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VPR's coverage of arts and culture in the region.

Who Gets To Call Themselves A 'Vermonter'?

Katherine Welles
/
iStock
A "Welcome to Vermont" sign greets newcomers and visitors, but Vermont Edition wants to know: who can call themselves a "Vermonter"?

Who gets to call themselves "Vermonters"? We're having a conversation about newcomers, old-timers, and those who have been in Vermont for generations.

In the first of our series of Vermont Edition conversations guided by you — our audience — we explore a submission from Neal McIntyre of Londonderry, Vermont.

Credit VPR/tibu, iStock

If you've lived in Vermont you whole life, how do you talk with new arrivals? Do you have thoughts on what makes someone a "true Vermonter"? If you're new to Vermont, have you experienced a divide between transplants and native-born Vermonters?

We reached out to folks on reddit, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Here's some of what we heard:

What an interesting question! Personally I’m a transplant and will never consider myself a Vermonter as it’s a designation I dont really want to pick up. Personally I think he divide that exists, and it does, stems from “being a Vermonter” being the last thing a lot of people have to cling on to.

You can weigh in as well on reddit, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Plus, we'll be joined by Stephen Perkins, the executive director of the Vermont Historical Society, and rural geographer and University of Vermont professor Cheryl Morse, one of the researchers behind the Vermont Roots Migration Project, for a conversation about "flatlanders," "woodchucks," Vermont identity and the relationships between people and place.

You can join the conservation by posting below or emailing VermontEdition@vpr.net.

Broadcast Tuesday, Nov. 28 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

Submit Your Idea

Is there a local issue you want to talk through with your fellow Vermonters? Something you'd love to discuss with someone from a different background or with a different point of view?

Use the module below to submit your idea  — or ideas! — with your name, zip code and email (so we can get back in touch with you).

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Jane Lindholm is the host, executive producer and creator of But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids. In addition to her work on our international kids show, she produces special projects for Vermont Public. Until March 2021, she was host and editor of the award-winning Vermont Public program Vermont Edition.
Emily Alfin Johnson was a senior producer for Vermont Public Radio.
Matt Smith worked for Vermont Public from 2017 to 2023 as managing editor and senior producer of Vermont Edition.
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