2024 NHD Project
TURNING POINTS
IN HISTORY
IN HISTORY
You will complete a historical research project using the guidelines of the National History Day competition. You may choose to complete a museum exhibit, write a paper, create a performance, or create an interactive website. This years theme for 2023-2024 is 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.
According to the NHD website, "Students choose a historical topic related to the annual theme, and then conduct primary and secondary research. You will look through libraries, archives and museums, conduct oral history interviews, and visit historic sites. After you have analyzed and interpreted your sources, and have drawn a conclusion about the significance of your topic, you will then be able to present your work in one of five ways: as a paper, an exhibit, a performance, a documentary, or a website. Happy researching!
View the 2024 Theme Introduction Video
Types of Sources
Primary vs. Secondary
Click these links below to see the differences between primary and secondary sources.
Primary and Secondary Sources. Primary vs Secondary
A primary source is a piece of information about a historical event or period in which the creator of the source was an actual participant in or a contemporary of a historical moment. The purpose of primary sources is to capture the words, the thoughts, and the intentions of the past. Primary sources help you to interpret what happened and why it happened.
Examples of primary sources include documents, artifacts, historic sites, songs, or other written and tangible items created during the historical period you are studying.
Primary Sources U.S. History
Library of Congress general search--use the search box at the top to put in your topic and keywords
Digital Public Library of America: Sets of primary sources by topic. Include US Domestic Affairs, US Foreign Policy and Debate and Diplomacy Abroad.
Docs Teach (National Archives): sets of primary sources by broad topic
Smithsonian History Explorer--search on the right side of the screen
World Digital Library (Library of Congress)--search by topic and time period
Yale Avalon Project--thousands of documents organized by time period
LIFE Magazine Photo Archive--search photos by keyword and date
Chronicling America: Library of Congress--use the filters at the top of the screen to narrow down time period and topic.
Primary Sources Europe
World Digital Library (Library of Congress)--search by topic and time period
Internet History Sourcebooks (Fordham University)--search by topic or browse topics on the left
Document Set: Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French Revolution)
European Reading Room (Library of Congress) browse huge collection of digitized primary sources
Yale Avalon Project--thousands of documents organized by time period
Primary Sources Mexico, Central and South America
Hispanic Reading Room (Library of Congress) browse digitized primary sources
Inter-American treaties and documents - documents between North, Central, and/or South American nations
Yale Avalon Project--thousands of documents organized by time period
Internet History Sourcebooks (Fordham University)--search by topic or browse topics on the left
Primary Sources Africa & Middle East
Internet African History Sourcebook - search for all topics in all countries and kingdoms
African and Middle Eastern Reading Room - primary sources from the Library of Congress
Internet History Sourcebooks (Fordham University)--search by topic or browse topics on the left
Primary Sources Asia
Internet East Asian History Sourcebook - search for all topics in all countries
Asia Primary Sources from U of Washington - use the links on the left to narrow down to East Asia, South Asia, or Southeast Asia
Internet History Sourcebooks (Fordham University)--search by topic or browse topics on the left
A secondary source is a source that was not created first-hand by someone who participated in the historical era. Secondary sources are usually created by historians, but based on the historian’s reading of primary sources. Secondary sources are usually written decades, if not centuries after the event occurred by people who did not live through or participate in the event or issue. The purpose of a secondary source is to help build the story of your research from multiple perspectives and to give your research historical context.
An example of a secondary source is Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James M. McPherson, published in 1988. They are a great starting point in helping you see the big picture. Understanding the context of your topic will help you make sense of the primary sources that you find.
The primary and secondary sources McPherson used are listed in the bibliography. Another researcher might consult these same primary sources and reach a different conclusion.
© Copyright - National History Day
Primary Source Annotation Example
"Hedy Lamarr's Patent." Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institute, airandspace.si.edu/multimedia-gallery/4790640jpg#:~:text=Patent%20%23%202%2C292%2C387%20for%20a%20%22Secret,would%20give%20it%20more%20credibility.Accessed 3 Sep. 2020.
This is a primary source because this is the patent Hedy Lamarr filed with the patent office in 1942. I will use this source to show the record of her contribution to advancing communications technology. This source is evidence of her role of as an inventor and is the most relevant piece of information related to the theme of communication as it documents her involvement in designing a secret communication system.
Secondary Source Annotation Example
"Hedy Lamarr." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 21 Jun. 2018. school-eb-com.bps.idm.oclc.org/levels/middle/article/Hedy- Lamarr/626817. Accessed 3 Sep. 2020.
This is a secondary source because it is a Britannica database article in 2016 looking back at the event of the 1940s. This source gives a good overview of Hedy Lamarr's life. I will use the section that shares how she contributed to inventing technology that changed communication technology significantly. This is relevant to the topic of communication because the source shows that she was a pioneering figure of communication technology that lead to wifi, and Bluetooth.
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Student Collected Resources
MCPS Online Resources
Gale in Context Middle School* (Multiple Subjects)-browse by topic
Gale Onefile: News* (National, Local, & International Newspaper Articles)
FactCite* (Multiple Historical Databases)
Britannica School-(Select MS or HS)
Britannica Annals of American History (More than 2,000 primary source documents through the history of the U.S.)
SIRS Issues Researcher ( Helps middle and high school students with research on current issues. )
Online Database Resources
Additional Credible and Reliable Websites
With Newspaper Navigator you can search and explore historic newspaper photographs. You can search by keyword or by visual similarity.
Digital Public Library of America
Primary source collections exploring topics in history, literature, and culture developed by educators — complete with teaching guides for class use.
Library of Congress- Digital Collections
The largest library in the world and home to the United States of America's collection of materials related to our history and culture.
National Endowment for Humanities Website
Scroll down and click on carrot for "2024: Turning Points in History"
for supporting resource links
Turning Points about the The White House-Lib Guides
National Museum of African American History & Culture
National Museum of American History
National Museum of the American Indian
National Museum of African American History & Culture
Online Image Resources
To use our subscription databases from home, log in to your MCPSMD.NET account to access the CJMS Online Services. The logins are also on the library media center page.
Search Google, YouTube, Pixabay, SoundCloud, and other popular sites here- already approved for reuse.
Smithsonian Open Access Images
This Smithsonian just shared a platform that they are sharing open-source images for use. Use this website to find images for projects.
Google Arts and Culture Image Search
This website is a good resource for images for projects.
19,147 items about 193 countries between 8000 BCE and 2000
Library of Congress Primary Source Sets
Library of Congress Digital Collection of Primary Sources
NHD and NoodleTools partner together to bring teachers and students the opportunity to organize their research. Noodle Tools can help students track their sources, take notes, organize their ideas, and create their annotated bibliographies. The program allows the teacher to see the progress the students have made and offer direct electronic feedback. Your annotated works cited can be done in NoodleTools using either the MLA or Chicago style for your citations.
Using NoodleTools you can create: Your Annotated Works Cited for the primary and secondary sources you used You will need to Log into NoodleTools using your MCPS Gmail Account. Click here, or on the image to the right to log in.
A guide to citing primary online resources from the Library of Congress.
Log in & Create a Project in NoodleTools
Begin your Research!
Use your MCPS 6 digit Google account
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