Newsroom Category: History

Supporting history and civics in the classroom

October 1, 2025 — A children’s literature project for students with learning disabilities. A living history wax museum and City Hall field trip. A storytelling series. And a class-created book of civic rights and responsibilities.

These are the winning project ideas submitted by Alabama educators chosen as AHA’s 2025 Riley Scholars. This year’s winners are Abby Crews (Geneva), Jordan Franck (Florence), Amanda Ridge (Russellville), and Ashlie-Nicole Wehner (Huntsville).

The competitive Jenice Riley Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to K-8 educators who excel at helping students engage with history and civics. Riley Scholars receive $2,000 in support of history- and civics-related classroom projects or for professional development opportunities.

Funded through the W. Edgar Welden Fund for Education, this scholarship is a tribute to the late Jenice Riley — a passionate educator and daughter of former Alabama governor and first lady Bob and Patsy Riley. Edgar Welden is a former AHA board member and a steadfast supporter of educational initiatives in Alabama. Since 2003, the Alabama Humanities Alliance has named 110 Riley Scholars and funded more than $114,000 in teacher scholarships.

If you’d like to help AHA continue supporting Alabama’s teachers and students, consider making a gift to support the Alabama Humanities Alliance.

 

Applications open for 2026!

Applications are now being accepted for AHA’s 2026 Jenice Riley Memorial Scholarships. Alabama educators are encouraged to apply by April 30, 2026.

The 2026 proposal theme is “Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History.” All Riley Scholarship proposals should address how funds would be used to enhance teaching and learning about historical events and movements connected to different revolutions, reactions, and reforms in our history.

This year’s theme is inspired by (but not limited to) the 250th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence in 2026. This is also the theme of AHA’s 2026 Alabama History Day competition.

 

Meet our 2025 Riley Scholars

Abby Crews, Mulkey Elementary (Geneva County)
Geneva City Schools | Fifth Grade

PROJECT: City Hall Field Trip and Living History Wax Museum
This multi-pronged project will take students on a field trip to Geneva’s new City Hall, which will include a city council simulation. Back at school, Crews will help students create a voting booth for school elections. Finally, students will participate in a Living History Wax Museum that gives them a chance to study history while enhancing their writing, reading, public speaking, and critical thinking skills.

 

Jordan Franck, Forest Hills Elementary (Lauderdale County)
Florence City Schools | Fifth Grade

PROJECT: Rights and Responsibilities Storytelling Series
One of the most common ways that students learn about the history of our country is through the art of storytelling. The goal of Franck’s project is to help students learn about history and civics through a new and robust library of history books. Novel studies will also be incorporated into the reading curriculum to help students personally connect with history and civics, to inspire them as future leaders.

 

Amanda Ridge, Russellville Middle (Franklin County)
Russellville City Schools | Sixth Grade

PROJECT: How Can I be a Golden Patriot?
Around 60 percent of students in Ridge’s classroom come from families that immigrated to the United States. This has inspired a hands-on idea for learning about U.S. history and civics. Students will begin by studying the book, For Which We Stand, a book that explains the origins of U.S. government, how it works, and how to engage with it. Students will then create their own book of civic rights and responsibilities, making copies to keep and copies to donate to local libraries.

 

Ashlie-Nicole Wehner, Jones Valley Elementary (Madison County)
Huntsville City Schools | Special Education, Grades 4-6

PROJECT: Three Bears Den
Can children’s literature help foster an understanding of rights and responsibilities among students with special needs? Wehner will lead a civics classroom project centered around Goldilocks and the Three Bears, leading discussions on the “Goldilocks Theory” of what is “just right” – our daily decisions to make the right choices and be responsible for our own actions. Scholarship support will enable Wehner to create a “Three Bears Den,” with resources and equipment to make learning more accessible for her students with a variety of learning disabilities.

 

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Alabama Humanities Alliance has served as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through our grantmaking and public programming, we promote lifelong learning, impactful storytelling, and civic engagement. We believe the humanities can bring Alabamians together and help us better understand the communities we call home.

An Alabama Convening

Two years ago, the Alabama Humanities Alliance began an experiment. We came to call it our Healing History initiative.

A collaborative effort, Healing History brings Alabamians together to investigate our shared past — as a way to better understand our present and each other. The goal is to strengthen our communities, our workforces, and our relationships.

Learning from history isn’t a new idea, of course; we are far from the only people in the state doing this kind of work. And that’s why we want to hear from — and learn from — others who are engaged in “Healing History” work in their own communities across Alabama.

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Are you engaged in historical work that aims to bring Alabamians together today? Join AHA in Montevallo on October 27, 2025, for Healing History: An Alabama Convening.

