FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 18, 2017

Contact:  Lorili Ostman, Executive Director, 530.666.9700, Lorili@aghistory.org

 

CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE MUSEUM RECEIVES GRANT AWARD FROM CALIFORNIA HUMANITIES

 

WOODLAND, CALIF – California Humanities has recently announced the 2017 Humanities For All Quick Grant awards.  The California Agriculture Museum has been awarded $4,509.50 for its project entitled “History in Motion”. 

 

The Humanities For All Quick Grant is a competitive grant program of California Humanities.  Grants are awarded to projects that give expression to the extraordinary variety of histories and experiences of California’s places and people to ensure that the stories can be shared widely.  These narratives help us find our commonalities, appreciate our differences, and learn something new about how to live well together. 

 

The California Agriculture Museum is developing a traveling exhibit that will develop an appreciation for the advances and cooperation between early California pioneers by comparing early marketing techniques to those of today.  Guests attending the Best of the West Show (www.BestoftheWestShow.com) on Memorial Day weekend (May 26th-28th) – nominated as this year’s national Antique Caterpillar Machinery Owners Club (ACMOC) show -- will have an opportunity to see rare antique tractors, harvesters, military equipment, trains, and planes in motion just like the early state fair’s.  The California Agriculture Museum and the Fred C. Heidrick Family will roll in with the 1914 Best 30 high drive, a 1929 Caterpillar 10 Expo, and the Holt 120 crawler.  “This is the first time since 2008 that these vehicles have operated under their own power” says Doug Veerkamp, Chair of the traveling exhibit for the California Agriculture Museum.  More than $16,500 has been donated to make “History in Motion” possible.  Digital files of historical documents have been donated by Caterpillar Archives and Jack Alexander.  More than 6,000 guests will attend to talk to culture bearers and collectors.  You’ll see several hundred antique vehicles transported from across the nation in what we expect to be a spectacular performance similar to Woodland’s Best Show on Tracks in 2008.” 

 

“Everyone participates in the humanities in one way or another, and everyone has something to share to help us better understand and appreciate each other,” noted Tricia Wynne, Chair of the board of California Humanities.  “Our new Humanities for All Quick Grants program is a way to make support for public humanities programs more accessible across the state of California, amplifying voices we may not often hear.”

 

Since 2003, the California Humanities has supported close to 500 story projects and granted more than $4 million to enable communities to voice, record, and share histories – many previously untold or little known.  Through video, photography, murals, zines, documentary theater, audio projects, and more, these collected stories have been shared with broad audiences, both live and virtual.  California Humanities is an independent non-profit state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.  For more information on California Humanities, please visit www.calhum.org.

 

 

The California Agriculture Museum is home to the nation's most unique collection of tractors and agriculture artifacts -- telling the history of farm-to-fork.  The museum is dedicated to enhancing understanding and appreciation of California's rich cultural heritage through the presentation of its collection and rotating exhibits.  The museum's core collection was established by Fred C Heidrick Senior and consists of rare examples of tractors, harvester, horse-drawn wagons, and other artifacts that tell the California Story.