Natalie Wadkins, who recently graduated from Griffith High School, placed in different stages of the National History Day competition when she was a junior and senior and learned a lot from the experiences.
Wadkins said she wasn’t completely surprised to hear the competition wouldn’t be offered to students in the upcoming school year as the Indiana Historical Society ended its sponsorship of the competition due to budget cuts. She said federal funding for historical societies, museums and libraries have been drastically cut under the Trump administration.
When she attended the competition in the last two years, Wadkins said program leaders were relying heavily on donors and sponsors to keep the competition running.
“The past few contests I’ve been to, they had been very heavily stressing (for) donations. They had been struggling. I’m very, very sad to hear that they are ending this because this program has given me so many opportunities since my junior year has ended,” Wadkins said.
In 2026, National History Day estimates 5,000 Hoosier students competed in regional or statewide contests, costing the Indiana Historical Society an estimated $125,000, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle. Students in grades 4 through 12 research the topic of their choice and present their findings through research papers, table top displays, documentaries or websites.
Wadkins went to nationals her junior year for a documentary about Kitty Cone and the 504 sit-in after placing second at the state-level National History Day competition. Though she didn’t place at nationals, Wadkins said she enjoyed talking about her project and meeting students from other states and countries.
In the 10-minute documentary, Wadkins highlighted the work of Cone, who was born with muscular dystrophy, and her fight for federal approval of Section 504 part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which stated that any program receiving federal funding couldn’t exclude or discriminate against people with disabilities.
During her senior year, Wadkins said she created a documentary about the Americans with Disabilities Act and placed first at district but didn’t place in the state-level competition.
The best part of the competition is taking a deep dive into a specific topic, Wadkins said, and also listening to the other students’ presentations to learn more about a specific time or person in history.
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The competition taught her how to do research, structure and organization, Wadkins said. The year she made it to nationals, Wadkins said she learned how to ask for help without feeling ashamed because she needed more support from teachers and others to prepare her presentation.
Wadkins will be attending DePauw University in the fall to study neuroscience and psychology. Her career goal is to work with people with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities.
As she researched topics that pertain to people with disabilities, Wadkins said the National History Day competition allowed her to begin establishing credibility in her future career.
“It’s really given me a foot in the door with a lot of things. It saddens me that kids won’t have the same opportunity that I did,” Wadkins said.
Julie Larson, a Griffith High School teacher who has mentored students participating in the competition, said she was surprised when she heard that the competition wouldn’t continue.
“It’s a great program. I’m just concerned that we’re cutting things off from students to dig into our history in a more meaningful and authentic way,” Larson said.
The competition was beneficial to students because it allowed them to research history in a deeper way than they would in a history class, Larson said.
“They could really engage with material and pull something out and draw conclusions based on what their research was finding,” Larson said.
Students who participated in the competition also learned to be independent, which is a skill that they could utilize in their future careers, Larson said. In the coming years, Larson said she would like the program to come back, even if it’s just established at the local level.
Wadkins said she would like to see the program revived, and she hopes that alums of the program will help bring it back.
“I really hope that this program can come back. I think it will in the next couple of years,” Wadkins said.
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