Titles
When you finally get a topic and complete your research, you should also develop a creative title for your eventual project. Your title may be a boring identification of your topic – that’s fine, but it’s boring. One suggestion is to take your topic and then say something about it.
For example, Jeannette Rankin was the first female member of Congress, and she was the only congressperson to vote against Americans entry into World War I and World War II – even though it cost her support from voters. A boring title for a project would be “Jeannette Rankin” (zzzzzzzzz). But “Jeannette Rankin Says No to Congress” or “Jeannette Rankin: Telling Congress No” sound a little better. Even more attractive would be involving a quote from Rankin, with “’You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake’ – Jeannette Rankin and American Entry into World War I and II”. That may be a bit wordy, but it gets a point across.
Your title won’t make or break your project, but if you actually compete in History Day, it will be something that judges will look at first and last – so make it a good one.
Take a look at some of the winning entries from past NHD contests at for inspiration: