Penn State Professor Emerita of History Dr. Sally A. McMurry in December published the first history of Pennsylvania agriculture in more than 60 years-- Pennsylvania Farming: A History In Landscapes.

The book goes beyond a strictly economic approach and considers the diverse forces that helped shape the farming landscape, from physical factors to cultural repertoires to labor systems.

The people who created and worked on Pennsylvania’s farms are placed at the center of attention.

Dividing the state into fifteen different regions, the author explores factors such as the cultural heritage of settlers, differences in farming practices, the advance of mechanization, and even the endurance of diversified farming, which often helped preserve traditional structures.

More than 150 photographs inform the interpretation, which offers a sweeping look at the evolution of Pennsylvania’s agricultural landscapes right up to the present day.

Click Here to read the introduction to the book.  Click Here for a description of the book from the University Of Pittsburgh Press.  The book is also available on Amazon in hard copy and eBook form.

McMurry is the former president of the Agricultural History Society and is the author of several books on landscape and architectural history, including most recently From Sugar Camps to Star Barns: Rural Life and Landscape in a Western Pennsylvania Community.

(Photo: Lancaster County farmland.)

NewsClip:

Farmland Preservation Hits $1 Billion Mark In PA

Resource Link:

PHMC Pennsylvania Agricultural History Project

[Posted: Feb. 26, 2018]

3/5/2018