This will be a gathering focused on inspiration and imagination, of considering different ways we can mine the past to strengthen our present. Plenary sessions, talks, and film screenings will highlight creative, history-based model projects. There will also be ample time to sit, share, and connect.

Bring your own ideas and examples, your openness and curiosity. Partners Hall will be open throughout the day, showcasing collaborators from around the state. Registration is free but required in advance. Lunch will be provided.

 

Healing History: An Alabama Convening
October 27, 2025  |  10am-4pm
The Rotunda at American Village
3727 Highway 19  |  Montevallo, AL 35115
Register for free: surveymonkey.com/r/FZYR8GH

Why Montevallo? We’re meeting in the middle of the state for two reasons. One, because we have some great friends at the David Mathews Center for Civic Life and the American Village Citizenship Trust who graciously agreed to host us. And, two, we wanted to meet in the middle of the state to allow for as many people, from all corners of Alabama, to join us.

 

Who should attend? 

 

Learn more: 

 

Supporting organizations
AHA’s Healing History initiative would not have gotten off the ground two years ago without seed funding from the State of Alabama, and it would not have grown without the generous, ongoing support of the Community Foundation for Greater Birmingham. Additional thanks to our founding partners at Bread for the World and Regions Bank, and to model partners such as History Before Us and The Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation.

What we have in common

On August 25, at Birmingham’s Red Mountain Theatre, author and social psychologist Kurt Gray offered a new take on this current American era of outrage and polarization. At the heart of his message: We’re motivated far more by what we have in common than we might think.

“Most of our differences come from the same place,” Gray shared, “about protecting ourselves or others from harm. The disagreements come over our different perceptions of what might be harmful and of who’s being harmed.”

That finding from Gray’s research won’t magically heal our nation’s self-inflicted wounds, but it might help folks better understand each other and open up opportunities for productive conversations. Indeed, that hope inspired the entire evening.

 

Sharing our stories

Gray’s talk was offered as part of an ongoing Woven Together series, co-presented by the Alabama Humanities Alliance, Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, and Leadership Birmingham, and sponsored by Alabama Power.

Chuck Holmes, AHA executive director

As AHA’s executive director Chuck Holmes shared at the start of the evening: “We’re going to learn more about Kurt tonight, but more importantly, we’re going to learn more about ourselves, and how we cope and how we process things in our lives and in the life of our nation.”

One of the most important takeaways came when Gray described how to try entering into conversation with someone who might have fundamentally different opinions than yours.

“Facts matter, but they’re not the best way to start a conversation,” Gray said. “You’re not starting an argument to win. You’re starting a conversation to understand someone. And when you approach it that way, storytelling — not facts — is a much more powerful way of bridging divides. Start with your personal experiences.”

So, how do we start difficult conversations, especially ones that might involve thorny topics?

Author Kurt Gray

“Talk with someone like they’re a full person,” Gray emphasized. “Nobody is just one thing. We all contain multitudes. So, start with something real that doesn’t have anything to do with politics. None of us like being talked at. People like being asked real questions.”

After Gray’s talk, he signed copies of his book, Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics – and How to Find Common Ground. The book-signing was courtesy of Thank You Books, and signed copies of the book are now available at the Birmingham bookseller.

 

Healing History

For those interested in other opportunities for coming together in conversation and exploration, check out AHA’s Healing History initiative. This collaborative effort helps Alabamians examine our shared histories in order to better know, and understand, one another.

On August 25, nearly 60 people arrived early to Red Mountain Theatre, to participate in Past Forward, a participatory introduction to AHA’s Healing History initiative. This experience offers a chance to explore, and reflect upon, our shared history — and consider how decisions made in the past affect our lives, livelihoods, relationships, and communities today.

Register for upcoming Healing History opportunities below, and learn more at alabamahumanities.org/healing-history.

 

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Alabama Humanities Alliance has served as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through our grantmaking and public programming, we promote lifelong learning, impactful storytelling, and civic engagement. We believe the humanities can bring Alabamians together and help us better understand the communities we call home.

 

Lead image, at top, by Bob Farley. 

Echoes of the Forks of Cypress

“This is where your people were held, by mine.”
-Curtis Flowers, great-great-great-grandaughter of Sarah and James Jackson, owners of the Forks of Cypress plantation, speaking with Black descendants of those enslaved at the site

So begins one of the opening lines of Echoes of the Forks of Cypress, a powerful documentary that follows the journey of Black and White descendants of the iconic North Alabama plantation, as they reckon with their shared past to bring about healing and community in the present.

The film, which was funded in part by the Alabama Humanities Alliance’s Healing History initiative, had its Alabama premiere on August 12, 2025, at the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library. Around 125 people attended the debut, far exceeding the library’s viewing area for the screening. Chairs were hauled from all corners of the library, and some people sat with obstructed views, or no views at all — demonstrating the local appetite for history, genealogy, and community-building.

