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Agricultural Innovation and Heritage Archive

The history of American agriculture has been marked by tremendous transformations. Over the past 70 years, farming has become both more efficient and more sustainable, even as fewer and fewer Americans make their living as farmers.

In 2013, the National Museum of American History asked the public to help us preserve the innovations and experiences of farming and ranching across the United States by sharing their stories about the technologies and innovations that have changed agricultural work, as well as how these changes have affected their communities. The submitted personal stories, photos, and other ephemera became known as the Agricultural Innovation and Heritage Archive.

The museum is not adding material to the archive at this time. Unfortunately, the platform the archive website was built on is now obsolete, so we are currently unable to share the archived materials via the web. However, the data is preserved and will remain a valuable resource for researchers. If you have a question about the archive, please use our contact form.

You can read stories about American agriculture on our blog, and browse artifacts relating to agriculture in the museum's collection.