National History Day

 Maine National History Day

Maine National History Day (NHD) is an annual event for teachers and students in grades 6-12 that promotes critical thinking skills through project-based learning in which students engage with history to produce written documents, exhibits or performances centered on a yearly theme.

Visit the Maine National History Day page on UMaine’s History Website

Labor History Award Sponsored by the University of Maine’s Bureau of Labor Education

The Bureau of Labor Education is proud to award a first and a second-place prize in the Junior and Senior divisions of the NHD in Maine competition for projects with a primary focus on labor history. Examples of suitable subject matter includes labor unions, worker cooperatives, strikes & lockouts, labor law, ideologies or groups focused on labor or the working class, e.g. the American Federation of Labor, Congress of Industrial Organizations, AFL-CIO, Change to Win coalition, the Industrial Workers of the World, Knights of Labor, Communist, Socialist and Anarchist parties and groups and the leaders and personalities of these organizations and related movements.

First and Second Prize for Junior and Senior Divisions

  • Recognition on the Bureau of Labor Education Website
  • Award letter from the Bureau of Labor Education
  • Certificate of award from the AFL-CIO
  • Complete set BLE published books covering Maine labor history from 1636 to the present era. In Addition First Place will receive a $100 cash award!

For more information, contact: Bureau of Labor Education, 5713 Chadbourne Hall, Orono, ME 04469 Tel. 207.581.4124

Past Maine National History Day Labor History Winners

2024 Maine National History Day

“Turning Points in History”

  • Jr. Division 1st place Winners: Gabriella Connolly, Wassan Houni, and Maanya Madireddy of Reeds Brook Middle School for their performance entitled “The Spark of Change:       The Matchgirls’ Strike Of 1888, A Turning Point In Labor Rights”
  • Jr. Division 2nd place Winners:  Carlie Jacques and Gwenn Koval of the Durham Community School for “the 9 to 5 Movement”

2023 Maine National History Day

“Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas”

  • Sr. Division 1st Place Winner: Julia Burns from John Bapst Memorial High School for the exhibit “Radium Girls of the 1920s”
  • Sr. Division 2nd Place Winner: Sadie Williams of Waterville Senior High School for the exhibit “Working Women: Maine Female Shipbuilders During WWII”
  • Jr. Division 2d Place Winner: Mary Hobbs of Scarborough Maine for “Women Working in the World Wars: Frontiers in History”

2019 Maine National History Day

“Triumph and Tragedy”

  • Sr. Division 1st Place Winners: Kristen Patenaude and Saige Collette from Buckfield Sr. High School for “Parents Against Tired Truckers”
  • Sr. Division 2nd Place Winner: Lily Ebersole from Hermon High School for “Triangle Shirtwaist Fire”
  • Jr. Division 1st place Winner: Graham Blodgett from Buckfield Jr. High School for “How the Maine Granite Industry Went from Flourishing to Forgotten”

2018 Maine National History Day

“Conflict and Compromise”

Senior Division

  • First Place Winner: Brian Williams for the documentary “The Dublin Lockout of 1913”
  • Second Place Winner: Rianne Gibson for an individual performance “The Invisible Imbalance: Laissez-faire Labor Laws”

Junior Division

  • First Place Winners: William Goroshin and Zoe Higgins for the team project “The Smothers Brothers vs. CBS”
  • Second Place Winner: Willa Galipeau-Eldridge for her website “After the War: Should Rosie Return Home?”

2018 National History Day in Maine Special Award Winners (PDF)