At a time when Vermonters, especially our youth, need a sense of place, we have to find a way to tell the stories of our local community’s history so they can be preserved, cherished, and passed on to the next generation.

The Vermont Historical Society developed the Community History Project as a model to meet this need. Ten pilot sites were chosen to form teams made up of people from local historical societies and local schools. Each team began with choosing a community story. Students and adults are learning to use historical resources to develop their stories and then using current methods and technologies to tell them and present them to communities. Formats for telling the stories include the Internet, historical re-enactments, plays, and exhibitions.

The original ten teams are Peacham, Black River, Cabot, Fairfield, Morrisville, Orleans, Richmond, Swanton, Vergennes and West Fairlee/Vershire. Building on these ten participants’ experiences the Vermont Historical Society hopes the Community History Project will be used as a model for all towns to use to save their community’s stories.