Banner for National History Day <i>in Massachusetts</i>

National History Day in Massachusetts

Celebrating Juneteenth

A banner with four b&w photographs of Black men and women: Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglas, Sarah P. Remond, and Charles Lenox Remond. All four photographs look old and show the person profiled from the shoulders up.

Celebrating “Freedom Day” 2024: A Virtual Juneteenth Exhibit with NHD Massachusetts 

Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) celebrates the date in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to take control of the state, declaring that according to the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, all enslaved people in Texas are free. Since then, Juneteenth celebrations have honored our country’s second Independence Day and recognized the ongoing fight for human rights and equality.

Though it has long been celebrated among African American communities, Juneteenth is a part of history that still remains largely unknown to the wider public. In 2020, Juneteenth was declared a state holiday in Massachusetts, and the following year was recognized as a federal holiday. 

The Massachusetts Historical Society began an annual NHD Massachusetts Juneteenth exhibition in 2020 with three goals: to promote an understanding of and engagement with the Juneteenth holiday; to highlight select NHD student projects whose work explores topics related to African American history, culture, achievement, and freedom; and to spread awareness of these often-marginalized historical narratives. This year's NHD projects approached history through the theme of "Turning Points in History."

The Massachusetts Historical Society invites you to explore this original and extraordinary student work from the 2024 NHD Massachusetts competition season.

2024 National History Day in Massachusetts Projects

Please note: We were given permission to identify some students by their full name, while others are identified only by their first name. 
 
One of the most valuable aspects of NHD is that students have the opportunity to interpret evidence and draw their own conclusions. Therefore, the interpretations and opinions expressed in these projects are the work of the students and are not necessarily shared by the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Documentaries

Exhibits

Websites

 

Papers