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National History Day 2024: Turning Points in History: Overview

Turning Points in History

  

Use this LibGuide to find sources for your National History Day project.

To celebrate our 50th anniversary, NHD’s theme will be Turning Points in History. This year’s theme invites you to consider questions of time and place, cause and effect, change over time, and impact and significance. 

A turning point in history is more than just an important event that happened a long time ago. It is more than a new idea or a particular action taken by an individual. A turning point is an idea, event, or action that directly, or sometimes indirectly, causes change.

Types of NHD Projects

Choose a project category that compliments your talents. Look at the infographics below to learn more about the rules for each category.

Topic Ideas for NHD Projects

Use the links in this box to generate ideas for your National History Day project:

  • The topic should be of interest to you.
  • The topic should clearly fit this year's theme, Frontiers in History.
  • The topic should be in-depth and narrow in scope. It is better to focus on one issue in detail than to cover many issues superficially.
  • The topic should reflect the availability of primary and secondary sources.