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ENGAGING STUDENTS AND TEACHERS IN HISTORICAL RESEARCH & SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

For more information visit National History Day®

2026 NHD Theme Handbook 

2026 NHD Theme Video

 

 

 

For more information visit National History Day

February 28, 2026

Event Details:

Carroll County History day consists of student exhibits and presentations of their research and projects based on the theme for that given year. Attendees have the opportunity to interact with the students to learn more about their topics. During the event the winners of each junior and senior project category will be announced and receive awards. Students will also have the opportunity to win local awards and cash prizes from our community partners if their project aligns and meets the requirements for the local award.

The event also includes a History Expo with presentations and exhibitors from Celebrating America partner organizations. Celebrating America is a local collaboration of historical societies and organizations within Carroll County. The organization's goal is to foster a greater sense and understanding of America's history and Carroll County's important role in that history in order to present accurate and complete historical information, to promote activities and encourage increased public participation in and celebration of holidays and other significant people or events, and to develop and implement strategies recognizing Carroll County as being at the "Center of History".

• Projects will be judged virtually by Teachers, Public Librarians, Carroll County Officials prior to or during the event.

• All participating students are encouraged to participate in displaying and sharing their research at the Carroll County History Day event.

• Top 2 winners in each category will be recognized and the winners of the local awards (see below) at the Carroll County History Day event.

• Top 2 winners in each category can enter their project in the State Competition to be held on May 2, 2026.

• Top 2 winners at the Maryland Competition entered in the National History Day Competition (Will be held in June of 2026).

CARROLL COUNTY HISTORY DAY LOCAL AWARDS 2025

1. Carroll County Commissioners  One $50.00 gift card given in each division

For entries, whose research and presentation celebrates the contributions of a local individual, group, or organization or encourages a greater understanding of American history and historically significant people, events, and places, particularly those within Carroll County and/or the State of Maryland.

2. Carroll County Farm Museum  One $50.00 gift card given in each division

Recognizes a high school project and a middle school project which highlights the historic importance of agriculture in Carroll County and the state of Maryland and/or the history of Carroll County in the 18th through 20th centuries including operation of the Almshouse and the subsequent formation of the Carroll County Farm Museum as well as other historically significant topics.

3. Carroll County Public Library  One $50.00 gift card given in each division with a history related book

Recognizes a high school and middle school project which demonstrate a strong understanding of how their entry directly relates to our modern world and illustrates a clear connection to the trends that are shaping our future. Ideally the selected project also makes connections to local history (Carroll County, Maryland, and/or regional).

4. Historical Society of Carroll County  One $50 cash award and one HSCC Annual Membership awarded for each division

Recognizes a middle school and high school student for exemplary historical research. The winning student’s annotated bibliography will include both primary and secondary sources that represent a broad spectrum of resources and perspectives. It may also include the use of oral history interviews the student conducted or existing oral history interviews in the collections of libraries, archives, historical societies, and museums.

5. Historical Society of Mt. Airy  One $250.00 cash awarded in each division

            Recognizes one high school and one middle school project which best demonstrates this year’s theme: “Revolution,                      Reaction, and Reform in History”. The project must focus on a specific area of Mt. Airy history which was impacted by                  revolution in some form and its impact on significant reform.

 

6. New Windsor Heritage Museum One $50.00 gift card/cash given in each division

Recognizes a high school and middle school projects whose primary research is centered on the history of New Windsor, MD.

7. Union Mills Homestead  One $100.00 cash awarded in each division

Recognizes a high school and middle school project that focuses on the challenges or benefits of establishing and operating a business or businesses in Carroll County. This award honors the entrepreneurial spirit of the Shriver brothers, Andrew and David, who established a saw and grist mill along Big Pipe Creek in Union Mills, MD. Over time, the business evolved to include a tannery, cooper’s shop, blacksmith’s shop, general store, and a wheelwright.

8. Westminster Historic District Commission  $250 cash award for the Jr and Senior first and second place competitors (can not exceed $1000)

Recognizes a high school and middle school projects whose primary research is centered in the National Register District of Westminster, MD. Of highest consideration would be projects that focus on historic architecture, historic streetscapes, residences and commercial businesses and local preservation projects. Of keen interest would be those projects that tackle the difficulties of preserving a historic district or buildings in a vibrant and growing city

9. Carroll County Recreation and Parks One $50.00 gift card given in each division

Recognizes one high school and one middle school project, using this year’s theme, that focuses on the historical significance of park development, conservation, or pursuit of leisure activities. The project must demonstrate how history has impacted our current appreciation for local or national services within Recreation & Parks.

         10.  Former Students and Friends of Robert Moton High School Award:

 

        11.  Taneytown Heritage & Museum Association Award: Two $50.00 gift cards in each division.

The award recognizes one junior and one senior division project that focuses on Taneytown's local history or the local history of Carroll County. 

12. Carroll County History Day George Thomas “Tom”  Legore Award presented by the Pipe Creek Civil War Round Table – One $100 cash award given in each division. 

Recognizes one middle school and one high school project which best exemplifies high quality scholarship and a deep understanding of the history of the American Civil War with emphasis on the impact of the war on the state of Maryland and on Carroll County in particular. This award honors a former member of the Pipe Creek Civil War Round Table, George Thomas Legore, and his great contributions to preserving Civil War history in Carroll County. Legore, who was a Civil War historian and reenactor, was a driving force in the creation of the annual Corbit’s Charge commemoration.

13. Carroll County Genealogical Society – one $50.00 gift card given in each division

Recognizes a high school project and a middle school project which focuses on a Carroll County family or individual family member that was historically significant in promoting or preserving “Revolution, Reaction, and Reform in History”

 

 

 

 

 

For more information visit National History Day click here

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: paper, exhibit, performance, documentary, or a web site.

To begin, view the resources on the 2026 Theme page to choose a topic that is related to the theme. Follow the National History Day® How to create an NHD project guide. It is beneficial to also select an adult mentor in your school (i.e. teacher, media specialist) to help support you while completing the project.

For more information visit National History Day click here

Thank you to our Celebrating America partners for helping to compile a list of local history topics for our students to explore.

 

Explore the topic of Revolution, Reaction, and Rebellion on the local level by examining how an idea, event, or action that directly, or sometimes indirectly, causes change from the suggested topics below (additional topics will be added as our community partners share them).

Potential Topics at the Historical Society of Carroll County

 

Potential Topics at the Union Mills Homestead

 

Potential Topics at the Historical Society of Mount Airy

1. Mount Airy’s role in the Civil War and how it impacted the outcome of the war

2. Impact of 1900’s B&O riots and working conditions in Mt Airy leading to changes for railroad workers.

3. Mount Airy’s role in the Women’s Suffrage Movement

4. Impact the multiple Mt Airy fires had on public opinion influencing creation of the fire department.  

5. How Mt Airy’s Walter Rudy impacted and revolutionized the national program of Rural Mail Delivery

Potential Topics at McDaniel College Archives

 

Potential History Day Topics for New Windsor Heritage

Revolution

·       “Mad” Anthony Wayne - general in Continental Army. His daughter, Margaretta Wayne married the brother (William Richardson Atlee) of our town founder, Isaac Atlee.

·       Clyfford Still, who resided in New Windsor for 20 years, was revolutionary due to his unique approach to Abstract Expressionism, characterized by large-scale canvases, bold colors, and jagged, vertical lines, which he used to express universal themes of life, death, and the human condition. He was among the first generation of Abstract Expressionists

Reaction

·       Confederate Raid on New Windsor (July 9, 1864) - General Bradley R. Johnson and Major Harry W. Gilmor-Were ordered by Robert E. Lee to destroy railway bridges north and south of Baltimore to disrupt communication between Washington, DC and the North.

·       In 1942, the Heifer Project was launched. This was a partnership between the Church of the Brethren and United Nations Relief that used volunteers to accompany shipments of livestock to countries experiencing food and meat shortages during and after World War II. New Windsor and area farms became the epicenter of the program, delivering livestock to Germany, France, Poland and Italy as well as Puerto Rico and Ecuador. Research about the Seagoing Cowboys 360 trip on 73 different ships, delivering more than 300,000 cattle and draft animals.

·       Brethren Service Center relief efforts (BVS) and Brethren Disaster Ministries

·       SERRV (Sales, Exchange for Refugee Rehabilitation and Vocation) helps

·       The Dielman Inn  (a 42 room inn purchased by Louis Dielman in 1874) was first known as the New Windsor Hotel and the surrounding area with “sulpher springs” became a resort for people wanting to escape the heat of the cities like New York, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Guest lists included Marion Maus (who captured Geronimo) and famous archaeologist,  Sir Leonard Wooley who found the Sumerian “Royal Cemetery of Ur”.

Reform

·       Movement of people and goods along roads like the  Great Philadelphia Wagon Rd, Monocacy Rd., Buffalo Rd. and The Western Maryland Railroad Company led to the development of towns like New Windsor

·       Maggie Mehring - Maggie was staying in New Windsor in 1863. Her diary chronicles the movement of 5,000 troops traveling through New Windsor on the way to Gettysburg. Maggie would later be a member of the Temperance Movement

Mining of Limestone at the New Windsor quarry by Lehigh Hanson cement now known as Heidelberg Materials. They have constructed a 4.5 mile long overland limestone conveyor system. That moves 3 million metric tons of crushed limestone to the plant each year at 1,082 feet per minute. Longest continuous curved conveyor in Md

Potential History Day Topics for Carroll County Farm Museum

 

Potential History Day Topics for Westminster Historic District Commission  

 

For more information visit National History Day click here

For more information visit National History Day site 

2026 MARYLAND HISTORY DAY JUDGE TRAINING

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR QUESTIONS

"The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future."

~ Theodore Roosevelt