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.

***

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.