History Day is a priority for us at the East Side Freedom Library. Our rich collections are organized around labor, immigration, African American, and social justice movement history and include not just historical studies but also poetry, fiction, visual art, drama, music, film, and autobiographies in these areas. We have more than 20,000 books in these areas. We are also the home to the Hmong Archives, which is the most extensive collection in the world of primary and secondary sources documenting Hmong experiences. We cannot imagine a better theme for our strengths than “Breaking Barriers.”

Our Team
We have assembled an all-star team of History Day mentors eager to support teachers and work with students. Dr. Peter Rachleff, who taught at Macalester College for 32 years and assisted many successful History Day projects, is the co-executive director of the Freedom Library. Dr. Beth Cleary is a Theater professor at Macalester and is available to consult with students developing performance pieces. Greg Poferl taught U.S. History and led a very successful program at Cretin-Derham Hall. David Dyson’s and Susanne Hollingsworth’s students from the Open World Learning Community won many state and national awards. Margaret Taft directed projects at Susan B. Anthony Middle School in Minneapolis. And there will be more of us!

How We Can Help
Our resources and our team are at your service. We have materials to support student work on story boards, including printers, scanners, cutters, and boards. We also have a great rehearsal space where students can develop their performances. We will offer a weekly History Day Workshop every Saturday from 10am to noon, beginning the first Saturday in November. We will also try to accommodate your needs, after school, evenings, and other weekend times.

Contact Us
Just email us at [email protected] or call us at 651-207-4926. The Saturday workshops will be set up to work with drop-ins, but, for other times, we recommend you contact us first. We are located at 1105 Greenbrier Street in Saint Paul, a few blocks east of highway 35E.

Here is a link to the national website: https://www.nhd.org/breaking-barriers-history

Click “Going” or share on Facebook!