As noted by Laura Anderson, AHA’s director of partnerships and outcomes, the project embodies the ideals of AHA’s Healing History initiative: “When we started this effort two years ago, we didn’t really want to define all that is “Healing History” because we wanted people around Alabama to come together and define that for themselves and their communities, and then come to us for support.”

And that’s exactly how AHA’s funding for Echoes of the Forks of Cypress came about.

Filmmaker Frederick Murphy, founder, History Before Us

Brian Murphy, director of Florence Arts & Museums — a frequent AHA partner and grant recipient — told Anderson about a Southern filmmaker who had recently discovered that some of his ancestors were once enslaved at the Forks of Cypress. The filmmaker was working with one of the White descendants of the Jackson plantation at the Forks to research his line there, as much as possible. He also had an idea to bring White and Black descendants together with a goal: To reimagine the plantation and its cemetery as spaces for remembrance and reflection — to have challenging conversations and acknowledge the site’s painful legacy, but also to cultivate new paths forward for healing and understanding with one another.

That filmmaker was Frederick Murphy, founder of History Before Us, a production company focused on capturing, preserving, and advocating for influential history. AHA supported Murphy’s vision with a Healing History grant, making the production of Echoes possible.

One of Muprhy’s primary objectives for the project was to help other Black descendants trace their own family lines that ran through the Forks of Cypress.

“Genealogy for people of African descent can be challenging due to gaps and erasures in historical records,” Murphy says. “Collaboration between descendant communities on all sides, paired with shared knowledge and persistence, helps restore lost connections and reclaim ancestral legacies.”

Over the past year and a half, Murphy’s work has brought together folks from across Florence and the Shoals — and far beyond — connecting descendants.

Descendants of the Forks of Cypress pose for a photo together

The work also pulled in many other Shoals residents interested in learning more about the iconic site’s full history and how learning about that past can strengthen the region’s present. Allies joined in: The Alabama Historical Commission, Florence Arts and Museums, Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, and community historians, archivists, and genealogists from local churches, historical societies, and more.

“This project,” Murphy says, “was about showing that people can work together and do something that is emotionally charged — that can make us angry but can also bring us joy and happiness — and, more importantly, it hones in on what I center my life around, and that is our shared humanity.”

 

Going beyond the film

Following the film’s screening, Murphy and Anderson led a wide-ranging community conversation in the Florence library. Descendants answered questions from the audience, and from each other. And audience members shared ideas that the film had inspired in them, including ways to connect the Forks work with other citizen-led, community projects: genealogy workshops, cemetery preservation, oral history projects, books, new mapping efforts, and more.

Community members also shared their personal responses to the film.

One woman, Andrea Blackstone, had come all the way from Virginia after learning she had enslaved ancestors at the Forks. She told Murphy that he “did something for me, with this film, that I’ve waited for most of my life.” She was there with her son, who was celebrating his 12th birthday, documenting the evening with photos aplenty on his new camera. “You have also reinforced that we need to keep doing this work because we all need to know where we come from. This is the day that I get to say I understand me a little better.”

Another woman, a lifelong resident of the Shoals, shared how the film and conversation made her aware of this local history for the first time in her life: “I’ve lived around the Forks of Cypress forever and I didn’t know all this. To see your faces, to hear your stories, to meet you — it’s so powerful. It’s moving and at the same time, I wish I had known this so much sooner. Thank you. That’s what I want to say. Thank you. This has changed me.”

Murphy is planning more screenings of Echoes in Alabama and across the South, before the film heads to a streaming platform for wider release. You can watch a trailer of the film here. 

You can also read a deeper dive about Echoes of the Forks of Cypress in AHA’s 2024 issue of Mosaic magazine.

 

About AHA’s Healing History initiative

This collaborative initiative is designed to strengthen our communities, workforces, and state by helping Alabamians examine their shared history and get to know each other better. Across race, religion, politics, and all the supposed dividing lines that shouldn’t keep us apart. The aim is to build trust, foster empathy, and grow community through mutually respectful discussions about our shared past, present, and future. AHA is grateful to the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham for its significant support for this initiative.

See below for more on ways to engage with Healing History. You can also learn more at alabamahumanities.org/healing-history. 

Past Forward: AHA offers Past Forward as a participatory introduction to Healing History. This experience offers a chance to explore, and reflect upon, our shared history — and consider how decisions made in the past affect our lives, livelihoods, relationships, and communities today.

Upcoming Past Forward opportunities:

Woven Together: Woven Together is a series presented by the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, Leadership Birmingham, and the Alabama Humanities Alliance. Our next event will take place on August 25, at Birmingham’s Red Mountain Theatre: Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics — and How to Find Common Ground. 

