Iñupiaq men in qayaqs, Noatak, Alaska, circa 1929. Edward S. Curtis Collection, Library of Congress Digital Collections.
Crossing the Chilkoot Pass, circa 1898. Courtesy Candy Waugaman and Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.
The Gold Rush boomtown of Nome on the Seward Peninsula, 1900. Courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library.
What is Alaska History Day?
Alaska joins other states, territories, and international affiliates in a competition for middle and high school students to conduct and share historical research. The winners of the state competition are invited to Washington, D.C. to present their work in a national-level competition. In the last two years, 56 Alaska students participated in the national competition with projects such as “Indian Boarding Schools in Alaska: The Right to Culture, the Responsibility to Heal” and “The Hello Girls: Turning Points in War Communication and Women’s Equality.” The program is coordinated at the national level, but each state must run its own competition, which means raising funds to support the coordinator, students’ travel, and registration fees.
History Day engages between 600 and 800 Alaska students each year. The 2026 contest has begun: registration ended for student projects on March 30. Judging will take place between April 6 and 11, with the results announced on April 14. Winners of the Alaska contest will be eligible to travel to the Washington, DC area for the national contest on June 14-18.
Why the below survey?
Alaska History Day is in jeopardy of disappearing unless an organizational home and annual funding can be found. The Alaska Historical Society has prepared this survey to gauge the amount and location of support for Alaska History Day. Day. If there is widespread support, we will likely convene a meeting so we can formulate a plan to ensure its continuation.
Alaska History Day is the Alaska-based affiliate program for National History Day®
(NHD), which for fifty years has helped teachers teach and students learn historical research skills. Alaska History Day/NHD fosters an appreciation for history through project-based learning, helping middle and high-schoolers gain research, problem-solving analysis, and critical thinking skills; gain self-esteem and confidence; and engage with and grow their appreciation of the study of history and the world around them.
By participating in AHD/NHD, students become writers, filmmakers, web designers, playwrights, and artists as they create unique contemporary expressions of history. Each year, NHD selects a theme to help teachers and students frame their research. Based on that
theme, participants identify a topic they want to research, gain an understanding through study of primary and secondary sources, develop an argument about their topic’s significance in history, create their project to share their conclusions, and finally present their work at the competition itself. Students can work individually or in groups as they build their research projects. While some contests are in-person, Alaska History Day is an entirely on-line competition, allowing students to submit projects from throughout the state without expensive travel.
This year-long program culminates with students presenting their research at History Day competitions, with top projects having the opportunity to participate in the national competition in College Park, Md. At each level of the competition, from schools to nationals,
volunteer judges evaluate student work and provide feedback, helping students to refine their projects. Students do not need to participate in the competition itself to benefit, however, the skills they develop will serve them throughout their lives.
Alaska History Day encourages the study of local, regional, and state history, to help
learners better understand our home’s unique qualities and challenges. NHD supports
teachers and students through the process, by providing curriculum and lesson plans, video
materials, professional development opportunities, research tips, and more. As we rebuild, we
will expand work with archives and historians around the state to identify theme-related
Alaska topics and sources that students may wish to study. With NHD materials and Alaskan
expertise, we hope to reach more classrooms, teachers, and students throughout our state
after several challenging years. Further, we hope to support students attending the national
contest. In 2023, over 800 students participated in Alaska History Day at the classroom level,
with over eighty entering the state contest, and twenty traveling to Nationals. There,
students not only presented their research but also visited members of Alaska’s
congressional delegation. Alaska students won national recognition for their research, with a group from Atka earning the National Endowment for the Humanities’ “History of Place” special award for their project.
Alaska History Day began in 1989 and has been operated by various organizations
around the state. Since in 2022, the Alaska Historical Society is the program sponsor, with
financial support coming from various groups and individuals, including the Alaska
Humanities Forum, and the Cook Inlet Historical Society. Your can make a gift towards Alaska History Day here. Thank you for your support of Alaska’s history!
