Thirty-seven Montana students competed at the 2026 National History Day National Contest, held June 14-18 at the University of Maryland in College Park, in what organizers described as the largest Montana delegation to the national competition in recent memory. Montana students earned special prizes, Smithsonian showcase selections and top-20% finishes across multiple categories.
This year’s theme, Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History, was chosen to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Montana’s 37 competitors came from 25 projects and 16 schools, including five schools participating in National History Day for the first time. In all, 325 Montana students competed at the regional and state levels to earn their spots in the national field of nearly 3,000 students from 49 states and international affiliates.
Among the standout performances, Ella Cooney of Harlowton High School competed with a paper on Montana’s homestead frontier and became the first Montana project in eight years to win a special award at the national level, earning the Special Prize for the History of Agriculture and Rural Life. She also placed in the top 30% of all Senior Papers in the preliminary round and was selected for a writing workshop at the White House Historical Society during the contest.
Jimmy Kelly of Superior High School was selected as Montana’s representative for the Exhibit Showcase at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, where she presented her Senior Individual Exhibit on rodeo pioneer Alice Greenough to museum visitors throughout the day.
Billy Eastman and K’lell Stump, both Apsáalooke and recent graduates of Hardin High School, competed with a Senior Group Performance about the Native American Church. Their project was among only a dozen performances selected from across all national affiliates for the Performance Showcase at the Smithsonian, an honor reserved for projects representing undertold stories in history.
Thomas Johnson of Jefferson High School performed a solo dramatic presentation about the 1917 timber strike in northwest Montana, also selected for the Smithsonian Performance Showcase. At the state level, his project earned two Montana Historical Society awards: the Martha Plassmann Prize for outstanding use of digital newspapers and the Dave Walter Travel Scholarship for the best Montana history project advancing to nationals.
Fletcher Baer and Jaxin Erickson of Lolo Middle School placed second in the preliminary round of Junior Group Documentary — a top-20% finish — earning the title of Outstanding Junior Affiliate from Montana at the national contest. The pair has competed at nationals for three consecutive years.
Kinsey Bradstreet and Lillie Suffia of Bigfork High School also placed second in their preliminary round in Senior Group Documentary, earning the title of Outstanding Senior Affiliate from Montana.
“These students spent months doing the kind of rigorous, original historical research that most people never attempt,” said Melissa Hibbard, historian and National History Day in Montana co-coordinator with the Montana Historical Society. “They traveled to Maryland and shared that work with the nation, and every one of them represented Montana wonderfully.”