Our Mission

Vision Statement

• We preserve and protect the historic importance of the Ethan Allen Homestead Park by utilizing site-based and experiential educational programming to connect visitors to the history of Vermont and early America.
• As a positive force in our community, we seek working partnerships with the Winooski Valley Parks District, the Abenaki community, and other local and state groups while serving in a socially representative environment.
• Our goal is to improve our understanding of the past and its relationship to the present and future.

Commitment to Equity

History is at its core a collection of diverse stories and experiences that we tell about ourselves. The literature, objects, land, and people all have stories and perspectives. They are not straight lines, nor are they universal experiences. Rather they are collections of narratives that intersect and interact with each other. The storyteller and the listener construct meaning together. History is not fixed, rather it is constantly evolving and growing based on shared stories and inclusion. The more stories and experiences that are shared, the deeper the knowledge and richer the understanding.

In the earliest days of our Republic, the concept of natural law was inscribed in the code of our civic religion. Certain concepts like freedom of speech, free press, security, and freedom of assembly were not rights granted by a government, but natural rights that existed outside of governmental power. Central to these concepts is the notion that government should be formed by the consent of the governed, with all people and perspectives welcomed. Yet, we must also be honest that despite aspiring to these lofty ideals, the founders were not able to live up to them. Certain attitudes, prejudices, and failings prevented them from fulfilling that promise. It is incumbent upon us as the inheritors of their legacy to learn from both their successes and their failures. We must live up to those goals ourselves and ensure that the natural rights of all living beings are respected, understood, and protected.

We stand in solidarity against institutionalized, governmental, and societal oppression. We stand against racism, majoritarian tyranny, cultural hegemony, and bigotry in any form. Those concepts are abhorrent to natural law and deny living beings their natural rights. We commit to be a space where stories and ideas that challenge and dismantle systems of domination and oppression can be shared. We commit to leaving our children’s legacy, our society, and our home better than we found it.