Youth Contests
National History Day & NOUS National History Contest
National History Day®(NHD) is a non-profit education organization based in College Park, Maryland. NHD sponsors the National History Day Contest that encourages more than half a million students around the world to conduct historical research on a topic of their choice. Students enter these projects at the local and affiliate levels, with top students advancing to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park.
The National Contest was held in June at the University of Maryland, College Park. The Naval Order of the United States supports this program through its Individual Commanderies to encourage historical research in the areas of maritime and naval history. Several local Commanderies including those in San Francisco, the Pacific Northwest, Texas, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Washington DC, and Newport, Rhode Island, have supported their local state’s NHD programs in the recent past. Several additional opportunities for a local commandery/state NHD organization collaboration exist. Each local commandery provides judging and cash prizes to students in middle and high school level divisions whose winning projects on these topics excel at state level competition. Students start their projects in their individual schools and then compete through a series of local and county competitions to win the opportunity to compete at the state and national level.
Below are examples of National History Day projects from San Francisco (SFR) and Pacific Northwest (NWT) commandery-sponsored National History Day contests.
May 2022 NHD SFR
Historical Paper by Alexander Miller, Junior Division:
“The Cod Wars: Iceland’s Victory Through Diplomacy and the Global Consequences of their Success”
National Maritime Historical Society Award, presented by Naval Order of the United States,
San Francisco Commandery
“What is great about Alex’s topic is that it focuses in on something that appears to be a small and specific conflict between two nations,” said Jon Pang, Alexander’s teacher at Lakeside Middle School, “but has the unintended consequence to have a major impact on worldwide conflicts today.”
Performance by Erika Rose Gates: “The Pirate Who Saved America”
Runner-up, Junior Division
(For best results, sign into your Google account before clicking the link)
Rosie takes on the persona of New Orleans-based Pirate Jean Lafitte who supported Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812. Lafitte was notorious for lending his support to whomever paid him.
March 2022 NHD SFR
Senior Individual Podcast by Zachary Brasher:
All Hands on Deck: The Debate Over Racial Integration in the United States Navy, 1861-1865
(For best results, sign into your Google account before clicking the links)
A new category for NHD-CA
Process paper, annotated bibliography, and show notes
February 2022 NHD SFR
Award Winning poster by Vishnu Satyanarayana:
“Navajo Code Talkers”
An ancient language on a modern battlefield.
2021 Award for Outstanding National History Day Project in Maritime or Naval History, presented by Naval Order of the United States, San Francisco Commandery
July 2021 NHD SFR
Award Winner Jack Brown: “Operation Ivy Bells”
The United States espionage campaign known as Operation: Ivy Bells, in which wiretaps were secretly placed on Soviet undersea communication lines, gave the U.S. unencrypted information on Russian nuclear strike capabilities, which ultimately led to the completion of the SALT II Treaty and indirectly had a hand in ending the Cold War.
July 2021 NHD NWT
Award Winners Emily Song, Elise Yu and Fiona Zou: “Shaping Communication at Sea: Naval Flag Signaling”
The ninth grade students from Oregon described their project as follows: “Our project is about maritime communication, specifically flag signaling. Our project focuses on how flag signaling played a key role in several conflicts in history. Furthermore, our project talks about the short term and long term impacts of flag signaling on maritime communication. However, our project also talks about the flaws of flag signaling and conflicts where flag signaling mistakes affected the outcome.”
May 2021 NHD NWT
Award Winners Owen Felt and Anthony Zhang: “Miracle at Midway: How Communications Changed the Course of the War”
The Washington state winners attend Timbercrest Middle School in Woodinville.
The Northwest Commandery is proud to be part of National History Day by providing volunteer judges as well as presenting awards for projects related to our nation’s maritime services and heritage. The four states covered by the Commandery include Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Alaska.
May 2018 NHD SFR
Award Winner Kyle Hocking: “USS Panay Incident”
12 December 1937 attack on an American gunboat: The Cost of a Failed Compromise with Japan.
NOUS National History Contest (NONHC)
In addition to the NOUS involvement with NHD described above, the Naval Order conducts a complementary National History Contest (NONHC) each summer that draws projects on maritime and naval history identified during the various state NHD contests and provides students with more incentives and opportunities to have their projects considered for additional cash prizes and recognition. The NONHC completed its 4th year in operation in 2026. The results are outlined below.
Summary for 2026
This year’s NONHC attracted 19 projects involving 27 student authors from 8 states’ NHD contests and 7 supporting local NOUS commanderies. There were 11 Junior (middle school) Division entries and 8 Senior (high school) entries. The entries included written essays, PowerPoint presentations, PDF displays of standup projects, YouTube videos, and a recording of a live performance.
2026 NOUS National History Contest Awardees
Junior Division 2026
1st Prize NONHC Junior Division 2026:
Atputhan Sivathasan (CA), “Tsunami and Tsushima: Strategy, Innovation and Birth of Naval Power” (written essay)
2nd Prize NONHC Junior Division 2026:
Elliott Hemler (MI), “The T. Whitney: Revolution, Reaction, and Reform on the Underground Railroad” (audio-visual presentation)
3rd Prize NONHC Junior Division 2026:
Shaurya Khemka and Nirja Khemka (TX), “Unimaginable, Unstoppable, Unforgettable: Redefining Power at Sea” (PowerPoint and video presentation)
Senior Division 2026
1st Prize NONHC Senior Division 2026:
Christopher Trinidad (FL), The Container Revolution: Global Reactions and Maritime Reforms Following the Rise of Modern Shipping” (written essay)
2nd Prize NONHC Senior Division 2026:
Nicole Jiang (FL), “Revolution Below the Surface: The Sinking of the SS Athenia, Global Reaction, and the Reform of the Convoy System” (written essay)
3rd Prize NONHC Senior Division 2026:
Yashvir Singh Gill and Jonathan Lewis (TX), “SUBSAFE: Revolutionizing the Depths Through Vital Reform” (PowerPoint display of standup project)
2025 NOUS National History Contest Awardees:
2025 Junior Division:
1st Place NONHC Junior Division 2025
Evelyn James
"World War II Internment of the Unangax People: How the United States Government Failed in their Responsibility to Uphold the Rights of the Unangan"
2nd Place NONHC Junior Division 2025
Daniel Olmstead
"Doris Miller: Responsible Sailor to Rights Trailblazer"
3rd Place NONHC Junior Division 2025
Seraphina Colliver and Elizabeth Lisic
"The Waves Program: A Splash in Women's' Rights"
2025 Senior Division (just one winner)
1st Place NONHC Senior Division 2025:
Zoe Mauricio, Serenity Acarto, and Savannah Acarto
"The Chichi-Jima Incident: How the Japanese Failed to Protect the Rights of American POWs During World War II"
To make a donation to the Naval Order Foundation in support of NHD or NONHC, visit the NOUS Foundation page.
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