The event features author and social psychologist Kurt Gray, who will unpack the science behind our outrage and reveal how empathy, not division, can drive real dialogue. You’ll discover why we’re more alike than we think, and how understanding our emotions can bridge even the deepest divides — no matter where we reside on the political, religious, or geographical spectrums.

Tickets are $10 and you can purchase them here. 

 

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Alabama Humanities Alliance has served as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through our grantmaking and public programming, we promote lifelong learning, impactful storytelling, and civic engagement. We believe the humanities can bring Alabamians together and help us better understand the communities we call home.

 

*Our thanks to the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library for the photos used in this story. 

Stony the Road We Trod

Last Wednesday, educator Cynthia Jackson sat in a pew at Birmingham’s historic Bethel Baptist Church, speaking quietly with Rev. Carolyn McKinstry, D.Div., a beloved author and minister who, as a teenager, had survived the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.

McKinstry had just spoken before a group of Alabama teachers, sharing about her childhood in Birmingham during the civil rights movement. Now, Jackson was talking directly with this inspiring foot soldier, a conversation swirling around Alabama’s past, present, and future.

“When my kids, my students, get to asking questions, how wonderful will it be when I can tell them, ‘well, I actually got to talk with Dr. Carolyn McKinstry, who survived the 16th Street Church bombing, and here’s what she told me,’” says Jackson, who teaches at W.F. Burns Middle School in Chambers County. “This is a living experience that I’ll be able to draw on when I’m back in the classroom. This is incredible.”

Stony the Road

Jackson was one of the educators participating in the Alabama Humanities Alliance’s summer field study, Stony the Road We Trod: Exploring Alabama’s Civil Rights Legacy. The immersive, residential experience enables Alabama K-12 teachers to visit sites of conscience, meet foot soldiers of the movement, and discover new resources and ideas for the classroom. Teachers selected for the workshop came from cities big and small — from Huntsville to Northport, Parrish to Opelika, and points in between.

View a photo album from Stony 2025.

 

Highlights of Stony 2025 included visits to:

 

Along the way, teachers visited archives to identify primary resources they could use in the classroom. On the final day of the residency, teachers even crafted potential new lesson plans and then presented them to each other for peer feedback.

“Stony the Road is a professional learning treasure for our state educators,” says W. Blake Busbin, Ph.D., Course of Study Administrator and Social Studies Education Specialist for the Alabama State Department of Education.

“The life-changing experiences it offers to its participants reveal the stories of people, places, and events that not only shaped local communities and Alabama but furthered America’s commitment to its 1776 promises contained in the Declaration of Independence,” Busbin notes. “The combination of content knowledge and pedagogy provided in the learning experience equips Alabama teachers to be leaders in teaching this integral history.”

Stony’s project director is Martha Bouyer, D.Min., an educator and civil rights scholar who was named an AHA Alabama Humanities Fellow in 2018. Dr. Bouyer has led various versions of Stony for AHA through the years, drawing on her experience as executive director of the Historic Bethel Baptist Church Community Restoration Fund.

“This kind of story-sharing is sort of the art of showing people why they should care about a thing,” Bouyer says. “That is where the humanities live, helping us to be in touch with the things that impact our lives.”

 

Bringing Stony back to the classroom

Teachers selected to participate in Stony received a stipend, professional development credits, and new resources for the classroom — including a half-dozen new books.

Participant Cynthia Jackson noted that each teacher received those books far in advance of the workshop, preparing her for what she’d see up close during Stony — and providing a rare chance to then speak with a few of those authors in person during the week.

Jackson even made a personal connection with scholar Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Ph.D., a history professor and author who gave a presentation on expanding the stories of the civil rights movement. Dr. Jeffries wrote Bloody Lowndes, about the 1960s freedom movement in Alabama’s Black Belt.

“When I was reading his book, one of the names I saw jumped off the page,” Jackson says. “Dr. Jeffries had actually interviewed one of my relatives, who lives in Lowndes County. So, I had the chance to talk with Dr. Jeffries about that and to share stories with each other about our Lowndes County connections. Getting to interact with authors like that is wild. It’s such an invaluable part of this experience.”

Stony indeed dives deeply into Alabama’s civil rights legacy. The residency isn’t just a primer for newer teachers of this history. It’s also a boost for the most experienced of educators.

Kristina Godsey, of Parrish, Alabama, teaches at Fairfield High Preparatory School. She’s taught for 20 years and serves as her school’s social studies chair.

“I signed up for this because there’s always something new you can learn,” she says. “The more I immerse myself in something, the more I’m going to understand it. What we’re doing here makes civil rights history personal, human. And when you look at it that way, and can teach it that way, it really resonates.”

