Holly Hope, Dept. of Arkansas Heritage, Visits Johnson Farm
Lunch with a Historian
Holly Hope stands in front of the farmhouse (built mid-1920s) where we live as stewards.
Holly Hope is a historian working on special projects for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, a division of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. When she’s not incredibly busy giving presentations, scoping out old barns along roadsides, and researching the fruit industry (among other tasks) she’s been helping preserve the history of the Johnson Farm, primarily focusing on the Johnson family and their orchards of apple, pear, peach, and cherry trees. She is nominating the farm, orchards and outbuildings as a district for the National Register of Historic Places. The 1933 Johnson Barn was listed on the register in 1990.
On Monday December 18th, 2017, I had the pleasure of having lunch with Holly and the owner of the farm, Anne Prichard. Both of these ladies have a wealth of historical and archival knowledge. Holly was interested in seeing the 1920s journal of Benjamin Franklin Johnson II, 1852-1932, found in the farmhouse. I also got to interview Holly! Personally I think it’s great that so many organizations are interested in helping us protect the historical and ecological value of this whole area. This kind of support to private landowners and their workers and volunteers is critical, and I don’t know what we’d do without these partnerships. We’ll soon be adding a partners page to the Ripples website to give a shout-out to all you awesome people!