RBC | For 51 years, National History Day (NHD) has been the premier historical research competition for middle and high schoolers across the country.
At the beginning of April 2025, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grants that have supported the program were canceled by the federal government. NHD is funded by state humanities councils and NEH.
An email from the National History Day Colorado organization states, “We will continue to do more with less. Colorado is in better shape than most states, whose funds are solely NEH.”
An email from the national program on April 2 stated the following: “Yesterday, our Board President wrote to you to let you know that funding for NHD from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) was in jeopardy. This morning, that became a reality when we learned that our grants from NEH were terminated. This means a loss of more than $336,000 over this year and next…We are committed to proceeding as usual, providing an unparalleled experience for our young historians, so I am coming to you for your help. In the next few months, we need to raise $132,000 for this year’s contest alone to make up for the loss of NEH funding.”
There is an opportunity for individuals and organizations to support the state program directly through donations: https://tinyurl.com/5aes5f5c or the National History Day Program at https://nhd.org/en/get-involved/donate/