Start preparing National History Contest entries

Post historians who have chronicled the last membership year in the life of their posts should start now on finalizing and submitting those chronicles for judging during upcoming department conventions, the first step in the National Post History Contest.

Entries in the categories of One-Year Post Narrative and One-Year Post Yearbook will be judged by department historians during the conventions. Only the first-place finisher in each category, certified as such by the department historian, will be sent to National Headquarters for the National Post History Contest, where it will be judged by a committee of past and present department and national historians during Fall Meetings, Oct. 11-12. Winners will receive plaques. All national entries must be to National Headquarters by Sept. 15.

Convention dates vary by department. For this and other information regarding the contest, contact your department historian; a directory of departments can be found here. For department historians, the National Department History Contest – for the best yearly department One-Year Department Narrative and One-Year Narrative Yearbook entries – will also take place at National Headquarters during Fall Meetings; these entries are due by Sept. 15 as well.

If you did not put together an entry for the past year, consider starting now on the one that will begin in June. These chronicles can serve as templates for future post members to continue the activities and community service that make your post special. Use your Consolidated Post Report (CPR) for a list of possible events to cover; a link to the CPR is available here. Handy guidelines and advice on creating narratives and yearbooks can be found in the Post Officer’s Guide, beginning on page 147.