Jeron Velasco Arizona Historical Society's Al Merito Award Winner

 Jeron Velasco, Az Social Studies Teacher of the Year and Arizona Historical Society’s El Merito award. Congratulations to Jeron. Keep up the great work you do with history and National History Day Arizona!

2026 National History Day logo and poster

 Looking forward to all the entries for NHD 2026 with this as the theme! The Historical League is a proud supporter of this program.

PBS News Hour highlights National History Day

National History Day Arizona helps tell the story on PBS News Hour. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6gMDB5b-3I

Interview with Cathy Gorn, Executive Director NHD

Thanks to Leonard Moody: National History Day affiliate coordinator

 Our very own Leonard Moody is featured in National History Day report! Can you find him?

Thank you Leonard for all you do for NHDAZ! National History Day reports: We want to extend a huge THANK YOU to the National History Day affiliate coordinators around the U.S. and world! These historians and education professionals coordinate local, regional, and affiliate NHD contests and help their delegations prepare for the National Contest. We couldn't be more grateful for all of their hard work year-round and especially during contest season. Please join us in thanking these amazing people!!!

Make a Difference. Be a NHD Judge

 

Ira Parsons, NHD student, wins Library of Congress Award

 Old news but always exciting and bears repeating . . . Scottsdale Student wins Library of Congress Award from Jewish News, Aug 9, 2024

The Library of Congress has awarded this year’s “Discovery or Exploration in History” prize to W. Ira Parsons, a Jewish freshman at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, for his work, “The Fastest Man On Earth: How Col. Dr. John Stapp Revolutionized Space Medicine.”

Parsons was one of 500,000 students globally who entered historical research projects in this year’s National History Day® competition, held June 9–13 at the University of Maryland. The 2024 contest theme was Turning Points in History.

Winners from all 50 states, Washington D.C., U.S. territories, and international schools were invited to compete in the national round. 540 historians and education professionals served as judges. The Library of Congress awards its “Discovery or Exploration in History” prize to an outstanding National History Day® project in any category on American or international discovery or exploration. This year’s 50th Anniversary Honorary Committee included, among others, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden; Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan; Secretary of the Smithsonian Lonnie Bunch; historians Doris Kearns Goodwin, Douglas Brinkley, Heather Cox Richardson, and Walter Isaacson; documentary filmmaker Ken Burns; and journalists Jake Tapper, Jonathan Capehart, Judy Woodruff, and Wolf Blitzer.

“Participating in the National History Day National Contest in 2024 is a special honor,” said NHD Executive Director Dr. Cathy Gorn. “As the organization celebrates its 50th anniversary, the students at the National Contest witnessed history. They have shown an incredible level of critical thinking, analysis, and research skills that will benefit them beyond their participation in NHD. I am proud of the students’ achievements this contest year and look forward to how they apply the skills they developed during their research to their future careers and lives.”

Ira Parsons with NHD co-ordinator Stacey Trepanier

Thanks from NHDAZ student Emma Weis

 "Passionate about history," exclaims National History Day AZ Student Emma Weiss.

Historical League,

I had so much fun at the national contest. It was amazing to be surrounded by other historians who are as passionate about history as I am. The process of National History Day has helped me develop my research and writing skills which will allow me to succeed in my future education and career. It is a demanding yet rewarding experience that I will always treasure.

Emma Weiss

Senior Paper: General Tso Under Uncle Sam's Boot: The Evolution of Chinese-American Cuisine and Identity in Response to Legislative and Social Sinophobia

National History Day featured on CBS news

The Historical League is proud to support NHD in Arizona!

 https://www.cbsnews.com/video/national-history-days-historical-contest/

Students making history

At a time when educators may face restrictions on what they can teach, a contest sponsored by the non-profit organization National History Day offers students in grades 6-12 the opportunity to explore significant topics of history. Correspondent Faith Salie talks with some of the young people using writing, performance art and documentary filmmaking to tell stories of the past that resonate today, proving that history never gets old.

NHD Students visit with Carey Pena

 Norma Jean Coulter from Historical League writes, "National History Day AZ Students talk about their projects with Carey Pena of Center for Positive Media. The Historical League is grateful to Carey for taking time to encourage these students.

We are grateful too for League volunteers Cathy and Tom Shumard, NHD liasons and NHD teacher extraordinaire Stacey Trepanier who also attended and continue to work with NHD students.

Historical League provides funding for NHDAZ students

 Many NHDAZ students cannot afford the money to ship their elaborate exhibits to Wash. D.C. The Historical League provided specific funding for transportation this year. (For Ex. A NHD teacher in Nebraska rented a U-Haul trailer and drove her students exhibits). The AZ students were most appreciative for the funding.

