Northern Kentucky University
From Service Learning to Scholarship: The Cincinnati Fresh Air Farm History
Institution
Northern Kentucky University
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Rebecca Bailey
Abstract
As part of a service learning class project, I helped develop a celebratory short film project about the Cincinnati Fresh Air Farm and subsequently helped draft a more formal historical narrative about the Farm’s history. Research and development outside the classroom included working with community partners, examining local history documents, exploring primary documents from the Farm found in various archives, incorporating oral history video interviews conducted specifically for the project, using digital movie-making software, walking the grounds of the Farm, as well as the use of scholarly research resources and secondary sources. Transitioning from a celebratory film project to historical narrative, the story is an exploration of local history that also examines the Farm’s account in a greater historical context. The Fresh Air Farm, founded by wealthy philanthropic female socialites of the Progressive Era, was a working manifestation of the reforms that focused on the health and wellbeing of the "deserving poor" of urban America. Its operations throughout the twentieth century paved the way for the facilities to still be managed today as an entity that continues to serve the good of the community under a different mission statement. The Fresh Air Farm’s history exemplifies the importance and viability of sometimes retrospectively marginalized Progressive Era reform efforts.
From Service Learning to Scholarship: The Cincinnati Fresh Air Farm History
As part of a service learning class project, I helped develop a celebratory short film project about the Cincinnati Fresh Air Farm and subsequently helped draft a more formal historical narrative about the Farm’s history. Research and development outside the classroom included working with community partners, examining local history documents, exploring primary documents from the Farm found in various archives, incorporating oral history video interviews conducted specifically for the project, using digital movie-making software, walking the grounds of the Farm, as well as the use of scholarly research resources and secondary sources. Transitioning from a celebratory film project to historical narrative, the story is an exploration of local history that also examines the Farm’s account in a greater historical context. The Fresh Air Farm, founded by wealthy philanthropic female socialites of the Progressive Era, was a working manifestation of the reforms that focused on the health and wellbeing of the "deserving poor" of urban America. Its operations throughout the twentieth century paved the way for the facilities to still be managed today as an entity that continues to serve the good of the community under a different mission statement. The Fresh Air Farm’s history exemplifies the importance and viability of sometimes retrospectively marginalized Progressive Era reform efforts.