 

Making Stony 2025 possible

The Alabama Humanities Alliance has now presented Stony at least a half-dozen times. This year, the nonprofit and nonpartisan organization is more appreciative than ever for all who made the experience possible.

Back in April, the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency terminated AHA’s 50-year partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities — and, with it, two-thirds of our annual budget. For more than half a century, AHA had used federal dollars appropriated by a bipartisan Congress to support statewide grantmaking and programming such as Stony and AHA’s beloved Road Scholars Speakers Bureau.

“This spring, we feared we would have to cancel this unique opportunity for Alabama’s teachers,” says Chuck Holmes, AHA’s executive director. “Thankfully, we didn’t have to do that because of generous contributions from individuals and institutional donors statewide, who value Alabama’s history and Alabama’s educators. We are so grateful to them all for ensuring Stony could proceed.”

The Alabama Humanities Alliance still has a long way to go to find sustainable funding that will ensure its grantmaking and public programming continue beyond 2025. To support the future of Alabama Humanities, donate at alabamahumanities.org/support.

 

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Alabama Humanities Alliance has served as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through our grantmaking and public programming, we promote lifelong learning, impactful storytelling, and civic engagement. We believe the humanities can bring Alabamians together and help us better understand the communities we call home. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.

Alabama students compete at National History Day

The Alabama Humanities Alliance’s 2024-2025 Alabama History Day program came to a thrilling conclusion this week. More than 40 Alabama students competed against their peers from across the country at National History Day, held at the University of Maryland. These students created some of the most fascinating, history-rich projects this year, advancing from Alabama’s state contest in April.

“There may not be a more inspiring showcase of students’ brilliance and curiosity in this state,” says Idrissa N. Snider, Ph.D., program coordinator for the Alabama Humanities Alliance. “Alabama History Day brings hundreds of students together to share their passion for learning about our past. These students are more than historians, too. They are authors, artists, filmmakers, web designers, and dramatic performers who have the freedom to choose their topics and share their research in creative ways.”

Alabama History Day 2025 state contest photos

National History Day 2025 national contest photos

The Alabama Humanities Alliance puts on Alabama History Day each year, helping students statewide (grades 6-12) cultivate their curiosity, learn to do primary research, and become confident, lifelong learners. The program also gives Alabama teachers a dynamic — and year-long — project-learning tool that they can incorporate into their classrooms. Each year brings a new History Day theme; in 2025, that was “Rights and Responsibilities in History.”

School-level and regional competitions take place during the school year, then the program culminates in our statewide contest, held at Troy University’s Montgomery campus. There, students showcase their research as exhibits, papers, websites, documentaries, and performances — with first- and second-place winners eligible to advance to National History Day. Students compete in Junior (grades 6-8) and Senior (grades 9-12) divisions, in both individual and group categories.

Alabama History Day 2025: Meet This Year’s State Contest Winners 

National History Day 2025: Affiliate Winners (below)

A Capitol Visit

For Alabama students who advance to National History Day, the experience comes with the opportunity to visit Washington, D.C.. These memory-making visits to Capitol Hill give our students a chance to see the halls of our democracy up close — and to talk about their History Day projects with their members of Congress.

This year, dozens of students, teachers, and parents were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of the U.S. Capitol building, led by staffers from Senator Katie Britt’s office. Senator Britt also spent quality time meeting with Alabama’s students, taking photos, and leading a round of applause for Alabama’s National History Day competitors.

Alabama members of the House of Representatives also took time out from their busy schedules — sometimes even stepping out of floor votes and committee meetings — to meet with students from their districts. This year, students had the chance to visit with U.S. Representative Barry Moore (AL-01), Rep. Shomari Figures (AL-02), Representative Dale Strong (AL-05), and Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06).

“We are grateful to Alabama’s elected officials for making this experience memorable for our students, and talking with them about their History Day projects,” says Chuck Holmes, executive director of the Alabama Humanities Alliance. “In many ways, those meetings encapsulate what History Day is all about — learning about our nation’s history and being inspired to keep strengthening our nation’s democracy.”

This year’s D.C. day also involved some work for a pair of Alabama students. Lexington Bush and Jayde Robinson, of Mobile’s Murphy High School, were selected to present their exhibit at a “Smithsonian Showcase” at the National Museum of American History. Museum visitors had the chance to see these students’ work and ask questions about their research on “The Literary Legacy of African Americans During the Harlem Renaissance.”

“This was such a special opportunity for these two young ladies,” says Sarah Woltring, the girls’ teacher. “Having the chance to showcase their work in the museum representing American history is an inspiration for them as young learners.”

 

 

Alabama History Day 2026

The theme for Alabama/National History Day 2026 is set, and it is an apt one for the 250th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence: “Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History.” 

