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: 2020-21 Theme Overview: Communication in History Explore topics that support the 2020-21 History Day Theme: Communication 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 2021 Theme: During the 2020-2020 school year, National History Day invites students to research and interpret topics related to the theme “Communication in History: The Key to Understanding.” 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, “Communication in History:the Key To Understanding.” Consider how people exchange information and interact with each other. Explore how forms, styles and strategies of communication have influenced events and movements, changed over time, and shaped the present. Newspapers, the telephone, telegraph, radio and television stand out are prominent examples of how innovation and technology have changed communication over time. Broad topics like these need to focus on a very specific break- through, event or individual, like Edward R. Murrow, to be effectively interpreted within the confines of a History Day project. You could focus role of communication in protests, environmental, social and political movements like “Open Housing," campaigns for the "fluoridation" of public water systems, the 1960s Goldmark trial that ended in U.S. Supreme Court decision that defines status of "political speech" that stands to this day, "Good Roads" campaign, the campaign to save the Pike Place Market, the Puyallup Indian Tribe Land Claims Settlement, and “Women’s Suffrage.” The impact of communication on conflict can also be interpreted within this theme through topics like the Anti-Chinese riots, the Canwell Committee, the campus protests of the 1960s and 1970s, Cold War Loyalty Oaths, the militant Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the 1933 Olympia Hunger Marches, the Roslyn Coal Miners Strike, the firing of Tacoma School District social work Jean Schuddacopf in the 1950s, the Seattle General Strike, the Centralia and Everett Massacres, and the World Trade (WTO) protests in Seattle. Events are often staged to raise public awareness and promote public support. The 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific (AYP) Exposition, the 1962 “Century 21 Exposition,” Spokane's “Expo 74," Earth Day, the WPA "Negro Theater" that staged live plays in Seattle in the late 1930s, and Tacoma's "Stadium Day" are examples of communication through public events. As with any NHD theme, “Communication 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, “Communication 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: Communication in History: The Key To Understanding African American Civil Rights Movement Alaska Gold Rush Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYP) Anti-Chinese Riots Campus Protests and the Counterculture The Canwell Committee Central Washington University: The First State Normal School The Centralia Massacre The Century 21 Exposition Clubs and Organizations: Communication and Community The Cold War and Loyalty The Conservation Movement Environmental Advocates: Individuals and Organizations The Everett Massacre Expo74: The Worlds Fair for the Environment Federal Negro Theater Project The Filipino Cannery Workers and Farm Workers Union The Firing of Jean Schuddakopf Fluoridation: Water Quality, Health and Free Choice Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights The Goldmark Trial Good Roads Movement Ed Guthman's Investigation of the Canwell Committee The Harbor Island Controversy and the Birth of the Port of Seattle Hunger Marches in Olympia 1933 Indian Boarding Schools Indian Treaties Industrial Workers of the World Initiative and Referendum Japanese Internment Lincoln High School Peace Demonstration 1936 (Tacoma) Missionaries in the Pacific Northwest Edward R. Murrow Changes the Way News is Broadcast Northwest School of Artists Newspapers: Communication, News and Entertainment Louise Olivereau: Anti-War Activist Open Housing Pike Place Public Market Political Campaigns: Individuals and Issues Progressive Schools in Seattle Public Broadcasting: Communication and Public Ownership Public Health Information Campaigns Puyallup Indian Tribe Land Claims Settlement The Roslyn Coal Miners' Strike The Seattle General Strike: Labor Unions Walk Out Together The Spokane Free Speech Fight Tacoma Stadium Day: Communication and Culture Telephones: Communication, Technology and Commerce Television and Radio Broadcasting Washington State Promotes Trade and Economic Development Washington's Road to Statehood: 1853-1889 Women's Suffrage World Trade Organization (WTO) Protests 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