NEH Landmarks in American History and Culture: Workshops for Teachers

July 8-13, July 15-20, and July 22-27

Join us next summer for workshops that examine changing connections between farming and American life. Participants will explore how the production and consumption of food lie at the heart of a people’s history, culture, economy, and environment. We will make the farm a window to learning by examining how agriculture influenced larger events in American history, and how evolving technologies, social conditions, and government policies converged on the rural landscape.

Developed jointly by Western Michigan University’s Department of History and Tillers International, the workshops will take place at the Tillers 450-acre farm in southwest Michigan. The emphasis is place-based and experiential: Participants will receive training in animal-powered agricultural methods, household gardening, historical machinery and tools, and farm building design. We will design Victory Gardens appropriate for our different schools, communities, and regions. We will take a fieldtrip to a nearby winery and the world’s largest cash-to-grower produce market. We will visit a prominent regional archive to examine an array of primary sources, including the writings of Thomas Jefferson and James Fenimore Cooper. An acclaimed group of rural historians will join us to share their work (some of whom are farmers and gardeners as well as scholars). Together, everyone will dig deeply into our country’s agrarian past in order to understand the present.

For further information and application materials visit our website: <>