You Can Make History Live!
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Washington History Day Topic Guide You can make history live! History Day is a contest for students that encourages the use of primary sources to get an up-close and personal view of an historical event. More than finding a summary in an encyclopedia or locating some pictures on the web, primary sources work to illustrate your topic from a first person point of view. And while you can find primary sources online, the real thrill of historical research comes from holding actual documents from that time in your hands! By doing your own research, asking and answering key historical questions you can become an expert on a topic and tell its story through a History Day project. The phrase “it isn’t just a day…it’s an experience” defines History Day. You become the historian! Extend the walls of the classroom into archives, college libraries and manuscripts collections, museums and other places that hold the information that you will need to interpret your topic. Learn more about your own family and community history, or some other topic that really matters to you. Use this Topic Guide to search for subjects within Pacific Northwest history that are of interest to you and locate primary source documents on those topics in nearby archives or libraries. You can browse for subjects in the following ways: 2019-20 Theme Overview: Breaking Barriers in History Explore topics that support the 2019-20 History Day Theme: Breaking Barriers in History • Browse by Subject Look at general topics in PNW History and then find specific issues you can investigate further • Browse by Time Period Find specific topics broken down by era (examples: 1800s, 1940s) • Browse by Library or Archives Use this method if you want to find out what collections are available at a specific archives or library You'll also want to make sure that any topic you select really reflects this year's theme. Remember: time spent using the primary and secondary research sources in these collections will be rewarded by the firsthand experience of historical discovery and reflected in the historical quality that judges will be looking for in your history day project. Questions? Try asking Ask an Archivist at the Washington State Archives or you can Ask a Librarian at the Washington State Library 2019-20 Theme: During the 2019-2020 school year, National History Day invites students to research and interpret topics related to the theme “Breaking Barriers in History.” As is the case each year, the theme is broad enough to encourage investigation of topics ranging from local history to world history, and from ancient times to the recent past. In History Day the student is the historian. Historians examine, analyze and explain change, consequences, and significance. A strong History Day project should include a thesis that summarizes the student’s interpretation of the topic, analysis of the information discovered during research and the historical context of the topic, and a conclusion that explains the historical significance of the topic as well as its outcome. To understand the historical importance of your topic, you need to ask and answer questions about time, place, cause and effect; change over time, impact and significance. You need to put your topic into historical context. Understanding the time and circumstances in which your topic took place is critical to drawing conclusions about your topic’s significance in history. It is not enough to describe what happened; you must explain why and how your topic turned out the way it did, its consequences, long term impact, and why it‘s historically important. Your project will also be judged on how well you relate your topic to the theme, “Breaking Barriers in History.” Barriers can be natural, man-made, social, political, economic, transportation, or even artistic. You may choose to examine the breaking of natural barriers through topics like “Irrigation and Agriculture”, “Flood Control,” or the “Seattle Regrades.” Barriers to public access to the natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest have been broken by early “Recreation and Hiking Clubs.” You could focus on social barriers by examining “Spokane Free Speech Fight,” various civil rights movements, the “Open Housing” movement, the “Boldt Decision, the “Filipino Cannery Workers and Farm Workers Union” and “Women Firefighters.”