Congratulations to all NHDAZ special award winners!
Special Awards 2026
This list entails all of the special awards winners from the NHD State Competition of 2026.
Special awards do not have anything to do with advancing to nationals. Special awards are sponsored by organizations, institutions, or individuals who want to recognize outstanding projects that relate to a specific topic, theme, group, or historical contribution. Each special award includes a monetary prize. Congratulations to all special awards winners!
Best African American History Awards sponsored by the African American Museum of Southern Arizona - $150
1.Junior Paper - Ruby Bridges; A Child Pioneer of Integration
Senior Individual Website - Revolutionizing Education: The Freedom Schools of the Civil Rights Movement by Ethan Tsay
AZ Historical Society Award for Equality in History - $150
2.Junior Individual Website - Braille: The Unseen Revolution
3.Senior Group Performance - Chinese Immigration in America
AZ Historical Society Award for Woman’s History - $150
4.Junior Group Documentary - Equality Denied: The Success of the 19th Amendment and Failure of the Equal RIghts Amendment
5.Senior Paper - Sybil Ludington and the Construction of American Patriotism
Best in Western United States History sponsored by the BYU Redd Center - $100
6. Junior Individual Documentary - Not Told Enough History: The Bisbee Deportation of1917
Senior Individual Website - The Delano Grape Boycott: Farmworker Revolution Leading to Reform by Aaron Senthikumar
Weiss Family Historic Places & Spaces Award - $100
Junior Group Website - Built on Speed and Soil; How McDonald's Transformed the Fast Food Industry by Adrish Gande, Owen Yin
Senior Individual Exhibit - Thanks to J.D.C Atkinson, My Language Is Dying by Tanae Lupe
The Roe Family Best Arizona History Entry - $200
7. Junior Individual Exhibit - When the River Turned Red- The Legacy of Camp Grant
8.Senior Group Documentary - Viva Libertad: Revolution Against Spanish Rule
Best Government History sponsored by Stephanie Mann - $50
Senior Paper -“The Endless Frontier”: How Atomic Revolution, Reaction, and Reform Gave Us Our Current System of Public Investment in Science by Ira Parsons
Best Entry for an Arizona Family History or Ethnic History sponsored by the Arizona Genealogical Advisory Board - $100
Senior Individual Exhibit - Thanks to J.D.C Atkinson, My Language Is Dying by Tanae Lupe
Best Use of Archives sponsored by the Arizona Archives Alliance - $150
Sr Group Documentary - Judith Heumann: Trailblazer of the Disability Rights Revolution by Thanvi Voruganti, Dorothy Zhou
9. Jr Documentary - The Bisbee Deportation
Best Use of Oral History sponsored by the Southwest Oral History Association - $100
10. Senior Group Exhibit - Native boarding schools
Diana Smith Award for Excellence - $150
Junior Paper - The Indonesian National Revolution and Its Impact on the World by Aryapadi Hariadi
Senior Paper - “The Endless Frontier”: How Atomic Revolution, Reaction, and Reform Gave Us Our Current System of Public Investment in Science by Ira Parsons
Barbara Lewis Award sponsored by Grant Trepanier - $160
Junior Individual Performance - From Conservatory to Cotton Club by Nathan Davies-Venn
Arizona Story of Arizona Historymaker sponsored by the Historical League - $150
Junior Individual Documentary - The Cool Revolution: How Air Conditioning Reformed The Valley of the Sun into a Habitable Metropolis by Mathew Davies-Venn
Senior Individual Exhibit - Thanks to J.D.C Atkinson, My Language Is Dying by Tanae Lupe
Jim Rex Memorial Award (For Youth Division Participants Only) - $20
Youth Group Documentary - The Smallpox and the Anti-Vax Leagues in England
Youth Group Exhibit - Running Against the World
Youth Group Documentary - Browder v. Gayle: The Four Women Who Fought Back
Youth Group Website - Banditen! Jewish Partisan Resistance During the Holocaust by Graydon Lilly Cohen and Maxwell Martin
Youth Individual Exhibit - Hello Girls
Youth Individual Website - March of Bread and Roses: A Child's Tale
Youth Paper - Too Unfit for a Slave?