All schools statewide are invited to participate and the Alabama Humanities Alliance offers school visits and trainings to help teachers learn how they can incorporate Alabama History Day into the classroom. AHA’s next public History Day workshop for teachers will be held September 12 in Huntsville, at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Learn more about Alabama History Day 2026.

The Alabama Humanities Alliance doesn’t do this alone, of course. AHA appreciates all the many, many event partners who make this possible, including our Special Award sponsors and volunteer judges who donate their time each year. And none of this is possible, of course, without the generous support of the state of Alabama, the Alabama Power Foundation, and individual donors year-round. To add your support with a donation today, visit alabamahumanities.org/support.

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance 
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Alabama Humanities Alliance has served as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through our grantmaking and public programming, we promote lifelong learning, impactful storytelling, and civic engagement. We believe the humanities can bring Alabamians together and help us better understand the communities we call home. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.

Alabama History Day 2025

On April 11, around 200 students from middle schools and high schools across the state will converge on Troy University’s campus in Montgomery for Alabama History Day. This annual statewide contest, presented by the Alabama Humanities Alliance (AHA), enables students to engage in robust and creative historical research.

“The beauty of History Day is that students choose to research topics in history that interest them,” says Idrissa N. Snider, Ph.D., AHA’s Alabama History Day coordinator. “They’re encouraged to be creative storytellers in sharing their findings — as artists, performers, designers, filmmakers, and authors. When students immerse themselves in this process, their confidence grows, academically and socially.”

This is the first time the state contest has been hosted at Troy University’s Montgomery campus. Participating students will present their work in downtown venues, including at the Rosa Parks Museum and the historic Davis Theatre. Volunteer judges will provide feedback and encouragement. These judges include historians, educators, lawyers, and more from around the state, including professors from Troy University.

“A number of Troy’s historians have enjoyed serving as judges for Alabama History Day over the years, and members of the History Department were really excited to learn that the event has found a new home at Troy University’s Montgomery campus,” says Allen Jones, Ph.D., chair of the History Department. “Not only will most of our historians participate as judges in Montgomery this year, around 20 Troy students majoring in history — and members of the university’s History Club — will make the trek to assist in the event and share their delight for studying history with the competitors.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Troy University to provide an exciting and dynamic experience for our Alabama History Day students in such a historic slice of our state’s capital,” says Chuck Holmes, executive director of the Alabama Humanities Alliance. “Troy has long been an outstanding friend of ours and we are grateful for their partnership in elevating the Alabama History Day state contest.”

State winners advance to National History Day, which is held each summer at the University of Maryland and Washington, D.C. Students also have the chance to win special awards from sponsors such as the Alabama Historical Association, Friends of the Alabama Archives, the Alabama Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and many more.

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The Alabama History Day state contest marks the culmination of months of work by Alabama students, as well as their teachers. Far more than a single day, this year-long program provides teachers with a dynamic, project-based learning tool they can incorporate into the classroom — and offers students a creative way to engage with history and civics.

Each spring, classrooms, schools, and districts host local competitions and showcases of students’ work. The biggest single competition leading up to this year’s statewide contest took place on February 21 in Mobile. There, nearly 200 students gathered for the South Alabama Regional Competition, a day filled with fun, photos, food, and fascinating History Day projects.

In Mobile, this year’s History Day theme, “Rights & Responsibilities in History,” generated student research on national topics ranging from America’s World War II workforce to the eradication of smallpox. Student projects of regional interest included Mobile’s Africatown community, the history of the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians, and an exploration of the invasive lionfish population along the Gulf Coast.

Matt Spivey is the academic supervisor for social studies at Mobile County Public Schools, and a partner in organizing the South Alabama regional. He noted that the History Day program has obvious immediate impacts in terms of helping students build critical thinking skills, and in vetting and analyzing sources — “and in all those elements that will benefit our students in their classes, in those high-stakes tests that we use to measure their progress.”

But Spivey also sees a much broader, long-lasting positive impact with Alabama History Day:

“When you’re building those kinds of skills, you’re also building critical thinkers who will benefit our communities in who knows how many ways down the line,” Spivey says. “They’ll be able to analyze complex situations, to vet and source information, to figure out what’s accurate and trustworthy. The critical thinking skills they’re getting will help them address problems in our communities in ways that we’ll never fully know the impact of.”

To learn more about Alabama History Day, visit alabamahumanities.org/alabama-history-day.


About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through our grantmaking and public programming, we promote lifelong learning and impactful storytelling that lifts up our state. We believe the humanities can bring our communities together and help us better understand this dynamic and complex state we all call home. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.

About Troy University
Troy University is a public, historic, international university with more than 14,000 students and 175,000 alumni. Students choose TROY for its quality academic programs, reasonable costs and availability of financial aid, outstanding faculty, and flexible in-class and online class offerings. Students on the Troy, Ala., campus enjoy a traditional college experience, while adult students are the centers of attention at campuses in Dothan, Montgomery and Phenix City, Ala., as well as at locations around the world and online.

