SPRINGDIELD, Vt. – Historian and author Jan Albers, will present the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) program “Vermont’s Merino Miracle: Lessons from a Landscape of Lambs” on Tuesday, March 25, at 2 p.m., at the Nolin Murray Center next to St. Mary’s Church, on Pleasant Street in Springfield.
At the dawn of the 19th century, Vermont was a patchwork of subsistence farms, slowly creeping along the valleys and climbing to the tops of the highest hills. There was development, but no specialty was bringing in big capital. That would change after 1811, when diplomat William Jarvis, of Weathersfield, Vt., brought a flock of Merino sheep in from Spain. The Merino sheep industry grew exponentially in the decades that followed. At the height of this “sheep craze” in 1840, there were 1,681,000 sheep in Vermont – six sheep for every person in the state.
Vermonters thought the Merino Miracle would never end, yet ten years later it was finished. How could such a boom go bust so quickly, and what landscape lessons did it leave behind?
Albers is a retired Middlebury College professor, and author of “Hands on the Land: A History of the Vermont Landscape.” She grew up on a dairy farm in Minnesota, and has a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College and a doctorate in British and American history from Yale.
Sponsored by the University of Vermont, OLLI is run by local volunteer members and is geared mainly towards seniors who are 50 years of age and older who enjoy learning for the fun of it. Anyone who would be interested in this type of program, regardless of their age, is welcome. The programs are held Tuesday afternoons, at 2 p.m., and last about an hour and a half.
You may view the entire semester’s programs at www.learn.uvm.edu/olli/springfield. Preregistration can be done online at this website with a credit card. Payment can no longer be accepted on site. You may also register over the phone using your credit card by calling 802-656-8407 during regular office hours, Monday-Friday, from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. There is a membership series fee. Nonmembers are welcome and encouraged to attend individual programs for a single program fee.
If you prefer to register by mail, send your contact information (name, address, phone number, and email address) indicating full series membership or which specific program(s) you wish the attend. Mail this information and your check made out to University of Vermont – OLLI to UVM Non-Credit Registration Office, 85 South Prospect Street, Box 34, Burlington, VT 05405.
If mailing in the registration, please allow 10-14 days from the date of mailing check to receipt and processing.
If there are weather-related changes to the schedule, you can check the above website on the morning of the program.