National History Day engages over half a million middle- and high-school students around the world annually in conducting original research on historical topics of interest. Students are able to submit papers, documentaries, exhibits, or performances based on a central theme. In 2020, Breaking Barriers challenged students to find subjects that forever changed the world. Students start their work on these projects in the fall semesters and work through the year to bring their projects to competition and the state and national levels.
For the past few years, staff at The House of the Seven Gables has been supporting the efforts for the Northeast region competition, providing prizes and judges for the event. Needless to say, the rules have changed in 2020. All in-person competitions have gone online and judges from our staff are adapting to a way new of working with these talented students.
We wanted to send along our kudos to local organizers from the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Marblehead Museum who have managed to keep the competition fierce for students in the state despite a pandemic. Judges from all over are convening this week to select student projects that will progress to the national level – bringing great pride to all of us.
We wish all of the students luck and thank the organizers for engaging Massachusetts students in this project!