Hundreds of primary sources and teaching activities are available on the new DocsTeach National History Day page devoted to the 2020 NHD theme: Breaking Barriers in History.
DocsTeach is the online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives. The NHD page is one of several Popular Topics pages.
You can use this special DocsTeach page to help your students prepare for this year’s National History Day contest. Choose teaching activities to get them thinking about breaking barriers. And share primary sources for possible NHD topics.
Primary Sources for Possible “Breaking Barriers” Topics
- Space Exploration
- Sports
- Technology
- Americans with Disabilities
- LGBTQ+ Rights
- Creating the Bill of Rights
- Free Speech
- The Spread of Slavery & Fugitive Slave Act
- Westward Expansion
- The Transcontinental Railroad
- Panama Canal
- Treaty of Versailles & League of Nations
- WWII Refugees
- NATO
- Cold War Detente
- The Berlin Wall
- Women’s Suffrage
- Women in the Workforce
- Women in WWI & WWII
- Women Who Pushed The Boundaries
- 1977 National Women’s Conference
- Interracial Marriage
- School Desegregation
- Civil Rights
- Selma to Montgomery Marches
- The Voting Rights Act of 1965
- President Barack Obama
Teaching Activities
Access online teaching activities related to Breaking Barriers in History:
- the space program
- women’s suffrage
- civil rights
- integration
- foreign relations
- westward expansion
Find these and other topics on the DocsTeach NHD page!
Access even more resources for National History Day from the National Archives at www.archives.gov/education/history-day.
Images, from top to bottom:
The White House Lit in Rainbow Colors, 6/26/2015; Records of the White House Photo Office; Barack Obama Presidential Library.
“Open for Business” by Clifford Berryman, 8/15/1914; Records of the U.S. Senate.
Mission Concept Diagram of Project Gemini, ca. 1962; Records of the U.S. Senate.
A West German Chips Off a Piece of the Berlin Wall, 11/14/1989; Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics, 1936; Records of the U.S. Information Agency.
Are we allowed to do lgbtq rights
You may choose any topic that fits the National History Day theme, per NHD’s contest rules. You can find out more on their website: https://www.nhd.org/how-enter-contest. If you’re doing an NHD project as part of your school curriculum, your teacher might provide additional guidelines for you to follow when choosing a topic.
hey bro equality rules. segregation drools. Keep thinking in that great idea. You got a brain as big as ikea.
Are we allowed to do the invention of fast food nachos, hot dogs, hamburgers, etc.
Please refer to the National History Day website for information about topics and their annual theme: https://www.nhd.org/breaking-barriers-history
why is there not other presidents Donald Trump would be a great topic
Hi Jack – Thank you for your comment. At the National Archives, we hold archival records that are no longer in use by the current presidential administration. The records of the current administration are not at the National Archives yet. You are welcome to choose any topic that fits the NHD theme, but the National Archives won’t have many resource for that particular topic at this time.