NEH Collaborative Grant

We have some exciting news to share! Whose Land? and the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh were awarded a two-year grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities to support the writing and publication of a multi-author book on race and farming, The Color of Farming in the Heartland: A History of Land, Race, and Memory in Wisconsin Since 1820. Cowritten by Whose Land’s James Levy and UW-Oshkosh’s Stephen Kercher, the book will draw from current Whose Land? partnerships throughout Wisconsin and dig into over ten years of research and oral history work done by Whose Land? and its predecessors, the Wisconsin Farms Oral History Project and the Lands We Share traveling exhibition (pictured above). The authors are currently working with the University of Wisconsin Press and hope to complete the manuscript in 2026.

Work on this project will include developing a website and hosting public programming, both of which will integrate with Whose Land? projects and partnerships.

A New Undertaking—America’s 250th

2026 marks the 250th anniversary—or semiquincentennial—of the United States of America. As part of the next phase of the project, Whose Land? will use this milestone to create what we are conceptualizing as “the people’s 250th”—a ground-up undertaking that will use the stories of our partners, current and new, to reflect on the last 250 years of U.S. history through the lens of land, settlement, and race.

We are presently in the visioning stage of the project, partnering with several schools and other groups to pilot the project for academic year 2024-25 in anticipation of an official launch in fall of 2025. The project will culminate in a series of public events and neighborhood celebrations in July 2026. Schools and partners for this year’s pilot phase of the project include St. John Fisher University in Rochester, NY; Madison Country Day School in Madison, WI; Ripon College in Ripon, WI; Oneida Nation High School in Oneida, WI; The Florence Free Black Settlement Project in Florence, NY; Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, in Milwaukee, WI; and potentially several other schools in the Midwest including the Perpich Center for Arts Education in Minneapolis, MN and two Milwaukee public high schools.

More information is forthcoming. In the meantime, if you are a teacher, a public historian, a community group, or even a home-owner interested in the history of your land and want to participate in or learn more about the project, please reach out to us at info@whoseland.org! We are always open to new ideas and eager for new collaborators.

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Whose Land? is a small non-profit organization dependent on grants and donations to stay afloat. All donations go toward Whose Land?’s projects. If you are interested in making a donation, you can do so here!

The Whose Land? Team