Share Your Homesteading Story

Do you have an ancestor or relative who homesteaded? We’d like to collect their stories!

People's stories are among the most valuable resources that the National Park Service preserves and protects for future generations. The park is working to collect as many stories about homesteaders as possible to tell the story of homesteading acorss the country during the 100+ years of homesteading history.

Please fill out the Share Your Stories Document and send it back to us with information about where you homesteading ancestors lived, if your family still owns the land, and stories about their life as homesteaders. You can email the form to us via [e-mail] or mail it to 8523 W State Hwy 4, Beatrice, NE 68310.

 

Living Homesteader Project

Do you know of any homesteaders still living today? The goal of the Living Homesteader Project at Homestead National Historical Park is to locate and record the experiences of many of the remaining homesteaders before the opportunity is lost. We are looking for people who filed claims under the Homestead Act of 1862; both the successful and unsuccessful homesteaders.

Another goal is to bring together and coordinate a group of historians from across the United States to capture the knowledge and experiences held by living homesteaders. The scholars will determine what vital information is needed from these living homesteaders and design oral history questionnaires. Oral histories will be taken under the direction of one or more of these scholars with the assistance of college graduate history students from the University of Nebraska and Grand Valley State University, Michigan. One important outcome from this information will be the launching of scholarly writings based on the scholar's area of study and information obtained from the living homesteaders.

If you are a homesteader or know of a living homesteader, please contact us about recording your stories:

Homestead National Historical Park
8523 W. State Highway 4
Beatrice NE 68310
402-223-3514
email

 

Participating Scholars for the Living Homesteaders Project

• Dr. Gleaves Whitney, Director of Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies, along with ten PhD Students, Grand Valley State University, Michigan
• Dr. Ken Winkle, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Dr. Jeannette Jones, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Dr. Andy Graybill, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Dr. Robert King, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska
  Michael Smith, Nebraska Historical Society
• Dr. Burt Folsom, Hillsdale College, Michigan
• Dr. John Haines, Homesteader & Professor, Alaska
• Dr. Robert Cherny, San Francisco State University, California
• Dr. Elliot West, University of Arkansas
• Dr. Don Stevens, National Park Service Midwest Region Historian
• Dr. Jane Hood, Director, Nebraska Humanities Council

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