Joe Logan owns a historic barn. It’s located where you’d expect it to be—on his family farm, which, in Joe’s case, is in Kinsman, Ohio. What you might not expect is that Joe’s barn is the star of a new campaign ad for Barack Obama. View the ad.
Preservationists from around the country were immediately struck by the handsome barn featured in the ad. In an email interview conducted by Historic Preservation for Obama, Joe confirmed the barn’s pedigree. “The barn on the video is the ‘newer’ section of our barn” Joe teased. “This section was completed in 1911.” It turns out the “newer” section was coupled to a pre-existing structure which may have been built as early as the mid 1800s.
“We think it’s important to show our support for the candidate who listens to farmers and understands what it will take to make rural America prosper,” Logan said of the barn re-do. The ad featuring Joe’s barn launched “Barns for Obama,” a campaign designed to spotlight Obama’s rural agenda.
Using time-lapse photography, the ad depicts the Logan barn emerging with Obama’s red, white and blue horizon logo and name in huge lettering across one side. As it does, we hear Barack Obama sharing some of his thoughts about the needs of rural America. He talks about the importance of the home town stories of America’s small communities, of investing in rural infrastructure, of giving a hand to the next generation of farmers.
It’s not surprising that Barack Obama picked a historic barn as the backdrop for “Barns for Obama.” As one of Illinois’ two Senators, Obama represents a rural state with a rich array of historic barns. Learn more about Illinois’ historic barns.
But more to the point, historic barns embody the spirit of Obama’s rural policy:
“Real Leadership for Rural America”
Obama’s plan focuses on rural economic development and quality of life issues, with an emphasis on sustainability. “In moving forward, we must always stress sustainability and conservation—principles that are best understood by Americans who live and work off the land,” Obama has said. In this, Obama makes common cause with historic preservation. Preserving rural heritage has long been understood by preservationists to mean helping rural communities protect historic places and implement sustainable, heritage-based development strategies. Conserving our rural heritage helps build more sustainable local economies and increases quality of life.
Nothing better symbolizes the tangible link between rural preservation and rural prosperity than older and historic barns. There is no other country in the world with barns as big and adaptable as ours. Historic barns are the most important historic architectural landmark on our rural American landscape.
Not only do historic barns symbolize rural prosperity, they house it! Older and historic barns provide unique advantages to one of the most exciting and fastest-growing segments of the rural economy—sustainable agriculture. Repairing, restoring and reutilizing our existing rural historic structures enable the purchase of locally available materials and employ local labor in a more sustainable manner than demolition and new construction. For more information, visit the National Barn Alliance and check out the following report:
Historic Barns: Working Assets for Sustainable Farms
“We are very proud of the durability of this structure, to the many purposes it has historically served and to the several purposes it now serves” says Joe Logan of his own historic barn.
Historic barns aren’t rural America’s only heritage-based asset. Heritage tourism can help attract visitors, boost local pride, and foster economic development in rural areas. And historic main street commercial areas in small communities continue to offer hubs for job creation, small business incubation, community and heritage. Obama’s focus on rural quality of life and economic development mirror these preservation strategies. This shared focus explains why Obama’s rural agenda is historic preservation’s rural agenda.
For the last 80 years we have been losing American farms. Farms are consolidating and getting larger. As smaller producers are forced out of agriculture, historic farms are sold and historic farm structures are lost. Local Main Street businesses suffer because larger factory farms tend to employ fewer people than small family-run operations and the profits mostly go to fewer farm owners and outside investors and don’t stay in the community.
“This is an important election for all Americans, but for those involved in agriculture the differences between the candidates [are] huge,” said Joe Logan. And he added one more thing: “Any friend of historic barns and of the Obama campaign is a friend of mine.” Thanks Joe, the feeling is mutual!
Comments are closed for this post.
