2011–12 Suggested Topics

The examples below offer a starting point for brainstorming about topics related to this year’s National History Day (NHD) theme, "Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History." Choosing one of these suggestions will not increase or decrease your chances of doing well at a National History Day contest.

Although you can select a topic dealing with any time or place in history, excellent subjects often are found by investigating your local history. The availability of nearby scholars, firsthand informants, documents, and records, and artifacts and historic sites is a good option if you can't easily travel to conduct your research. Staff at the Florida State Archives have identified resources in their online collection that relate to some of the suggested Florida topics. To examine these primary sources, go to http://floridamemory.com/onlineclassroom/history_fair/. You also should check Research Resources for other online repositories.

Florida Topics
  • Battle of Pensacola: The American Revolution in Florida
  • Black Seminoles Fight for Freedom
  • Castro’s Revolution and Its Impact on Immigration to Florida
  • Chloe Merrick Reed and Reconstruction in Florida: A Revolution in Public Education
  • Civil Rights Movement in Florida: Reform that Led to Greater Equality
  • Consequences of the American Revolution: Florida Returns to Spanish Control
  • Cuban Cigar Industry: Revolutionary Influence in Florida’s Hispanic Community
  • Dr. John Gorrie: Air Conditioning as a Revolutionary Concept
  • Environmental Reform: Saving the Everglades
  • Equal Rights Amendment: Florida’s Spoiler Role in a National Reform Movement
  • Florida and the Cuban Independence Movement: Revolt and Reform
  • Florida Lighthouses: Economic Reactions
  • Florida Lighthouse Reform: From Lighthouse Service to Automation
  • Florida’s 1926 and 1928 Hurricanes: Economic and Social Reactions to the Forces of Nature
  • Florida’s Convict Lease System: Reform that Came Too Late for Martin Tabert
  • Florida’s Reconstruction Era: A Pattern of Reform
  • Florida’s of Secession, 1861: Revolt Against the American Union
  • Governor LeRoy Collins’s Stand on Civil Rights: A Moderate Voice for Reform
  • Grand Hotels of the Two Henrys: A Revolution in Florida Tourism
  • Harry T. Moore and the Beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement in Florida
  • Mariel Boat Lift: Revolt in Cuba, Reform in Florida
  • Minorcans in Florida: Rebelling Against the British Overlord
  • Patriots Revolt: Amelia Island, 1812
  • Resistance to Slavery: The Branded Hand Incident
  • Rise and Fall of the Cross Florida Barge Canal: An Environmental Revolution
  • The American Revolution in Florida: A Place of Refuge
  • The Conch Republic: Reform or Revolt?
  • The Constitution of 1885: A Reaction to the Era of Reconstruction
  • The Fight for Women’s Voting Rights in Florida
  • The First Rock and Roll Riot in Jacksonville
  • The Gideon Lawsuit: A Florida Case Reforms the National Justice System
  • The Second Seminole War: Slave Revolt or Indian War?
  • The Spanish American War in Florida: Reaction to the Newspaper War
  • Tallahassee Bus Boycott of 1956: Reform Comes to Race Relations in Florida
  • Training the Bay of Pigs Invaders in Florida: Revolting Against Castro’s Revolution
  • The Transportation Revolution in Florida: Boats, Trains, and Automobiles
  • U. S. Presidential Election of 1876: Florida’s Role as Tie-breaker

National Topics

National History Day has created a list of topics that deal with national and global themes.

  • Bismarck’s Reforms in Germany
  • Canals and Railroads: the 19th-Century Reforms in Transportation
  • Classical Music: Reaction to the Baroque Era
  • Confucius and Civil Service Reform in China
  • Curt Flood and Free Agency in Baseball
  • Dorothea Dix and the Asylum Movement
  • Emilio Aguinaldo and the Philippine Uprising
  • From Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Nixon: The Revolution of Presidential Press Coverage
  • Germ Theory: Revolution in Medicine
  • Hawks and Doves: American Reaction to the Vietnam War
  • “Hush, Hush”: Reaction to Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House
  • John Brown’s Revolt Against Slavery
  • Jonas Savimbi: Angolan Revolutionary
  • Jose Marti and Cuba’s War of Independence
  • King Phillip’s War: Reaction to Puritan Expansion
  • Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation
  • Pablo Picasso: Revolution in Art
  • Simon Bolivar and Latin American Independence
  • Sit-ins and Freedom Rides: Reformers in Action
  • Vatican II: The Modern Reformation of the Catholic Church
  • Virginia Woolf and the Birth of Modern Feminism
  • William Wallace: Rebel Against English Oppression
  • Television: A Cultural Revolution
  • The Airplane: Revolution in Warfare
  • The Black Panthers: Reforming Student Lunch Programs
  • The Boxer Rebellion: China’s Fight Against Foreign Powers
  • The Coercive or Intolerable Acts: Britain’s Reaction to the Boston Tea Party
  • The Copernican Revolution: Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler
  • The Edict of Nantes: A New Approach to Religious Dissent
  • The Glorious Revolution and Britain’s Bill of Rights
  • The Model T: Henry Ford Revolutionizes the Auto Industry
  • The “Red Scare”: American Reaction to Communism
  • The Reforms of Sosthenes
  • The U.S. Constitution: Reform or Counter-Revolution?
  • The Wesley Brothers and Methodist Reforms of the Church of England
  • The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and Alcohol in America

