Interpreting Agriculture at Museums and Historic Sites

Debra A. Reid is curator of agriculture and the environment at The Henry Ford, and professor emeritus in the Department of History and Historical Administration Graduate Program at Eastern Illinois University. Since 2006 she has also served as adjunct professor at the University of Illinois in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.

Humans depend on agriculture as a source of food, fiber, and fuel. However, there has been a dramatic shift in the number of farmers who supply these raw materials. Agricultural museums provide a view of the history of agriculture and present the different aspects of agricultural inventions, products, and progress. This volume attentively describes how museums and historic sites offer a view of agriculture that helps explain the progress that fostered this abundant supply of agricultural materials. Throughout the book, there are descriptions of the changes made in agriculture. Examples include the transition from hand picking to machine harvesting corn; the need to change methods for storage, processing, and management; and how agriculture prompted the need for road improvements and the creation of bridges to deliver products to markets. It is important to note that this work should be regarded not as a how-to guide for museums but as a unique vision of how humans depict and understand agriculture from the viewpoint of individuals who did not grow up on a farm. The insights provided in this effort reveal why it is necessary to tell the story of how agriculture has benefited humanity.Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; faculty and professionals.

• Foreword – Tom KelleherPart 1: Developing Interpretation with an Agricultural PerspectiveChapter 1 Interpreting Agriculture: Introduction to Terms and ThemesChapter 2 Once a Field, now Suburbia: Interpreting Agriculture in Any ContextChapter 3 Agriculture: Developing a Humanist Point of ViewChapter 4 Agriculture and Historical ThinkingPart 2: Agriculture in Time and Place: Research as the Foundation for InterpretationChapter 5 Documenting Agriculture in Two Dimensions: Background ResearchChapter 6 Documenting Agriculture in Three Dimensions: ArtifactsResearch Summaries:Chapter 7 You Can’t Eat Gold: Agriculture in Early Colorado City, 1858-1867, Carol Kennis LopezChapter 8 Changes in Corn-Belt Crop Culture: Iowa, 1945-1972, J.L. AndersonChapter 9 A Curator’s Legacy, William S. PretzerPart 3: Thematic Studies to Inform Localized Agriculture InterpretationChapter 10 Roads and Bridges in Rural Agricultural Interpretation, Cameron L. Saffell and Debra A. ReidChapter 11 Horses, Harness, and Transport: Informing Interdisciplinary Interpretation, Barbara Corson, VMD Chapter 12 Livestock in Agricultural Interpretation, Jonathan D. Kuester and Debra ReidChapter 13 Sex, Drugs, and GMOs: Crops and Agricultural InterpretationPart 4: Developing InterpretationChapter 14 Interpreting Agriculture: A Multi-Step Sequential ProcessChapter 15 Case Study – Interpreting Rural Life in El Paso, Texas, Cameron L. SaffellChapter 16 Case Study: An Exhibit – Reaper: Nettie Fowler McCormick and the Machine that Built Tusculum College, Peter M. NollConclusionAppendix: Links to Useful Information