Stamp Out Barn Loss!
A Virtual Gathering on
Barn History and Preservation Trends
Get together with other barn owners and enthusiasts to celebrate the U.S. Postal Service’s January 24, 2021 issuance of a new set of barn postcard stamps. Enjoy a discussion about what old barns mean to our communities and trends in barn preservation with three national barn experts and an award-winning fiddle player.

Featured program participants:
  • Thomas C. Hubka, author of Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm Buildings of New England, is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Architecture at the School of Architecture, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

  • John Porter served New Hampshire as a Dairy Specialist, UNH Cooperative Extension for over 30 years and continues to advise farmers on structures and farmstead planning. He is also the author of Preserving Old Barns: Preventing the Loss of a Valuable Resource.

  • Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki grew up with contra dance and Celtic music and has written soundtracks for audiobooks and television, appeared as a guest on over 75 albums, and performs throughout the Northeast.

  • Thomas D. Visser, Professor of Historic Preservation, is the director of the graduate Historic Preservation Program at the University of Vermont. His publications include The Field Guide to New England Barns and Farm Buildings and Porches of North America.

  • The program will be facilitated by Lorraine S. Merrill. Merrill and her family own and operate a dairy farm in Stratham, NH and she served as commissioner of the state’s Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food. Also a journalist and technical writer, Merrill and two collaborators produced a book and documentary in 2020 titled, Communities and Consequences II: Rebalancing New Hampshire’s Human Ecology.

Presented by the N.H. Preservation Alliance with National Barn Alliance, Maine Preservation, Preservation Connecticut, Preservation League of New York State, Preservation Massachusetts, Preservation Pennsylvania, Preserve Rhode Island and Preservation Trust of Vermont.