Week One: Introductions and Research Goals

Introductions

    Hello! My name is Carson Maschmeier and I am a second year graduate student at the University of Central Florida on the Public History track. I'm thrilled to be continuing my work this semester working with UCF faculty and Dr. Scot French on the continuation and evolution of UCF's History Harvest model. I've spent the past two years working with the Veterans History Project and the Hungerford School project, working with residents from all across Central Florida to capture their memory and preserve their stories for future generations. My work brings me so much joy, and I'm so excited to continue it this summer.

Conceptualizing the "History Harvest": Goals and Outcome

    The History Harvest's origins have been debated throughout the field of Public History, but ultimately I believe it's roots are heavily based in one of the original public history projects of the digital age: Ed Ayer's Valley of the Shadow project is an electronic archive that was created from the resources of two different Civil War communities to illustrate the small, nuanced details that life during the Civil War entailed. Designed in 1991, the project aimed to include the use of digital history, creating the first electronic archive based on community history.

    Since then, the History Harvest initiative has grown to become an adaptable model for the consumption of public facing, communal history. RICHES and Stanford University embarked onto their own topical harvests, including "story days" and the creation of other, minor projects like the Veteran's Legacy Program. Despite it's popularity as an initiative, the project and it's methodology lacks a solid foundation as an adaptable, consistent model for the collection of communal history. UCF has taken extraordinary steps to provide students with opportunity and support in reaching Central Florida, yet many questions still remain for students with no prior experience.

    My goal this semester is to work with UCF faculty and professors to create a simplified, streamlined guide to the creation and completion of a History Harvest.  Through evaluation and experience, I wish to create a guide that leads students through chapters outlining the creation process, "day of" procedures, and the archival process that characterizes the History Harvest concept. My desired outcome is an accessible booklet designed for students and educators to utilize as an adaptable model for creating a History Harvest. Ultimately, my work will hopefully empower students to think about history outside of the literal "capturing" process, but instead showcase the archiving, managing, and public outreach that the field of Public History calls for. 

Debary Hall: History Harvests in Practice

    Alongside my work, my team has a unique opportunity to conduct a History Harvest with the City of Debary. We met with Debary Hall's Tracy Mestre this past week, theorizing and establishing a framework of understanding of desired goals and subjects for oral histories. Importantly, we need know who plans to store the documented materials and how the sources we collect will be represented. We plan to meet the city council this coming Monday, where we will introduce ourselves and plan out the next steps of the History Harvest. Debary Hall will prove to be an interesting case study, allowing me to formulate a set of guidelines whilst learning and exploring methods myself.