About Us

Virginia District 4 History Day is a collaborative effort between the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, and Mary Baldwin University.

Special thanks to our Sponsors, Collaborators, and Advisors esspecially Emily Kilgore's help with judge recruitment as co-host for this event and NHD veteran Teacher Stephanie Hammer.

Virginia District 4 includes the following School Divisions:

• Albemarle
• Agusta
• Bath
• Buena Vista
• Charlottesville
• Clarke
• Culpepper
• Fredrick
• Greene
• Harrisonburg
• Highland
• Lexington
• Madison
• Nelson
• Orange
• Page
• Rappahannok
• Rockbridge
• Rockingham
• Shenandoah
• Staunton
• Warren

What to Expect During the Contest

Greetings!

We would like to welcome you to the 2025 VA District 4 Contest for National History Day! We are very excited to return to in-person competitions this year and appreciate all of your time and dedication to this program. Below if a little information for you to keep in mind for Sunday’s competition.

Hours:

Checking in: 8am

Presentations: 9am-1:45pm

Award Ceremony: 12:45 pm-1:30pm in Francis Auditorium

Locations and Parking:

This year’s competition will be held in the Jesse Cleveland Pearce Science Center and the James D. Francis Auditorium (highlighted in red) of Mary Baldwin University in Staunton, VA.

When you arrive, there is free parking lot available in the Sky I parking Garage (highlighted in blue). There is also free street parking, along Frederick St. and New St. (highlighted in green).

Parking closest to the Pearce science center is reserved for participants to allow the space to unload materials and exhibits. Families, friends, and guests, please park in the Sky I lot.

Check In:

Please check in on the 3rd floor of the Pearce Science Center, outside of the entrance of of the James D. Francis Auditorium and check in at the desk. There is an accessible entrance on the first floor of the building (highlighted in yellow).  Volunteers will be posted at various locations to assist with wayfinding and let you know your assigned time and room number.  They will also let you know where there are rest areas both inside and outside the building.

Lunch Options:

Although we will not be providing lunch for participants, we do highly recommend some of the delightful shops and restaurants near the campus:

• On Beverley Street (Staunton's main street), there are many coffee shops, sandwich shops, pizza places and burger joints. A full restaraunt list can be found here: https://visitstaunton.com/eat-drink/ 

Explore Local History:

While you wait, please take some time to visit the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Museum and Library located across the street from the Pearce Science Center. The Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello are a short drive from the venue, and we encourage you to continue learning history after the competition!

Award Ceremony:

The award ceremony will be held around 1:00pm in the James D. Francis Auditorium. There are plenty of seats so please join us if you can! If you are not able to stay for the ceremony, you will be able to see your rankings and we will scan and send any judge feedback to the email provided at registration.

Judge Criteria

• To see examples of entry evaluation sheets to understand how projects will be judged.
  Evaluation Sheets
• For the contest rule book click here!