This program is supported by a grant from the Bridge Street Fund, a special initiative of Mass Humanities.
Join us from the comfort of your own home for our virtual lecture series. Whittier Birthplace Virtual Lectures will take place over Zoom. Prior registration is required.
Suggest donation: $10/household
Speaker: author and barn-expert, John Porter
John Porter was raised on a dairy farm in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a B.S. Degree in Animal Science, and then went on to get a master’s degree from Cornell University in Animal Nutrition and Farm Management. Later he earned a master’s degree from Bob Jones University in Education Administration. He served as a Dairy Specialist for the UNH Cooperative Extension from 1974 until his retirement in 2006. He still works part-time for UNH and operates his own consulting company, Farm Planning Services, LLC. In 2001, he co- authored the book “Preserving Old Barns”; in 2007, was editor and contributing author of “The History and Economics of the New Hampshire Dairy Industry”; and in 2011 wrote the agriculture chapter for the Concord History book, “Crosscurrents of Change”. In 2019 he published a second edition of the Preserving Old Barns book. He co-authored an addendum to the dairy history book, The New Hampshire Dairy Industry in 2020.
Topic: “The History of Agriculture as Told by Barns”
The evolution of barn architecture tells the story of New Hampshire agriculture. Barns changed from the early English style, to Yankee style, to gambrel and then pole barns to accommodate the changing agriculture. This presentation will be a chronological walk through time, with photo illustrations of barns around the state that are examples of these eras of agricultural history.