Resource Center
The theme for National History Day® (NHD) 2027 is Innovation in History: Impact, Influence, Change. Innovation goes beyond creating new tools or devices to finding new ways of thinking, organizing, and influencing society. To put it simply, innovation, at its core, is about change and the impact of that change.
To fully explore innovation in a historical context, we must look beyond the idea itself and examine its effects. How did people, over time, imagine, develop, and implement new ideas, technologies, or methods? And in what ways did those innovations influence societies?
You can find more information and resources for this year’s theme on the National History Day website >>
Make it Local!
There are many stories and people from the history of your own communities here in Frederick County that can serve as a focus for your National History Day project! Take a look below at some examples of local innovators.
Revolutionary Fashion Designer
Claire McCardell loved fashion, and through her own creativity and courage, designed new styles of clothing that changed the way women dressed and lived in their every day lives.
Learn more about Claire, visit her statue on Carroll Creek, and see original designs created by Claire early in her fashion career when she was a student in college.
Making Food Last Longer
As a farming community, Frederick County has always grown different kinds of food. After the Civil War, Louis McMurray changed the way that food was preserved by developing our first cannery.
Learn about McMurray’s new method of preserving food and see historic views of canneries in Frederick County.
Moving People and Farm Goods Faster
Frederick County residents worked together to built an electric powered trolley system that connected communities and helped farmers ship their produce faster to market in the 1890s.
Discover more information by visiting our past Hagerstown and Frederick Railway exhibit, learn about physical landmarks that you can visit that survive from the trolley. Further resources available here >>
An Artist and Entrepreneur
Helen Smith turned her passion for painting into a career that made her one of Frederick’s first female entreneurs. She established her own studio in Frederick in 1925.
Learn more about Helen’s story and career and view a collection of her artwork now preserved at Heritage Frederick.