Library of Congress awards MSU $100,000 on National History Day in Montana

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Montana State University received a $100,000 grant from the Library of Congress for Montana National History Day.

National History Day is an academic program and competition for students in grades 6–12 in which students research a specific topic.

The funds will be used to increase participation in Montana National History Day, especially in small, rural schools.

For more information or to register, clickHere.

The Montana Historical Society sent the following message:

Montana State University awarded a Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources grant on Montana National History Day

The Library of Congress awarded Montana State University a $100,000 grant to celebrate Montana National History Day.

The Teaching with Primary Sources grant will be used by former elementary and middle school teachers Dr. Hailey Hancock and Dr. Melissa Hibbard to increase participation in the Montana National History Day program, especially in small rural schools. They will use it to prepare teachers to teach historical analysis and argumentation, and to increase teacher confidence and competence through India’s Education for All (IEFA) instruction.

Montana State University and Montana National History Day are among 23 organizations teaching for the first time at the Library of Congress using primary sources (TPS) and 19 permanent grantee organizations based in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The current grant awarded in September provides funding for one year, with the option to receive two additional annual grants, provided TPS successfully implements educational projects based on digitized materials from the Library of Congress.

Hibbard is currently an interpretive historian at the Montana Historical Society, and Hancock is an adjunct professor at Montana State University. The duo revived the Montana National History Day program in 2023. Recognizing the library’s rich offerings of IEFA-compliant primary source sets, Hancock and Hibbard chose Indian Education for All – a legal requirement in Montana – as an avenue to develop these skills. National History Day (NHD) is a collaborative academic program for students in grades 6–12 and is a global leader in history and civics education. Each year, NHD reaches more than half a million students and tens of thousands of teachers through its international student history competition and a wide range of teacher professional development programs, software tools and other educational activities.

“I attended and taught in five small schools in Montana,” Hibbard said. “I feel a mixed sense of loss and envy that History Day wasn’t available to me when I was a child, or to my students when I returned to it during the pandemic. Hailey and I want to change that for teachers and students in Montana. This grant from the Library of Congress helps make that dream come true.” Detailed information about MSU Montana National History Day can be found at www.nationalhistorydaymt.org.