A New Digital Exhibition!

Willie Nelson / Photographed by Dennis Garrel

Forty years ago, on September 22nd, 1985, Champaign County hosted its largest concert at Memorial Stadium. Following the success of the Live Aid concert, Farm Aid sought to elevate the struggles of small family-owned farms, which were at the time competing with an expansive, increasingly corporate agricultural economy, and extensive droughts. Over 78,000 people gathered at Memorial Stadium to attend hte 14-hour-long concert featuring renowned performers including Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, B.B. King, and John Mellencamp, among many others. Farm Aid continues to this day as the longest-running benefit concert series in the United States and has raised over $64 million in the name of family farmers across the nation.

Farm Aid Stage / Photographed by John Graham

Farm Aid Digital Exhibit

Learn more about the concert and hear from attendees and planners in our digital exhibit! This will just be an introduction to the concert, and more materials, photographs, and documents will be added to this digital exhibit as it is made available. Be sure to check out the story in person at the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, where their exhibition on the concert will be on display thorugh the end of the year. We partnered with them to provide artifacts from our Farm Aid Special Collection!

Special thanks to Professor Dan Gilbert and his students from his History Harvest class who made this collection possible.