The original turkey brooder house that Charles Wampler, Sr. developed in the 1920s.
On October 9 at 3pm, join us as we open a new exhibit:
Friends of a Feather: Mennonites and Brethren in the Valley Poultry Industry
This exhibit will tell the story of Brethren and Mennonite involvement in the Shenandoah Valley’s poultry industry. It is housed in a new building on our campus, a replica turkey “brooder house” built according to the pattern that Charles Wampler, Sr. used during the 1920s (see photo, above). This exhibit will also feature several interpretive panels, along with artifacts related to the farming of chickens and turkeys.
The stories that this exhibit will tell include those of Samuel Blosser, a Mennonite who in 1885 was the first person in Virginia to artificially incubate chicken eggs and in 1911 opened Virginia’s first commercial hatchery; Charles Wampler, Sr., a Brethren who in 1922 was the first person to artificially incubate turkey eggs, later developed the “grower contract” system that is widely used today, and has been called “the father of the modern turkey industry”; Jacob Shenk, a Mennonite who operated a large and successful hatchery from 1933 until his death in 1950, and who by 1942 committed to donating ninety percent of his net profits to charity (supporting local churches, schools, and hospitals); and Corwin Heatwole, a contemporary Mennonite who has started an organic poultry processing operation and has developed a business model that places control back into the hands of farmers and focuses on sustainability.
Our opening event on October 9 at 3pm will take place outside the brooder house on our campus, and will be moved inside the log house in the event of rain. Hobey Bauhan, president of the Virginia Poultry Federation, will give an address, and light refreshments will be served.