National History Day
Tailored to align with each year’s National History Day theme, this curated collection of HistoryLink resources offers access to a wealth of primary and secondary sources, including historical articles, photographs, and documents. By navigating HistoryLink’s extensive encyclopedia, students can discover compelling local stories and sources from Washington-based archives and libraries relevant to their chosen topics.
2025 Theme: Rights & Responsibilities in History
National History Day’s 2025 theme is Rights & Responsibilities in History. What topics in Washington state’s history will provide opportunities to explore these key questions: Who decides who has rights? Does everyone have the same rights? Who decides on the limits individuals should or should not have? Why? What led to establishing certain rights, and to whom were they given? How have people, governments, or institutions decided what parameters should be set to enforce responsibilities? How are such decisions justified?
Topic Ideas
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- https://historylink.org/file/5662
- Votes for Women: A 1910 article by Missouri Hanna, called Mother of Journalism in Washington State
- Washington State Constitutional Convention delegates frame constitution stipulating that voters must be male, but append separate woman suffrage and Prohibition amendments on August 17, 1889.
- https://historylink.org/file/5214
- Arthur Denny proposes white-woman suffrage amendment in the Territorial Legislature’s first session on February 28, 1854.
- Charlotte Emily Olney French casts the first vote by a woman in a Washington Territorial election at Grand Mound in Thurston County on June 6, 1870.
- Washington women win and lose the vote between 1883 and 1888.
- Woman suffrage is declared unconstitutional in Harland v. Washington on February 3, 1887.
- Washington territory re-enacts woman suffrage law to exclude women from juries on January 16, 1888.
- Woman suffrage in Washington Territory declared unconstitutional in Nevada Bloomer case on August 14, 1888.
- Washington State Constitutional Convention delegates frame constitution stipulating that voters must be male, but append separate woman suffrage and Prohibition amendments on August 17, 1889.
- Women win school suffrage on March 27, 1890.
- Women in Washington state win the vote on November 8, 1910.
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- History Day award winner — Far-Reaching Rights: An Era of Innovation in Treaty Law in Washington State that Impacted the Rights of Aboriginal Peoples Worldwide by Jacob Ziontz
- Mitchell Bay Tribe Descendants (San Juan Island) and Their Struggle for Lost Treaty Rights
- Quinault Treaty, 1856
- Treaty of Medicine Creek, 1854
- Treaty of Neah Bay, 1855
- Treaty of Olympia, 1856
- Treaty of Point Elliott, 1855
- Treaty of Point No Point, 1855
- Treaty with the Nez Perce, 1855
- Treaty with the Walla Walla, Cayuse, and Umatilla, 1855
- Treaty with the Yakama, 1855
- Debate and Diplomacy in the Indigenous Fight for Fishing Rights
- History Day award winner — Trust in Treaties: How Tragedy Turned to Triumph for Puget Sound Native American Fishing Rights by Jacob Bruce
- Makah Tribe successfully challenges state regulation of treaty fishing rights in 1951.
- Mitchell Bay Tribe Descendants (San Juan Island) and Their Struggle for Lost Treaty Rights
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- Redlining, Racial Covenants, and Housing Discrimination in Seattle
- Redlining, Racial Covenants, and Housing Discrimination in Spokane
- Redlining, Racial Covenants, and Housing Discrimination in Tacoma
- Violence rocks Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood during the “Mother’s Day Disturbance” of May 11, 1969.
- Renton Hill Community Club reorganizes to exclude racial minorities from the neighborhood in 1929.
Finding primary sources using HistoryLink
At the bottom of each HistoryLink article, you will find the sources the historian found in their research and used to develop their article. Look through those sources for primary sources. The citation will include where the source was found. Many of them are available digitally or can be scanned by librarians or archivists.
Digital Repositories of Primary Sources in Washington State
Washington State Digital Archives
Digital Public Library of America
HistoryLink Outstanding HistoryDay Essay Award
HistoryLink presents an annual monetary award at the Washington state competition for HistoryDay to a student who has written an exemplary historical paper concerning Washington state history. The winning historical paper and author information may also be posted on HistoryLink.org
Criteria
The historical paper’s theme must be on some aspect of Washington state history, and the entry must comply with History Day rules.
Eligibility
Student must live and/or attend school in the state of Washington, participate in History Day as defined by National History Day guidelines, and have advanced from a regional competition. The entry must be in the historical paper category and comply with category rules.
Requirements
The historical paper must be about a topic related to Washington state history and comply with category rules
For more information, contact office@historylink.org.
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