J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award: National History Day

National History Day (NHD) and its executive director, Dr. Cathy Gorn, are 2014 recipients of the J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award. The award honors an individual, institution, or organization that promotes greater public awareness, appreciation, or support of archives.

Celebrating its fortieth anniversary in 2014, NHD is an academic program in which middle and high school students choose historical topics related to a theme and conduct extensive primary and secondary research through archives, libraries, museums, oral history interviews, and historic sites. After analyzing and interpreting their sources and drawing conclusions about their topics’ significance in history, students present their work in original papers, websites, exhibits, performances, and documentaries.

“A large number of [NHD participants] go on to become lifelong friends of archives and the archival endeavor,” one supporter said. “History Day creates a large cadre of citizen ambassadors for archives, many of whom may develop into donors, financial supporters, and public advocates later in life.”

Established in 1989, the award is named for the noted American historian J. Franklin Jameson. National History Day joins the LGBT Center of Central PA History Project as 2014 recipients of the award.