison Marshall Hughes - a most accomplished group."

Many Historical League members are volunteers with this program.

Spirit of the West Museum

Historical League members Norma Jean Coulter, Josie Pete (2025 Inductee)

Norma Jean Coulter, Mary Jo West (2018 Inductee)

Governors  Proclamation naming October 19 AWHOF Day

NHD student Emma Weiss now NHD judge, U of A student and volunteer at AHS

 Watching Emma Weiss grow through National History Day is rewarding. She is pursuing her passion and now attends University of Arizona, while also volunteering at Tucson's Arizona History Museum. Her knowledge of NHD made her an understanding and compassionate judge at the regional contest.

NHD touches lives in so many ways!

NHDAZ co-ordinator Leonard Moody comments, "Emma is working on student resources to help them build their projects for NHD. We share these resources with teachers through our mailing list and also will be posting them to our website."

2026 U of A student, NHD judge, AHS museum volunteer

2024 NHD student

Anabella Kirby wins Roe Family Best Arizona History for her Jr Individual Exhibit

 Nice job Anabella Kirby! She won the Roe Family Best Arizona History Entry of $200 for her Junior Individual Exhibit - When the River Turned Red- The Legacy of Camp Grant. National History Day AZ students have many Special Awards they can qualify for, many with monetary rewards.

The Historical League is proud to support this program.

Ashton Andrade and Yatharth Tomar, NHD students, create website "Apache Junction"

Ashton Andrade and Yatharth Tomar (not pictured) created this first place in state group website for National History Day. Congrats on advancing to National competition.

Apache Junction website

• https://44603187.nhdwebcentral.org/

Approximately 3,000 students (out of more than 500,000) make it to the National contest each year, making qualification a significant achievement in this prestigious academic program. Only 0.6% are judged to have projects that are of a high enough caliber to reach Nationals.

Our 39 Arizona students are in that incredible 0.6%! They brought 27 qualifying projects to Nationals in June. They represented every competition category and every grade level, from 6th-12th grade. Projects included documentaries, exhibits, papers, performances, and websites created through months of original historical research surrounding this year’s theme Revolution, Reaction, and Reform.