The DC History Center became the affiliate for National History Day in Washington, DC in 2024. This marked an exciting step that affirmed our commitment to helping young people investigate the past through research, storytelling, and place-based inquiry. Since then, we’ve hosted a citywide competition and had the privilege of celebrating the creativity and commitment of DC students and the educators who supported them every step of the way.
The 2025 NHD in DC Summer Intensive cohort stands on the steps of the Carnegie Library.
With a new school year on the horizon and another NHD cycle ahead, we knew we had an opportunity to deepen that work. The NHD in DC Summer Intensive was created to support teachers in translating their already deep content expertise into the framework of NHD. We set out to offer time, structure, and tools for connecting what teachers already do well to a program that invites students to think critically, build arguments, and tell stories grounded in evidence and place. Looking ahead to the nation’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, NHD’s 2026 theme, Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History, encourages students to think about how change happens, what sparks it, and how people respond. Teachers used that theme as an added lens during the week, considering how stories of revolution, reform, and reaction appear in local archives, classrooms, and communities.
From the beginning, the Intensive made clear that this was a space built for and with teachers, not around them. The program was co-facilitated by Andrew Grover, a teacher at MacArthur High School who has been part of NHD in almost every role you can imagine—first as a student participant, a staff member of NHD Minnesota, later as a lead teacher, and now also as a mentor to other educators. His decades of experience with the program, paired with his deep commitment to teaching, helped shape an environment that was both practical and inspiring. Andrew’s presence reminded everyone that NHD is more than a project. It’s a journey that can stay with students and teachers for a lifetime.
Educators present their exhibit poster based on the “Sonya Clark: Tatter, Bristle, and Mend” exhibit from the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Participants arrived with rich disciplinary knowledge, and every part of the program was designed to meet that expertise with purpose. The workshops didn’t just offer ideas, they gave teachers a structured way to stretch their skills and apply them in a new context. Each session was framed to model effective instruction while leaving room for teachers to bring in their own practice and perspectives. These sessions gave teachers space to work through the research process themselves and to consider how students might navigate those same steps.
Teachers engaged directly with primary sources and strategies that mirrored the student experience. They weren’t just talking about NHD. They were doing the work, experimenting with tools, and reflecting in real time on what it might mean to bring this process into their classrooms. The facilitation created room for productive thinking without asking anyone to start from scratch. Every session offered something concrete, something useful, something adaptable.
Much of the learning throughout the Intensive was grounded in local history. Teachers worked with DC-based archives and sources that moved beyond the familiar federal narratives, turning their attention to the kinds of stories rooted in neighborhoods, communities, and schools—the hyper-local history the DC History Center uplifts. That emphasis on place and perspective came through clearly in each of the panel conversations. The local historian panel opened the week by spotlighting the people and practices behind community-based storytelling. Teachers heard from researchers and public historians who shared what it means to surface stories with care, especially when working with underrepresented voices.
The Historian Panel connected educators with scholars, offering new perspectives and hyperlocal sources to bring into student projects.
The student panel added a different kind of expertise. Teachers listened as recent NHD participants talked about their process, what inspired them, where they struggled, and how they found clarity. That transparency helped ground the week in empathy and reminded everyone just how much thinking and decision-making goes into NHD projects.
By the end of the week, the teacher panel brought everything full circle. Educators who had already integrated NHD into their classrooms shared lessons learned, practical strategies, and encouragement for what it looks like to do this work well over time.
The final day gave teachers the chance to bring it all together. Using the NHD exhibit project criteria and their own disciplinary knowledge, participants developed projects inspired by exhibits at three cultural institutions: The People’s Archive at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Class Action at the DC History Center, or Sonya Clark: Tatter, Bristle, and Mend at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. These site visits weren’t just field trips, they were working sessions. Teachers explored collections, observed interpretation strategies, and gathered materials to build exhibit prototypes. Experiencing these spaces firsthand reshaped how they thought about place-based learning and clarified the connections between content, research, and student voice. For many, it sparked ideas they could take directly into their school communities, proof that local stories can power rigorous, relevant, and deeply personal student work. As one teacher envisioned, “By the end of the year, students will have planned and presented their own passion project aligned with historical significance and present-day impact.”
Educators built exhibits just in order to model the project process. This one, on Bolling v. Sharpe, was based on the Class Action exhibit at the DC History Center.
Perhaps the most impactful moments came when teachers stepped fully into the shoes of their students. As they worked to narrow topics, evaluate sources, and develop arguments, they experienced firsthand the challenges of the NHD process. Several said plainly, “I get it now.” That kind of understanding doesn’t come from explanation alone. It comes from doing. One teacher reflected, “It has entirely shifted my perspective on NHD. Now it all connects and makes sense.” The reflection activities that followed weren’t checkboxes. They gave space for participants to name where they struggled, what surprised them, and what they would carry forward into the school year.
What made the Intensive so powerful wasn’t just the content. It was the way it honored the professionalism of teachers while giving them new tools, new perspectives, and a shared sense of momentum. We’re excited to see how teachers carry that momentum forward, using what they’ve built here to launch NHD in ways that make sense for their students, schools, and communities.
As one teacher reflected, “Hearing directly from historians, educators, and community members reminded me that history is living, contested, and deeply personal. The Intensive affirmed that helping students engage with underrepresented stories isn’t just academic work—it’s civic and deeply human.”
Azia Richardson-Williams
Azia Richardson-Williams is the Education Coordinator at the DC History Center and a dual master’s student at George Washington University, where she studies public administration and art management. Originally from Florida, she previously taught 6th grade in Atlanta, Georgia, and brings a deep passion for education, community engagement, and the arts to her work in Washington, DC.