There has been a lot of excitement around our office as we participated into two history community events this week, National History Day Philly 2014 kick-off and History in Pennsylvania Awards 2013.

National History Day (NHD), for those who do not know, is a history competition for middle school and high school students. They are encouraged to use primary-source documents, think critically about history, and share creative projects at an annual juried event. We think the archival collections at small repositories could be a wonderful untapped resource for students to use. Moreover, in the course of our survey work we have noticed that many small history organizations have active volunteers who coincidentally (or perhaps not by coincidence) are retired teachers, and would likely be very helpful in working with students on research for their NHD projects. Therefore, we have been trying to promote the use of small repositories' archival collections by NHD participants. We staffed a table at the NHD Philly 2014 kick-off here at HSP last Tuesday, and wrote a blog for HSP's Educators Blog.

HCI-PSAR Project Surveyor Faith Charlton, HCI-PSAR Project Director Jack McCarthy, and Adrienne Whaley of HCI-PSAR Participant the African American Museum in Philadelphia (left to right) at NHD Philly Kick-Off

Yesterday we helped out at the annual History Affiliates reception and History in Pennsylvania (HIP) Awards 2013. The event was well attended and enjoyed by all. Big thanks to the keynote speaker, Bill Marimow, who led attendees on a virtual tour of vintage Philadelphia in his speech.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania Interim President Paige Talbot with keynote speaker Bill Marimow

Congratuations again to all of the winners!

• Roy Ziegler, longtime volunteer at the New Hope Historical Society, author, and chair of New Hope History Day;
• American Helicopter Museum for its University Public History Program in which West Chester University students worked with museum volunteers to write audio scripts for exhibits;
• Delawarecountyhistory.com for its partnership with the Delaware County Historic & Preservation Network, which fosters better communication and cooperation between historic societies all over Delaware County;
• Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion for its Upstairs/Downstairs Interpretation, which focuses on the lives of women of all socioeconomic backgrounds during the Victorian era;
• Grumblethrope for its youth volunteer program, which teaches students in 6th grade through high school how to give tours, take care of a two-acre garden, run the farm stand, and other life skills;
• Newtown Square Historical Society for its Paper Mill House School Tour, in which homeschoolers of all ages interpret history and act as tour guides;
• Fairmont Park Historic Preservation Trust for its long-term leasing program, which finds innovative uses for historic buildings in the park by leasing them to commercial and nonprofit organizations;
• Perkasie Historical Society for the restoration of its museum and reorganization and preservation of its collection;
• Upper Darby Historical Society for its Collen Brook Farm School Tours, in which volunteer guides give tours every spring to 1,000 third grade students; and
• Arrive Magazine, Amtrak’s bimonthly onboard magazine for the Acela Express train covering the Northeast Corridor that provides a unique and intelligent view of America’s most urban centers of commerce, government, and the arts

Thank you to everyone who attended, for making the night a huge success!