LA CROSSE HISTORY
unbound
THE LA CROSSE AREA'S HISTORY, DIGITIZED

NHD Students

National History Day Resources and Research Guidance


National History Day (NHD) is great opportunity for you to try out your research skills and become a historian! When completing your research, it's important to include primary sources, which you can find here on Unbound. Always remember that you can likely view any primary source you find on this site in person, just by visiting the archives. Only a small percentage of archival materials are digitized, so visiting the archives is the best way to find all the sources available on your topic.

Unbound provides you with guidance to help you pick a topic, understand primary and secondary sources, find sources, and cite them correctly. Page through these guides in the tiles above.

NHD at the La Crosse Public Library


The La Crosse Public Library hosts over 300 middle school students for tours and research visits every year. Librarians and other staff also act as judges at local, regional, state, and national competitions.

Tours and Research Visits

To find information about bringing a class for a tour or research visit, please contact librarian Payge Rustad at prustad@lacrosselibrary.org. Be sure to contact LPL at least a week before you would like to bring your class.

Finding Primary Sources

To find local, regional, national, and global primary sources, you can use a number of databases provided to patrons by the La Crosse Public Library.

  • Access NewspaperArchive
  • Ancestry.com Library Edition
  • Digital Public Library of America
  • Newspapers.com Library Edition (via Badgerlink)
  • U.S. Newsstream

Go here to access these databases: www.lacrosselibrary.org/resources

Coaching

Librarians provide one-on-one coaching for any student looking to improve their project before moving on to state or nationals. Make an appointment by contacting LPL Archives staff at archives@lacrosselibrary.org.

Washburn Awards

In previous years, before the Covid-19 Pandemic, LPL hosted its own NHD contest called the Washburn Awards and offered cash prizes for projects that demonstrate exceptional primary source research. This has been put on hold in recent years, but we hope to continue the Washburn Awards again at some capacity in the future. Stay tuned.