Every year National History Day® frames student research within a historical theme. The theme is chosen for its broad application to global, national, or state history, and its relevance to both recent and ancient history.
The 2026 theme is Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History.
SPECIAL AWARD WINNERS
Bucks250 Award for Revolutionary War History:
“Turning the Tide in the American Revolution: How the Crossing and Battle at Trenton Impacted the War” by Hanna L.
Pennsylvania State History Award:
“The Sweet Side of History: Unwrapping Hershey’s Great American Chocolate Bar” an individual exhibit by Marjorie Y.
Kevin McKoy Award for African American History:
“Sugar, Stone, and Smoke: The Haitian Revolution and the Industrial Liquidation of the French Atlantic” by Aaditya K.
PAPERS
Junior Individual Paper:
1st Place: “The Revolutionary “Mobile Army Surgical Hospital”: How the Army reformed its emergency medical care” by Zac S.
2nd Place: “Chemical Weapons: The Use of Chlorine, Phosgene and Mustard Gas in the Great War” by Axl M.
3rd Place: “Shaking the Foundations” by Ryan Z.
Senior Individual Paper:
1st Place: “Tax, Protest, and Power: How The Whiskey Rebellion Redefined Authority” by Ziyuan X.
2nd Place: “Two Movements, One Victory: New Zealand Women’s Suffrage in 1893” by Catherine Z.
3rd Place: “Cuban Revolution” by Shengyuan H.
DOCUMENTARIES
Junior Individual Documentaries:
1st Place: “The Art of Reaction: How Graffiti Freed the Berliners From Silence” by Anushka A.
2nd Place: “The Aral Sea” by Gray M.
3rd Place: “Breaking Barriers: How Jackie Robinson revolutionized the baseball industry by breaking the color barrier.” by Matteo V.
Junior Group Documentaries:
1st Place: “The History of Mahatma Gandhi” by Ishaan C. and Abhinav K.
2nd Place: “Henry Ford: The Man Who Changed the World” by Rayan D. and Jack J.
3rd Place: “The Moment the World Went Mobile: How iPhone Reshaped the Modern World” by Saharsh B. and Vidvat G.
Senior Individual Documentaries:
1st Place: “From Gombe to Global Reform: Jane Goodall and The Revolution in Primatology and Environmental Activism” by Madelyn P.
2nd Place: “The Metric System – A Paper Revolution” by Nico L.
3rd Place: “The CRISPR Revolution: The Better Way to Science” by Julianna T.
Senior Group Documentaries:
1st Place: “Asphalt Genesis: The Forced Revolution of the American Road and the Normalization of Pedestrian Danger” by Edward C. and Daniel K.
2nd Place: “The Physics Revolution of the 20th Century” by Cameryn l. and Victoria O.
3rd Place: “The Music Revolution of the 1960s” by Daisy C. and Minnie M.
EXHIBITS
Junior Individual Exhibits:
1st Place: “The Other French Revolution: How French Impressionists Reclaimed the world of Modern Arts” by Paige S.
2nd Place: “’The First Fatalities’: How the Boston Massacre generated a reaction from the colonists of America so severe that it made them join the opposition of Britain’s rule” by Cami M.
3rd Place: “Henry Ford-Revolutionizing mass production and the US auto industry with the assembly line” by William M.
Junior Group Exhibits:
1st Place: “’When she stopped conforming to the conventional picture of femininity, she finally began to enjoy to being a woman.’ How Betty Friedan and her revolutionary book: The Feminine Mystique, sparked the Women’s Liberation Movement” by Kate J. and Isabella M.
2nd Place: “”How this miracle medicine has made an impact on society”: The Invention of Penicillin” by Sarah K. and Caitlyn P.
3rd Place: “War on Impressionism” by Anya K. and Julia R.
Senior Individual Exhibits:
1st Place: “The Sweet Side of History: Unwrapping Hershey’s Great American Chocolate Bar” by Marjorie Y.
2nd Place: “Unspooling the Revolution: How a Mechanical Needle Triggered Reaction and Forced Reform” by Aimal A.
3rd Place: “Frances Kelsey’s Stand Against Thalidomide” by Bella G.
Senior Group Exhibits:
1st Place: “The Pittsburgh Steel Revolution” by Madeline K. and Claire P.
2nd Place: “Revolution in Women’s Sports” by Kenzie F. and Scarlet H.
3rd Place: “South Korea: Manmade Miracle” by Bennett D. and Phoebe W.
PERFORMANCES
Junior Individual Performances:
1st Place: “The Boy Saboteurs: The World War II Sabotages of the Churchill Club” by Julian C.
2nd Place: “’Fighting for My Country and Myself’ The Story of Deborah Sampson” by Olivia B.
Junior Group Performances:
1st Place: “Breaking News: ‘Typhoid Mary’ Strikes” by Shea B., Nishqa K., and Sophia W.
Senior Individual Performances:
1st Place: “French Revolution: The March on Versailles, The Storming of The Bastille, Market Riots, Dominant Women, and a Revolt Ignited by Bread” by Maura L.
2nd Place: “The Jazz Age: How the revolutionary new form of music produced a reaction that defined the 1920s in America” by Gabrielle C.
3rd Place: ““Never Again”: The Revolution of the Atomic Bombs, and the Reactions of the World” by Jake S.
Senior Group Performances:
1st Place: “HeLa Beyond The Lab” by Kaitlyn T. and Aanika O.
WEBSITES
Junior Individual Websites:
1st Place: “The Discovery of Pathogens: How John Snow Revolutionized Medicine” by Anuradha K.
2nd Place: “How Bethlehem Steel Revolutionized Pennsylvania” by Dalton S.
3rd Place: “’Suffer the little children’, How the inhuman conditions at Pennhurst sparked the Disability Rights Revolution and provoked nation legal reforms” by Aaron H.
Junior Group Websites:
1st Place: “Changes to a Country’s Cultural Makeup and the Reactions that Arise: The Chinese Exclusion Act” by Gracey T. and Emily Y.
2nd Place: “Estonia’s singing revolution and Ukraine’s 1991 referendum reveal how peaceful reform and national reaction turned into revolutions that ended the Soviet’s triumph” by Daniel B. and Indrek S.
3rd Place: “Impact of the Magna Carta” by Emmett M. and Anirudh R.
Senior Individual Websites:
1st Place: “The First Anti-Cancer Vaccine: How Baruch S. Blumberg Revolutionized Hepatitis B Research Despite Facing Incredibly Mixed Reactions” by Kendra P.
2nd Place: “The Impact of Romanticism on Society: How the Romantic Revolution and its Counter Revolution Shaped Society and How Society Reacted to Change” by Nandhika K.
3rd Place: “Batllismo—The Uruguayan crusade to modernize a country and its people” by Sofia H.
Senior Group Websites:
1st Place: “Two Headed Eagles to Sickles: How Hunger, War, and Hope drove Russia From Monarchy to Communism” by Valencia N. and Avani S.
2nd Place: “The Meiji Restoration: Rise of an Asian Powerhouse” by Hari K. and Lucas Vicente M.
3rd Place: “The Troubles of the 1970’s: How the Irish reaction to oppression from the British controlled government created a 30-year revolution” by Emma H. and Sloan N.
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