Dear Mrs. Shumard and Historical League,

I hope you are doing well. I sincerely thank you and the historical league for your $400 donation to me and the rest of the students in the National History Day program. NHD, especially competing in nationals has truly impacted my technological as well as creative skills. By continuing to pursue participating in programs such as this one, I can continue to positively impact my career and prepare for the trials of future endeavors. Your support means a great deal to me and I hope the historical league will continue to work with NHDAZ to further the program in Arizona.

Thank you again,

Thanvi

Thanvi Voruganti

Another Thank You letter from Flagstaff NHDAZ student:

My name is Grace Kim. Thank you so much to the Historical League for helping me with the costs of traveling to Maryland. I participated in the Junior Group Documentary category, and my project name was The Rush for Riches. The most rewarding part of competing in NHD was getting to travel to Maryland, and I learned how to improve my public speaking skills. Thank you!

Sincerely, Grace Kim.

Kaelyn Ward and Grace Kim

Letter from NHDAZ student Meredith Williams thanking the Historical League: Our group had a great time at NHD! We got to see multiple historical places and monuments and learned a lot about history, especially about space. Our group’s category was a junior group performance called The Salem Witch Trials: A Time of Lies and Hysteria. Even if competing was a little stressful and we didn’t win, all of us had a great time! This is a photo of us in costume for our play. Thank you so much for everything!

From, Meredith Williams

Meredith Williams gave a Jr. Group Performance w Rylie Yanko, Sutton Nickerson, Roman Chapman, and Eleanor Johnson. They took 1st place in our Arizona competition.

Letter from Ethan Tsay

“Hi, this is Ethan Tsay, a student that participated in the NHD National Contest this year. Thank you for providing the $400 stipend for the trip to DC, as it was a very rewarding experience. I enjoyed the entire process of NHD this year, from the construction of my website, to taking part in the exciting atmosphere during the national competition. I look forward to participating in more NHD contests in the future! Thank you, Ethan.”

National History Day AZ student Ethan Tsay placed first in Arizona competition for a senior individual website named Black Barbershops: Cutting to New Frontiers. His website also won an Equality in History award.

National History Day Award Ceremony July 19

Students from National History Day work all year towards their goals. Historical League is proud to help sponsor this amazing program promoting so much more than history. Please copy and paste to enjoy the awards ceremony. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48oXkxKCnJ4

Fund for Arizona History continues to grow

What an amazing job President Susan Dale has done with her two years in office. Despite the struggles with the pandemic, the Future of History Fund has raised $102,545 and this continues to grow. The goal of this project is 1.An update of the Historymakers Hall exhibit 2.Support for Arizona teachers and students to develop National History Day projects 3.Outreach dollars for the Arizona Heritage Center to reach new audiences Congratulations to Susan and her team!

Historical League December Zoom meeting is fun!

December's Historical League meeting has always been a festive one with delicious foods, good friends, holiday outfits, libations and a short meeting. Zoom meetings are not quite the same although President Susan Dale motivated us to bring on the Christmas Cheer for 2020.

Claire Nullmeyer organized an auction and raffle as well so we had much to be grateful for.

Can you find Norma Hinton wearing a Christmas sweater? or Linda Fritsch donning a moving, singing, jingling Santa hat?

Zoom meetings are productive. Linda Corderman gave an update at the December Historical League meeting on the Historymakers Hall renovation. She is working with Historymaker and artist Ed Mell who has donated images for the Hall.

Marilyn Murphy encouraged us to be judges for the virtual 2021 National History Day regional (Feb.) and state (March) events. For more information www.ArizonaHistoricalSociety.org or contact nhdaz@azhs.gov

Fabulous Centerpieces for Evening Under the Stars at David Wright House

We have so many people to thank for a successful fundraising event April 9 at the David Wright House. Most important is the sponsor - the David Wright House. They were most generous in helping us have a wonderful Evening Under the Stars and support National History Day www.NHDAZ.org.

The centerpieces were beautiful, part of a contest and created by our own Historical League ladies. A special thank you to Linda Corderman, Nina Filippi, Sandra Loeffler, Mary McMahon, Mariamne Moore, Cathy Shumard, Karen Swanson, Cindy Tidwell-Shelton, Zona Lorig, Margaret Baker, Meg Knopf, Patricia Eastwood and Pam den Draak for designing such beautiful and creative displays. With instructions to have something celebrating Frank Lloyd Wright history, Arizona or the Historical League, they showed some amazing talent. Winners won either a restaurant gift card or $100 Soleri bell customized for the Historical League.

Wish we had photos of all the centerpieces but here are a few.

Tied for first place, Cindy Tidwell-Shelton's design

Tied for first place, Linda Corderman's design