Oral history interview with Brendan Whittaker

Oral history interview with Brendan Whittaker

Brendan Whittaker speaks of growing up in Massachusetts, graduating with a degree in Forestry and Wildlife Management from the University of Massachusetts in 1956, becoming Forester for Essex County, Vermont, and with his wife, Dorothy, purchasing their farm in Brunswick, Vermont. He discusses his decision to attend the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in his senior thesis providing an early examination of the role of the church in the conservation movement. He then served as pastor of the St. Thomas and Grace Episcopal Church in Brandon, Vermont, and reflects on social unrest during the Vietnam War years that divided families and church congregations. He also speaks of his service in state government and on organizational boards, starting in 1973 when he was asked to serve as Chairperson of the Vermont District Environmental Commission for Act 250 and then as Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR), and later being appointed by Governor Richard Snelling as Vermont State Energy Director and then as Vermont Secretary of Environmental Conservation. Brendan concludes the interview with reflections on the counterculture in Vermont, with anecdotes that include his visit as ANR representative to Earth People’s Park in Norton, Vermont.

18 May 2016

AudioFile1970s-62

MP3

Audio Files

Brunswick (Vt.)

Permission to publish material from the Vermont 1970s Counterculture Project must be obtained from the Vermont Historical Society.

Rowell, Leslie

Whittaker, Brendan, 1934-

Brunswick (Vt.)

1 hr., 49 min., 32 sec.

Vermont Historical Society Library, 60 Washington Street, Barre, VT 05641-4209