Rooted: Cultivating Community in the Vermont Grange

Historic New England and the Vermont Folklife Center give Vermont’s agricultural heritage a starring role in this documentary film. "Rooted: Cultivating Community in the Vermont Grange" explores how this national farmers’ organization has worked to strengthen and preserve rural communities since 1867.

Created in partnership with Middle Branch Grange in East Bethel and Riverside Grange in West Topsham, the film explores the social, economic, political, and agricultural impacts of the National Grange on Vermont’s rural communities over the past 150 years. The film weaves archival images and oral histories with footage of modern-day Grange events to paint a comprehensive picture of the organization and the New Englanders it supports.

About the Project:
The documentary was supported in part by grants to Historic New England from the Alma Gibbs Donchian Foundation, National Grange American Arts and Culture Fund, the Vermont Community Foundation Small and Inspiring grant program, the Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement program, and the Williston branch of Yankee Farm Credit, with additional support from Lyman Orton and Janice Izzi through the Vermont Folklife Center.

The Preservation Trust of Vermont and the Vermont State Grange have served in an advisory capacity throughout the project.

The film is the latest project in Historic New England’s Everyone’s History series, which partners with communities and organizations throughout the region to collect and share stories through exhibitions, walking tours, films, publications, and programs.

Learn more: https://www.historicnewengland.org/ex...