How to Find Topic Ideas in Chicago History
History Fair Projects Put Student Historians in the Driver's Seat
of their Education:
"How to Find Topic Ideas in Chicago History" is their
"Rules of the Road."
Students need to start the research journey off right
by finding a topic and developing a solid question that will hold their
interest and focus and is historically significant. A successful History Fair
experience for students begins with investing time in this initial step. No
crystal ball, "Ouija" board, or lottery will help them: instead, they will need
to wear their thinking caps and walking shoes for some footwork in libraries or
historical societies, and have nimble fingers for computer work.
Help students define the issues that are really important
to them: do they have questions about racism, economic justice, social justice,
civil liberties-and why and how their world got to be this way? Are they
excited about innovations or the cultural arts and the way they are used to
change society? Is their family or neighborhood history really important to
them? All of these "burning questions" can be found and studied in history.
With guidance students can study the past to help understand today and think
about the future.
Students may use the graphic organizer
below to evaluate the topic-being able to answer each point confidently lets
the student know that she/he is ready to begin deeper research. Students want
to avoid before becoming too committed to a topic, only to find themselves
stuck when it is too late to change.
Approaches to Finding Topics
Trolling for Topics: Teaching Students to Skim
A National History Day coordinator offers his lesson plan for
helping students develop a topic using available sources. History Fair teachers
may find it a useful exercise which can be used in conjunction with CMHEC
approaches listed below.
Trolling For Topics (Acrobat PDF)
Approach 1: Explore the Chicago History Museum and Chicago
Public Library Websites
Chicago History Museum holds hundreds of bibliographies on
excellent History Fair topics. These bibliographies open up the wide world of
Chicago history and can help students find an interesting topic that has a
specific focus. Some topics, though not all, will also help students integrate
the National History Day theme. CHS bibliographies may not be used as
students' bibliographies-nor do they reflect all the sources available or
expected from History Fair projects.
http://www.chicagohistory.org/research/resources/history-fair/history-fair-bibliographies
Many sources listed in the CHS bibliographies also may be found at
the Chicago Public Library: Students should go to the CPL libraries and other
collections for primary and secondary sources related to their topic
before going to CHS.
http://www.chicagopubliclibrary.org
The Chicago Public Library website can also help students find
topics of interest. They can explore the pages within the "Learn Chicago"
section: the Chicago Timeline and "Deaths, Disturbances and Disasters" both
provide many topic ideas but students will need to be make sure the topic is
really significant for a History Fair project.
If researchers go to the CPL internal search engine and enter
"History Fair" they will find many digital projects, bibliographies, and
previous topics to inspire them. Students may want to check out the material
available in Special Collections-the availability of primary sources could lead
to ideas for topics.
http://www.chicagopubliclibrary.org/004chicago/004chicago.html
The Encyclopedia of Chicago is now available on-line. Students may find the thematic articles and timeline especially helpful in selecting their topics:
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org
Approach 2: Review Thematic Approaches to Chicago History:
Approach 3: Explore General Books on Chicago History
Scan the table of contents and index of books on Chicago history
to find out what other historians of the city have thought is significant. They
also serve as the first level of research about a topic and their
bibliographies can give students an idea of the availability of sources as well
as lead them to collections of primary sources and focused secondary sources.
These books are available at the Chicago Public Library and many school
libraries.
Encyclopedia of Chicago
Chicago History Museum materials (also available at
the Chicago Public Library)
A Wild Kind of Boldness (collection of CH articles)
Annotated Bibliography of Chicago History (arranged by
subject; different from on-line sources)
Chicago History magazines (and the yearly or compiled
indices)
Duis, Challenging Chicago
Pacyga and Skerret, City of
Neighborhoods
Pierce, History of Chicago (3 volumes)
St. Clair Drake & Cayton, Black
Metropolis
Holli & D'A Jones, Ethnic Chicago
Cronon, Nature's Metropolis
Mayer and Wade, Growth of a Metropolis
Schultz, Women Building Chicago
1790-1990
Travis, Autobiography of Black Chicago &
Autobiography of Black Politics
Cromie, A Short History of Chicago
Skinner, Chicago Portraits
Spinney, City of Big
Shoulders
Approach 4: Check out CMHEC Materials
CMHEC has produced a variety of curricula on specific
topics in Chicago history. These educational materials can provide ideas for
historical questions are packed with primary sources to help a student get
started. Your school may have these sources already or they may be obtained
from CMHEC:
Mexican Community History
Puerto Rican Community History
Reason to Read: Contemporary Issues in History
Swamp to City: Chicago History from the Portage Site to
Metropolis
1919 CD-ROM
Pioneers in the Struggle: African American in the
Struggle for Civil Rights
Documents from the State Archives: Pre-Fire,
Post-Fire, I&M Canal, Great Depression, World War Two
Approach 5: Visit Chicago History
As a classroom field trip or weekend field trip visit the Chicago
Historical Society or other historical collections in the Chicago area. The
exhibits may generate many topic ideas and also demonstrate how a museum
narrows a topic, selects primary sources, and uses minimal text to communicate
a story. In smaller museums and historical societies, students may have the
opportunity to meet with the archivists and librarians-they have knowledge of
the strengths of their collection and may have a "wish list" of topics they'd
like researchers to pursue (an appointment may be necessary). Check out the
CMHEC Resource Directory in History Helpers for more
information about the scores of community institutions that could be visited.
Approach 6: Start with a Current Topic
Students may look through newspapers, news and other current event
magazines for topics and issues that are of immediate concern or interest to
them. Then, they must "localize" and "historicize" the topic; that is, find the
Chicago angle and the history of that issue or a similar situation from the
past. Nearly 90% of the project should be based in history rather than the
current topic. Students may need to refer to the books and websites listed
above to find the local and historical connections.
For example, a
student interested in the current AIDS crisis might want turn to the Flu
Pandemic of 1918, which was both a global issues and has a particular history
in Chicago. Or, a student interested in anti-war struggles might look at
earlier episodes such as the world wars and Vietnam.
Approach 7: Start with a Topic or Theme from a U.S. History
Textbook
Students may review their U.S. History textbooks for ideas that
will need to be localized. From broad themes of industrialization, immigration,
wars, or the civil rights movements specific Chicago history topics can emerge.
Students may need to refer to the books and websites listed above to find the
local connections.
For example, a student interested in the Civil War
could develop a project on the prisoner of war camp for Confederate soldiers
that existed in Chicago, or the conflict in the city among Union and
Confederate sympathizers, or the Chicagoans mobilized locally to support the
Union cause, or the black and white soldiers who enlisted and fought in the
Union army.
Evaluating Topic for History Fair Readiness 
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printable version of this graphic.
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