Troy University’s Montgomery campus with historic Davis Theatre.

 

 

AHA names two new Riley Scholars

The Alabama Humanities Alliance has named Madison County educators Shatia Howard and Alana McNeil as AHA’s 2024 Riley Scholars. The competitive Jenice Riley Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to K-8 educators who excel in teaching history, civics, and geography. Since its origins, Riley Scholars have received funding to support creative history- and civics-related classroom projects.

Funded through the W. Edgar Welden Fund for Education, this scholarship is a tribute to the late Jenice Riley — a passionate educator and daughter of former Alabama governor and first lady Bob and Patsy Riley. Edgar Welden is a former AHA board member and a steadfast supporter of educational initiatives in Alabama. Since 2003, the Alabama Humanities Alliance has named 106 Riley Scholars and funded more than $100,000 in teacher scholarships.

Applications are now being accepted for AHA’s 2025 Jenice Riley Memorial Scholarships. Alabama educators are encouraged to apply by April 30, 2025.

More info

Riley Scholars flyer

Application form for 2025

 

About our 2024 Jenice Riley Scholars
AHA Executive Director Chuck Holmes presents educator Shatia Howard with her Riley Scholarship, at Lakewood Elementary in Huntsville. 

 

Shatia Howard, Lakewood Elementary School
Huntsville City Schools | Kindergarten

Project: Diverse Friends, Happy Hearts

Student enrichment through promoting a deeper appreciation for diversity through literature. By introducing students to a range of cultures and backgrounds, students will enhance their social-emotional learning, empowering them to become more empathetic and compassionate individuals. By cultivating empathy, Howard aims to shape a more harmonious and inclusive future adult. Funding will help support purchasing books, supplies, and a buddy bench.

 

Alana McNeil, Farley Elementary School
Huntsville City Schools | 3rd Grade

Map reading is an essential life skill that modern students may need help with. In this project, students will learn how to read and use maps. Participants will integrate their math, reading, language, cooperative learning, and critical thinking skills. Funding will help support the purchase of maps, learning center supplies, and map puzzles.

 

Help us award more Riley Scholarships

Beginning in 2025, AHA will double the scholarship amount that Riley Scholars receive to support their efforts in the classroom and beyond. If you’d like to help us reward excellent Alabama educators, consider making a gift to AHA.

Learn more about AHA’s Riley Scholarships. Or contact Laura Anderson, AHA director of partnerships and outcomes: [email protected] or 205.558.3992.

 

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through our grantmaking and public programming, we connect Alabamians to impactful storytelling, lifelong learning, and civic engagement. We believe the humanities can bring our communities together and help us all see each other as fully human. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.

History Day at Mt. Meigs

“Alabama History Day has given me light in this dark part of my life. It gave me an example of how throughout history, people have made a way in spite of hard times.” 
—G.M., a student at L.B. Wallace School for adjudicated youth, Mt. Meigs, Alabama 

 

G.M. was one of 30 students at the L.B. Wallace School who participated in a first-of-its-kind Alabama History Day program. Students had the chance to research topics of their own choosing — and then creatively share their findings — just as all other Alabama students do at school, regional, and statewide History Day contests each year.

This barrier-breaking program for adjudicated youth at Mt. Meigs — an Alabama Department of Youth Services (DYS) campus mostly comprised of 16-to-19-year-old boys — was the result of a collaboration between the Alabama Humanities Alliance, the Alabama Writers’ Forum, and DYS.

Over a 10-week program this school year, students at Mt. Meigs participated in a Writing Our Histories program, led by Susan R. DuBose, Ph.D., a leading historian and educator in Alabama. Dr. DuBose and the school’s teachers helped students learn the core principles of primary research and how to develop speaking skills to present their research to a panel of judges.

“The dedicated DYS teachers and staff, along with Dr. DuBose, created an environment where our students could connect with history and learn in ways they had never experienced before this program,” says Tracy Smitherman, Ed.D., superintendent of the Alabama DYS School District. “The students enjoyed it, the exceptional teachers and staff loved it, and as the superintendent, I love that this program inspired them to love learning.”

The Alabama Humanities Alliance and Alabama Writers’ Forum collaboratively developed the Writing Our Histories curriculum — building on the AWF’s well-established Writing Our Stories program, which also takes place on DYS youth campuses. Over the program’s first 25 years, 63 anthologies and 19 chapbooks have been published, showcasing the work of approximately 1,500 students.

