By Dale Mize
Hello! My name is Dale Mize, I am a second-year Ph.D. student in the history department at UIUC, and this summer the Humanities Research Institute Summer Bridge Program and The Land Connection have partnered up to allow me to develop a project as a venue for farmers to share their stories and experiences.
The way this works is that the summer bridge program selects a few graduate students every year to participate in the program who then spend the summer contributing to various community organizations in the Champaign-Urbana area. This pairing is done based on compatibility and student interest, while also considering the goals of the community organization.
As a first-generation student, my research interests emerged from a curiosity about where and how I grew up. Growing up in Fowlerville, Michigan, a small agricultural community in the south-central part of the state, is an experience shared by many others who live in rural small-town America. However, as a historian, I have come to think about the ways my community shaped who I became. I grew up an avid 4-Her, showing quite literally everything you can find at a county fair. I came from a blue-collar family of farmers, autoworkers, and carpenters. I traveled often to livestock shows, or standardbred horse races whenever my family had a horse in a race. Again, my experience is not unique in and of itself, but what I was always most fascinated by was the people I met along the way and the stories they told. I learned that by simply listening to another person you can learn so much about them, and the way they see the world.
Due to this, and with my hometown community always on my mind, my interests revolve around the intersection of rural and urban spaces, and I pay particular attention to the agricultural community and its impact in the modern era (post-civil war) of the United States. During my Master’s degree at Colorado State University, I put my listening skills to use, earning a degree in public history, and helped to create the Art of Ranching Oral History Project which focuses on the histories of local ranches. When I was given the opportunity to work with The Land Connection this summer, I knew that I could do something similar to the work I had done in Colorado, but I wasn’t quite sure how to frame it. Oral History can be very extractive and I wanted to ensure that I was not the sole beneficiary of the interviews I conducted. With an interest in livestock, I was able to meet with Ron, Shane, Colin, and Max Bailey (Savannah Ridge Farms), Jeff and Rita Glazik (Cow Creek Organic Farm), and Chris and Erin Crider (Crider Farms). My goal for this project, which I have titled “Field Notes,” is to highlight these farms, and the work the families put into them. I am grateful for each family’s participation in this project and encourage readers to check out their websites and/or find them at the local C-U farmers markets.
