Community History and History Harvests

Doing Community History

with Dr. Elijah Gaddis, Hollifield Professor of Southern History at Auburn University

This digital workshop will focus on practical, low-cost, and sustainable practices for doing community history. Attendees will learn best practices for documenting, preserving, and digitizing their local and family histories by holding a “history harvest.” History harvests are community events that bring folks together to share memories and stories, and to identify, digitize, and preserve important historical materials. The talk will focus on the process of planning, promoting, and executing a history harvest. This workshop is ideal for small museums, historic sites, churches, synagogues, or other groups that want to make the important historical resources of their communities more accessible.

This workshop will be led by Dr. Elijah Gaddis, Hollifield Professor of Southern History at Auburn University in Alabama and the founder of the Community Histories Workshop. For two decades, Dr. Gaddis has worked with communities across the South to help preserve their history and tell their stories.

After this initial workshop, Dr. Gaddis will be available for Zoom or in-person appointments between Wednesday, August 6 and Friday, August 8 to answer your questions as you start planning your own community history event.