The 10-week Writing Our Histories pilot program culminated in an Alabama History Day contest on October 4, on the Mt. Meigs campus. Students presented their research as exhibits that colorfully highlighted what they’d learned on topics ranging from World War II and the Civil War to Alabama athletes and the civil rights movement. Students confidently and enthusiastically talked about what they’d learned, answering questions from Alabama History Day judges who work professionally as educators, historians, and authors. Teachers from other DYS campuses also attended to observe and bring the experience back to their own classrooms.

“Alabama History Day has brought me to the perception to always move forward and to keep your focus on the right opportunity,” one student, K.M., shared. “As Franklin D. Roosevelt said, ’The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’ These words hold true through all times, for there have been occasions when good things during hard times have been accomplished through perseverance and hope. I want to thank everyone for providing me with a chance to advance my growth as an independent individual.”

Alabama History Day will “move forward” at Mt. Meigs, too. The pilot program had such a significant and positive impact on participating youth this fall that an agreement is already in place to carry Alabama History Day into 2025 and beyond with the Alabama Department of Youth Services.

Idrissa N. Snider, Ph.D., at the Awards Ceremony for Alabama History Day 2024 at Mt. Meigs.

“We take great joy in offering programs that empower all Alabamians to be storytellers and humanities champions, at every stage in life,” says Idrissa N. Snider, Ph.D., Alabama History Day coordinator at the Alabama Humanities Alliance. “We want every child to succeed, no matter their circumstances, and we have seen firsthand how empowering and transformational the History Day program can be to students from different backgrounds and parts of our state.”

Alabama History Day is the state contest of National History Day, a history competition that engages middle school and high school students in robust and creative historical research. To learn more about History Day — and how your school, classroom, or student can participate, visit alabamahumanities.org/alabama-history-day.

Learn more about the partnering organizations for Alabama History Day at Mt. Meigs:

Alabama History Day 2024 winners announced

BIRMINGHAM / March 18, 2024 — This month, the Alabama Humanities Alliance presented its annual Alabama History Day contest, an accessible, statewide history research competition for middle and high school students. A total of 167 students traveled from schools across the state to compete at Auburn University at Montgomery’s campus on March 8, 2024. Eligible first- and second-place winners will represent Alabama at National History Day in Maryland and Washington, D.C., scheduled for June 9-13, 2024.

Throughout the 2023-2024 academic school year, Alabama teachers incorporated History Day as a project-learning tool in their classrooms. Students conducted primary research on topics of their own choosing related to this year’s History Day theme: Turning Points in History.

At the March 8 state contest, students creatively presented their research to judges — in the form of documentaries, exhibits, papers, performances, or websites. The Freedom Rides Museum and Rosa Parks Museum enriched students’ experience by providing guided tours full of told and untold Alabama stories.

Alabama History Day continues to grow statewide
In 2024, the state’s first-ever regional contest was held in South Alabama. Idrissa N. Snider, Ph.D., serves as AHA’s History Day coordinator and has worked persistently to develop the program. Dr. Snider, and a pair of teacher ambassadors designated to serve North and South Alabama, provide virtual and in-person assistance to educators and administrators interested in offering History Day to their students.

“A program like Alabama History Day provides an invaluable opportunity for students from diverse backgrounds to delve into a history topic of their choice,” expressed Dr. Idrissa N. Snider, Ph.D., Coordinator of Alabama History Day. “Through this process, we aim to cultivate more informed and responsible citizens who understand the complexities of history and its relevance to contemporary society.”

The Alabama Humanities Alliance invites teachers, judges, and students from across the state to participate in Alabama History Day 2025. Next year’s date and theme will be announced this summer. Teachers use Alabama History Day as a project-based learning tool, and to spark creativity, camaraderie, and healthy competition in the classroom. AHD staff offer “Alabama History Day & Donuts” in-person introductions, as well as more immersive teacher workshops, student summer camps, and virtual Q&As for judges and teachers.

Alabama History Day is made possible thanks to AHA’s partnership with National History Day. Support for the program comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ “A More Perfect Union” initiative and from Alabama Power. The Alabama Humanities Alliance also awarded 2024 special topic prizes of excellence thanks to partnerships with the Alabama Department of Archives and History, Alabama Historical Association, Alabama Public Television, David Mathews Center for Civic Life, Interstate Character Council, National Maritime Historical Society, and Sons of the American Revolution.

Learn more at alabamahumanities.org/alabama-history-day.

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. AHA promotes impactful storytelling, lifelong learning and civic engagement. We provide Alabamians with opportunities to connect with our shared cultures and to see each other as fully human. Through our grantmaking, we help scholars, communities and cultural nonprofits create humanities-rich projects that are accessible to all Alabamians — from literary festivals and documentary films to museum exhibitions and research collections. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.

 

PRESS CONTACT: Phillip Jordan | 205.558.3998 | [email protected]