Activities

RLC activities include public projects and events as well as scholarly work conducted by Kenyon students and faculty in cooperation with the Knox County community.

Scholarly Research. Students and faculty regularly conduct research about central Ohio rural life in conjunction with Kenyon courses, independent studies, and honors projects. The research addresses a wide range of topics: auctions, sustainable agriculture, gravestone symbolism, water quality, old-time fiddling, and land-use patterns, to name only a few. The papers are maintained in the RLC archive, organized under three general headings: agriculture, local history and culture, and rural issues. Because papers may involve more than one of these headings, we encourage you to explore all three areas for material on a particular topic.

Public Projects and Events. RLC sponsors a variety of public projects and events involving rural life. Many of these projects are developed and implemented by Kenyon students as part of their coursework. Original materials from this work are maintained in the RLC archive.

RLC activities are organized under three general headings: Family farming, local history and culture, and rural issues.

Family Farming

Food for Thought (2003- )

This community development project seeks to build a sustainable local market for foods produced in and around Knox County. Working collaboratively with farmers, businesses, and a variety of community organizations, the project is conducting a county-wide food assessment, establishing a local food warehouse and community kitchen, providing small grants to farmers for new product development, and developing marketing materials and public presentations to educate us all about food, farming, and rural life.

Foodways (2000 - 2001)

This series features essays, biographical sketches, photographs, and recipes exploring food and community life in Knox County. Topics include gardening, hunting and trapping, food markets, the economics of food, new farmers, feeding the hungry, eating out, ritual food, cooking, canning and preserving, food and healing, and food choices. The series is based on extensive field research. Bound copies are available for $10 from RLC.

This booklet is designed to bring together consumers and producers of food products in Knox County. The guide includes a complete listing of forty farm, farm markets, and businesses carrying local foodstuffs. Additional materials include maps, information on seasonal availability of products, and an essay on the history of agriculture in central Ohio. A Web version also features recipes for foods in season and information on food preservation. Copies are available for $5 from RLC.

Farm School (1996-1997)

This web-based, interactive curricular unit explores family farming and community life. Designed for middle-school students, the materials and exercises were selected to develop skills required for Ohio’s ninth-grade proficiency examination. The site is organized around six questions: What is family farming? How do farmers relate to their environment? Where does food come from? What is life like in a farm community? How has farming changed through history? What will shape farming in the future? The site also includes teacher resources. Award: Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums Outstanding Educational Project.

The Family Farm Project (1995-1996)

This web site explores family farming and community life in Knox County, Ohio, and was based on extensive field research. The site is organized around five themes: what is family farming, life on a family farm, farm economy, farm organizations and community life, and farming and the environment. The site also includes information on the Family Farm Project (1993-1996) and teaching materials used in coursework related to the project. Awards: Ohio Academy of History Public History Award, Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums Outstanding Multimedia Project, Education Index Top Site.

Rural Delivery: Family Farming in Knox County, Ohio (1994-1995)

This audiotape and booklet feature thirteen visits with central Ohio farm families. The audio programs originally were presented nationally as a series of five-minute radio broadcasts. Topics include historical changes in family farming, agricultural technology, women’s roles, farm aesthetics, organic farming, and spirituality. The booklet presents an essay on the history of family farming in central Ohio, photographs, and biographical information on each of the families in the series. Copies are available for $15 from RLC. Awards: American Farm Bureau Federation Community Award, Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums Outstanding Audiovisual Project.

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Local History and Culture

Oral History Institute (2000- )

This annual three-day institute provides intensive training in the planning and implementation of public oral history projects. The curriculum includes sessions on conceptualizing projects, the ethics of public research, framing interview questions, interview techniques, transcribing, archiving, and the use of technology. Sessions are taught by oral historians representing a variety of fields with extensive experience in public oral history projects. Cosponsored by the Ohio Humanities Council, the institute draws local historians, librarians, teachers, and other community groups from across the country.

The Mayos: African-American Artists of the Heartland (2001-2003)

This oral history project and exhibit pays tribute to two outstanding African-American folk artists with roots in Mount Vernon, Ohio: Walter O. Mayo (1878-1970) and his son, Walter L. "Bud" Mayo (1908-2000). Kenyon students Margaret Tazewell ('03) and Jessica Phillips ('04) conducted interviews with family and community members, traced and documented artworks in the community, and mounted an exhibit and public conversation at Kenyon's Olin Gallery in January 2002.

Times Present, Times Past: Traditional Music of Knox County, Ohio (2000-2001)

This fieldwork project documents the rich folk music traditions to be found in Knox County. Kenyon student Todd Juengling ('01) conducted interviews and field recordings at church services, barn jams, square dances, and in homes. The compact disc recording and accompanying booklet resulting from his work explores this diverse music and its importance to community life.

Holistic Health Care (2000)

This web site explores ideas about holistic health care and its place in Knox County. Kenyon student Jessica Carney ('01) conducted interviews with alternative practitioners, allopathic practitioners, health officials, and people for whom holistic health care is a way of life. What draws patients to alternative practitioners? How do alternative practitioners and the biomedical community view one another and interact?

Life Along the Kokosing (1999-2000)

This tour guide of sites along Knox County’s Kokosing River explores our relationship to nature and rural community identity. The guide includes thirteen five minute audio programs featuring excerpts of interviews with residents about the sites and a forty-page booklet with photographs and additional historical materials. Topics include village and town history, Amish community, agriculture, floods, recreation, immigration, the economy, geological history, wildlife, greenspace preservation, and urban sprawl. Copies are available beginning May 2000 for $12 from RLC. Award: Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums Educational Excellence Award.

Documenting Local Culture (1999)

This three-week summer field school at Kenyon College provided training in fieldwork methods, archiving, and planning public projects. Cosponsored by RLC and the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, the school combined intensive classroom instruction and field research as part of an ongoing research project on life along the Kokosing, recently designated as an Ohio Scenic River. Participants included graduate students in folklore, rural sociology, anthropology, and American studies as well as librarians, museum personnel, and local historians.

Living Together: Rural Diversity in Knox County, Ohio (1998-1999)

This web site explores rural diversity through a series of essays about minority communities, based on extensive interviews and historical research. Essays explore African American, Amish, Belgian, Catholic, gay and lesbian, Irish, Jewish, Latino, Mormon, and Native American life, as well as women on public assistance and the relationship between diversity and ideas about community.

The Community Within: Black Experience in Knox County Ohio (1992-1993)

This free-standing museum-style exhibit explores two centuries of rural African American life through photographs, interviews with Black residents, and other historical materials. Themes include family life, work, religion, social life, and migration. The exhibit is on permanent display in the Knox County Historical Society Museum, located in nearby Mt. Vernon (call 740.393.5247 for hours of operation). Awards: American Association of State and Local History Local History Award, Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums Outstanding Audiovisual Project.

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Rural Issues

Visits (1999 - )

Each year RLC presents Visits, a series of conversations with area residents exploring the character of rural life. These events, which attract a broad audience from the college and surrounding communities, stimulate lively and informative discussion. Video recordings of Visits sessions are maintained at Kenyon College’s Olin Library (phone 740/427-5694 for additional information).

All American City (2003-2004)

The county seat of Mount Vernon, like rural towns nationwide, is facing an important transition. Forces including the expansion of metropolitan Columbus and the growing influence of national retail chains stimulate dramatic changes in community land use, economic development, and social life. Kenyon students Teddy Symes ('05) and Logan Winston ('04) interviewed the town's businesspeople, planners, and citizens to produce a documentary film on Mount Vernon's past, present, and future. The film is available through the Rural Life Center.