Community history is a collaboration between researchers and community members to collect and preserve the stories of local communities. It uses oral history techniques, archival research, and shared authority models to collect historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life.

The histories produced by the Art of Ranching are created in collaboration with the Historical Topic representative and are led by 4-H youth with the support of the CSU Department of History and Public and Environmental History Center. The Art of Ranching produces these histories in conjunction with participating families. They are slated for publication through Colorado Encyclopedia.