Topics

Selecting a Topic - One of the most important parts of successful research (especially in the case of History Day) is the selection of a topic.  You need to pick a topic that relates to the theme and be able to explain its significance in history.  Your topic must also be one that has enough information available for you to make a decent research project.  Of equal importance, it is important to pick a topic that is narrow enough to allow you to limit your research. Finally, you must also select a topic that interests you.  It’s incredibly difficult to research information that you simply dislike! 

Since the topic selection is so critical to your success in this endeavor, you will have a decent amount of time to pick one that suits your interests.  Start with a big idea in history that interests you (the Civil War, women’s rights, a specific individual, etc.) and find a book about that idea.  As you browse through the book, look for interesting subtopics that also apply to the History Day theme of “Triumph and Tragedy in History”.  Try to find a few subtopics that may work and then do a quick internet search on each.  You should also check the online catalog at school and the local public library for the availability of books and videos on each.   

For example, let’s say that you are interested in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.   You may be familiar with some of the big names of the era (Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X. Rosa Parks), but you want to research something that hits closer to home.  You decide to look for things that teenagers did in the civil rights movement.  After looking at a book about the movement or searching the internet, you may find a few possible topics that fit, including students sit-ins in Greensboro in 1960, Ernest Green and the other members of the Little Rock Nine who integrated an Arkansas school in 1957, or the Children’s Crusade in Birmingham in 1963.  For each of these topics, you can do a further search in books and online in order to find out if the topics interest you, if there is enough information or resources available to research the topic, and if the topic fits the theme of “Triumph and Tragedy in History” (In this case, the answers to all three questions are yes!) 

You may also take a look at the sample topics available on this website.  The topics are from a variety or sources, and some are a bit more specific than others.  You can use them as starting points for other topics as well. 

The National History Day website has a great overview of selecting a topic. 

 The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum has some great questions that you can ask yourself once you have picked a few topics:

Once you have a list of ideas, check each one by using the following questions:

• Does your topic fit into this year’s theme of History Day? Will you be able to explain its tie to the theme within your project? If you were asked by a judge to explain the correlation, would you be able to do so? A thesis statement will help do this.

• Can you analyze your topic? Though every event and action that occurred in the past is now part of history, some events were simply part of history while others helped shape history. Judges are looking for topics that helped shape history and they want you to tell them the “hows and whys” history was shaped in your project. Can you do this with your topic?

• Is your topic too small? The answer to this question will almost entirely be based on the number of available resources. Will you be able to find enough resources for your topic?

• Is your topic too large? This is a more common problem. If your topic is too large then there are too many resources to read. You would spend all your time summarizing the event rather than analyzing why it was important.

• Are there primary sources available for your topic? Some topics have numerous primary sources while others have few or none available. The most successful projects use an abundance of primary sources.

• If you are making an exhibit or documentary, will you be able to find enough photographs and/or images? If your topic is before the mid-1800s you will likely have a difficult time finding images to use.

• Is your topic unique? If you are the only person with your topic you will look original and interesting when compared with others’ projects.

• Will you enjoy researching and learning about this topic? History should be fun to learn. If you dislike your topic before you start, you will not like it any more as you continue to research and prepare your project. Choose a topic that makes you want to learn more.  

“Selecting a Topic”. 2004. The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum. 2 August 2005 < http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/Education.hom/histday2005.shtm>

Some additional sites may be helpful in determining a topic.  Try the following -

“Selecting a Topic” from the New Your Historical Association - http://www.nyshistoryday.org/contents_selecting_topic.htm

Selecting a History Day Topic” from the San Bernardino County Schools - http://www.sbcss.k12.ca.us/educators/hist_ss/historyday/pages/2.html

“Hints for choosing a History Day topic and doing research” from the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Kansas City - http://web1.umkc.edu/whmckc/HISTORYDAY/hints.htm