National History Day

National History Day (NHD) is an annual academic program and competition where students in middle and high school research a historical topic of their choice related to a yearly theme and present their findings through projects like exhibits, documentaries, papers, performances, or websites.

This year’s National History Day theme is “Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History” and the theme book includes a section dedicated to Disability History which was written by our friends at Emerging America, an education program that helps K–12 educators engage learners in exploring history through primary sources and inclusive teaching practices. You can view the lessons we’ve reviewed and include in our database here: www.DisabilityEqualityEducation.org/new-and-noteworthy/lessons-from-emerging-america

As Emerging America states “The article speaks directly to the 2026 NHD theme: Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History. As the writing team finished the draft, we realized that this 2,500 word article would make an excellent overview reading for any class in. U.S. history, political science or civics.” 

“In addition to a broad summary of disability history topics across 250 years, the article features nearly 50 references to further resources and collections to support research.”

Please let us know if your students participate in National History Day and share their work with us by email or on our FB group.