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

The National Archives repository in Atlanta houses thousands of Federal records from eight southeastern states. With documents dating from the 1700s to the present, the holdings record much of the rich history of the South. NARA Atlanta Education Specialist Joel Walker has developed a list of topics relating to “Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History” that can be explored through documents at this site.

  • A Nation Reacts to War: The Federal Government Takes Over the Railroads, 1917–1920
  • Beginnings of the Veterans Administration: A Nation Reacts to Forgotten Servicemen—But Has the Reform Been Enough?
  • Reaction and Eventual Reform: The Leo Frank Case and Anti-Semitism in the South
  • Reaction and Reform: Improved Conditions in the Mining Industry
  • Reaction and Reform: Growth of the Environmental Protection Agency and Changing Views on Pollution and the Planet
  • Reaction and Reform: The NAACP, Thurgood Marshall, and Equal Pay for Black Teachers
  • Reaction and Reform: The Story of George Elmore’s 1946 Fight for His Right to Vote
  • Reaction and Reform: TVA vs. the Endangered Species Act, or How the Lowly Snail Darter brought Construction to a Halt
  • Reaction and Revolution: The Eradication of Polio in the United States
  • Reaction and Revolution: The Eradication of Tuberculosis in the United States
  • Reaction and the Promise of Reform: Failure of the Fair Employment Practices Commission to Bring Equality to the War Industries of the South
  • Reaction, Reform, and Activism in the Federal Courts: J. Waties Waring and His Pro-Civil Rights Rulings, 1942–1952
  • Reaction that Started a Revolution: Wittkamper vs. the Americus Board of Education— Discrimination of Students from Integrated Koinonia Farms, birthplace of Habitat for Humanity
  • Reaction to Brown v. Board of Education: Integration Reform in the Nation’s Schools
  • Reaction to Eminent Domain: People Removed from their Land for the Creation of Smoky Mountain National Park
  • Reaction to European Hunger: The United States Food Administration and World War I
  • Reaction to German Physics: The Story of the Manhattan Project
  • Reaction to Reform: The Revenuers vs. the Moonshiners
  • Reaction to Reform: Tennessee Electric Power Company v. Tennessee Valley Authority
  • Reaction to Segregated Schools and Eventual Reform: Briggs v. Elliott—Predecessor to Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
  • Reaction to Sputnik: Werner von Braun Launches the Space Program
  • Reaction to War Time Demand: Women Join the Work Force and Spark Labor Reform
  • Reform in the Work Place: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and its Reaction to Discrimination
  • Revolution, Reaction, Reform: Browder v. Gayle and Victory for the Montgomery Bus Boycott
  • Sacrifice for Progress: Reactions of People Told to Move for the Promise of TVA Reform
  • The National Recovery Administration (NRA): Reaction to the Great Depression, Attempted Reform of Government’s Role with Business and Industry, and America’s Reaction to the NRA
  • Unsafe at Any Speed: Furr v. General Motors—the Corvair, Ralph Nadar, and the Birth of Consumer Reports

Microfilm holdings at NARA Atlanta support the following topics.

  • Reaction and Reform: The Microfilm of Andersonville Prison Camp
  • Reactions to Crimes Against Humanity: The Nuremberg Trials
  • Reactions to the Problems of Relief and Refugees at the End of World War II in Europe
  • The Freedmen’s Bureau: The Federal Government’s Reaction to the End of Slavery
  • The Government of Revolution: The Records of the Continental Congress

For more information about holdings or to schedule an educational research trip, contact Education Specialist Joel Walker, National Archives at Atlanta, 5780 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, Georgia 30260; 770.968,2530; joel.walker@nara.gov.