History Harvest Blitz Week begins tomorrow, April 8th and will run through Friday, April 12th. What exactly is the History Harvest? I’m glad you asked. The History Harvest is a partnership between communities and local people and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Those who have worked closest and hardest on the project to date describe it best:

The History Harvest is an innovative new authentic learning initiative in the Department of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This collaborative, team-oriented, student-centered and community-based project seeks to create a popular movement to democratize and open American history by utilizing digital technologies to share the experiences and artifacts of everyday people and local historical institutions. At each ‘harvest,’ community-members are invited to bring and share their letters, photographs, objects and stories, and participate in a conversation about the significance and meaning of their materials. Each artifact is digitally captured and then shared in this free web-based archive for general and educational use and study. Overall, the History Harvest project aims to raise visibility and public conversation about history and its meaning, as well as provide a new foundation of publicly available material for historical study, K-12 instruction, and life-long learning.

On Wednesday, April 10th yours truly will post about past experiences participating in the History Harvest and thoughts about building community partnerships for the History Harvest.

Please help spread the word about the History Harvest and participate in some of the week’s upcoming activities. Here are some ways you can do so:

• Visit the History Harvest online. You can learn more there about the History Harvest’s goals and purpose, see where the History Harvest was held in the past, browse digitized items and stories shared in past History Harvests, and more.
• Follow the conversation this week on Twitter. #history_harvest
• Join the History Harvest Google hangout on Thursday, April 11th at 4 p.m. EDT to learn about and discuss best practices of the History Harvest.
• Watch some videos about past History Harvests.
• Join the NITLE Seminar on Friday, April 12th at 3 p.m. EDT where UNL Professors Will Thomas and Patrick Jones will reflect upon past History Harvests and discuss planning the National History Harvest. Register for the seminar here.