To Janie-Rice Brother, that old barn setting off the side of the road, falling in and covered in vines, is more than a crumbling shed. It’s history. And in documenting that history, she is willing to go to just about any lengths to get the job done.
Brother, senior architectural historian with the Kentucky Architectural Survey in Lexington, was in Crittenden County earlier this month, climbing fences, wading through sloppy barnyards, battling ticks and blazing trails through chest-high weeds to gather information and photos of several agricultural structures throughout the county. With Brenda Underdown, county historian, as her tour guide and chauffer, she more than 50 miles behind her in completing the field work of a study documenting a small portion of Kentucky’s rural heritage.
Now that the hands-on portion of an $8,800 grant project to document historic agricultural architecture in Crittenden and Livingston counties as a means of preserving the past is finished, about all that is left is paperwork. However, next week, Brother will take a break from the paper shuffling to be back in Marion to host a wrap-up meeting on the project.
“We want to express to the community how very important their cultural resources are,” said Brother, pointing to one of the purposes of Wednesday’s meeting in the judge-executive’s office of the courthouse.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m., and is open to the public — those who have had their properties surveyed and anyone interested in preservation of the unique history of rural Kentucky.
“In short we'll have a Powerpoint presentation showing what we've seen, talk about it and answer any questions,” Brother said of the meeting.
A similar forum will be held for Livingston County residents at 7 p.m., Tuesday at the new Extension Service office in Smithland.