. There are also abundant research sources for topics on breaking political barriers such as the establishment of the initiative and referendum processes in Washington State, and “Women’s Suffrage.” In the Pacific Northwest major transportation barriers have been broken by the Oregon Trail, the Mullan Road, railroads, early street railways, the “Good Roads” movement, the “Lake Washington Floating bridges and modern mass transit systems. Barriers to economic development and access to goods and resources have been broken by the development of the Pike Place Public Market, “Public Port Authorities,” “Public Electric Utilities” and the Puyallup Indian Tribe Land Claims Settlement.” The “Grand Coulee Dam” and other dams on rivers in Washington State have removed barriers to electric power and water for irrigation. At the same time, they have placed barriers on the natural flow of rivers, what are the trade- offs for exchanging one type of barrier for another? .The “Century 21 Exposition,” “Expo 74 and the “Northwest School of Artists” broke barriers to the understanding science, technology, the natural environment and artistic expression. As with any NHD theme, “Breaking Barriers in History” presents students with many fascinating opportunities to explore history and to learn to use a wide range of primary and secondary sources. The interpretive challenge is to explain how and why your topic brought change and what impact of that change has had on history. See a complete list of topics that relate especially well to the theme, “Breaking Barriers in History,” on the next page. Click on any title that looks interesting and you will immediately jump to a description, a list of research sources and research contact information. Topics in the Washington State History Day Topic Guide related to the Theme: Breaking Barriers in History African American Civil Rights Movement Aviation Barefoot Schoolboy Act The Boldt Decision Central Washington University: The First State Normal School The Century 21 Exposition Containerized Freight Systems Revolutionize Shipping Dams Change Agriculture and Industry in the Northwest Exploring the Wilderness: Early Recreation Hiking Clubs Expo74: The Worlds Fair for the Environment Farmland Preservation in King County Federal Negro Theater Project The Filipino Cannery Workers and Farm Workers Union Flood Control: Reforming Rivers and Changing Land Use Fluoridation: Water Quality, Health and Free Choice Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights Good Roads Movement Grand Coulee Dam The Hanford Reservation Brings the Northwest Into the Atomic Age The Harbor Island Controversy & the Birth of the Port of Seattle Housing Authorities: Revolution, Reform Industrial Workers of the World Initiative and Referendum Lake Washington Floating Bridge Medic I Metro: Regional Government Forms to Solve Water Quality and Transportation Problems Mullan Road Northwest School of Artists Open Housing The Oregon Trail:Super Highway to the Pacific Northwest Frontier Pike Place Public Market Progressive Schools in Seattle Public Port Districts in Washington Public Ownership of Electric Utilities Puyallup Indian Tribe Land Claims Settlement Railroads Revolutionize the Movement of People and Goods Seattle Regrades The Spokane Free Speech Fight Street Railways: A Revolution in Mass Transit Women Firefighters Women’s Suffrage Topics by Subject - Washington History Day Topic Guide Washington History Day Topic Guide Home Discussions Photos Videos Updates Members s ea s e e Topics by Subject African American Civil Apply to be a Writer Rights Movement African American Miners Come to Roslyn Topics by Subject African Americans Come to the Pacific Northwest Alaska Gold Rush Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYPE) Anti Chinese Riots Use this guide to browse general topics in Pacific Northwest History alphabetically. Click on the links to find information and primary sources about the specific issues under each heading. You can also browse by Time Period or by the Repository Location African Americans African American Civil Rights Movement African American Miners Come to Roslyn African Americans Come to the Pacific Northwest The Federal Negro Theater Project The Roslyn Coal Miners Strike Agriculture Dams Change Agriculture and Industry in the Northwest Farmland Preservation Flood Control: Reforming Rivers and Changing Land Use Grand Coulee Dam Irrigation and Agriculture Pike Place Public Market Arts The Federal Negro Theater Project Northwest School of Artists Chinese Anti-Chinese Riots Chinese Come to the Pacific Northwest Civil Rights African American Civil Rights Movement Anti-Chinese Riots Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights Open Housing Spokane Free Speech Fight Women Firefighters Women's Suffrage Communism The Canwell Committee The Cold War and Loyalty The Firing of Jean Schuddakopf The Goldmark Trial Ed Guthman's Investigation of the Canwell Committee Cultural Events http://washingtonhistoryday.wikifoundry.com/page/Topics+by+Subject[3/16/2017 3:53:53 PM] Topics by Subject - Washington History Day Topic Guide Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYPE) The Century 21 Exposition Expo 74: The Worlds Fair for the Environment Tacoma Stadium Day: Communication and Culture Dams and Utilities Dams