Past Programs

During the course of the year the Hopewell Valley Historical Society sponsors community programs on local history, often in partnership with the Hopewell Museum and the Pennington Library. These programs typically are free and open to the public.
See also:

Current Programs
HVHS Calendar
Hopewell Valley Heritage Weekend - Memorial Day weekend

Reenactors at Hopewell Valley Heritage Weekend

2019 Past Programs - Fall / Winter

Hopewell Holiday Teas

Sun. Dec. 1, 2019 - One Chilly Sunday Afternoon -- Two Welcoming Town Traditions.

Hopewell Museum, 28 E. Broad Street - 1 - 4 pm
Join Museum staff and trustees for a wonderful holiday tea and tour at the newly reimagined Museum. NEW! Children's activity booklets!

Hopewell Public Library, 13 E. Broad Street - 1 - 3 pm
Drop by the Red Library to enjoy homemade goodies and conversation with staff, volunteers, board members, Friends, and other patrons. NEW! Children's Program at 1 pm with Lily Bunny and Suki (Registration required at 609-466-1626).

The Ten Crucial Days: Washington's Vision for Victory Unfolds

         Tues., Nov. 19 , 2019 - 7- 8 pm
         Hopewell Branch, Mercer County Library, 245 Pennington-Titusville Rd., Pennington, NJ 08534
         Free and open to the public

This talk tells the story of the battles of Trenton and Princeton that took place between December 25, 1776 and January 3, 1777 and why they are so important in the history of the American Revolution. In many ways the talk focuses on the people of New Jersey, especially Hopewell Township, and how their lives were influenced by the events discussed. The talk is based on Mr. Kidder’s research for his recent book entitled The Ten Crucial Days: Washington’s Vision for Victory Unfolds (The Knox Press).

Mr. Kidder is a retired history teacher who has been involved as a volunteer historian and public speaker for many years with several New Jersey historic sites and historical societies, including the Hopewell Valley Historical Society (Past President). He is the author of three books on the Revolution as it affected people in today’s Hopewell, Lawrence, and Ewing Townships and the city of Trenton.

Co-sponsored by the Hopewell Branch of the Mercer County Library, Hopewell Valley Historical Society, and the Hopewell Museum. Registration requested.

Click for printable PDF

HVHS Annual Meeting: House History Research

Sun., Sept. 29 , 2019 - 1:30 - 3:30 pm
Titusville Presbyterian Church, 48 River Drive, Titusville, NJ

The Annual Meeting will open with a business meeting for HVHS. Members will be asked to vote on a slate of officers and new trustees. After the business meeting, Pam Cain will present a program based on her experience conducting the Historical Society’s House Lineage program in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Her presentation will discuss her methodology for doing the research, with examples, and include some of her interesting findings. The HVHS “house plaques” on more than 100 Hopewell Valley properties were a direct result of Pam’s research.

Pam's research was a valuable help in the preparation of the book, Hopewell: A Historical Geography by Richard Hunter and Richard Porter, published by Hopewell Township in 1990. She also did the main body of the research to help in placing the historic Hunt Farmstead, owned by Mercer County, on the Historic Register. She did numerous walking tours of Pennington for local groups and the grammar school. Her work has been used by the Friends of the Pennington Library and the Friends of the Hopewell Library in the preparation of their house tour brochures in recent years. - Download PDF brochure

Bring a guest. Refreshments will be served.

Pam Cain

Kid with a Camera: Memories of Pennington N. J. at Mid-Twentieth Century

Sun., Sept. 22, 2019 - 3 pm
The Pennington School, Wesley Forum, Kenneth Kai Tai Yen Humanities Building

Photo essay author Mike Thomsen will share stories and photos from Pennington during the 1940s and 1950s. Thomsen grew up at 25 East Welling Avenue, arriving in Pennington with his family in 1946, at the age of 4. He has written a photo essay filled with reminiscences about his experiences growing up in Pennington. Co-sponsored by the Hopewell Valley Historical Society, Hopewell Museum & Pennington Public Library. Click here for free tickets. - Download PDF brochure

Thomsen Photos

2019 Past Programs

Sun., Sept. 29 – HVHS House Lineage Program in the 1970’s and 1980’s - Pam Cain - Annual Meeting
Sun., Sept. 22, 3 pm - Kid with a Camera: Memories of Pennington NJ at Mid-Twentieth Century - Mike Thomsen
Mike Thomsen, photo essay author, will share stories and photos from Pennington during the 1940s and 1950s
Location: The Pennington School, Wesley Forum, Kenneth Kai Tai Yen Humanities Building
Co-sponsored by the Hopewell Valley Historical Society, Hopewell Museum & Pennington Public Library
Free Tickets: https://thomsenpennington.eventbrite.com
Sat., Sep. 21, 2019, 10 am - 4 pm - HVHS booth at the Hopewell Harvest Fair - Hopewell Elementary School grounds, Hopewell, NJ - hopewellharvestfair.org
June 9, 2019 - The Mystery of Honey Hollow - Richard Hunter - Pennington School
See discussion and reportwww.hunterresearch.com/news/2018/7/4/plumbing-the-depths-of-honey-hollow
May 23 - 27, 2019 - Hopewell Valley Heritage Weekend - Memorial Day weekend
May 25, 2019 - Presentation on the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Nation - Reverend John R. Norwood - Hopewell Museum
Presentation by the Reverend John R. Norwood, Principal Justice of the Tribal Supreme Court and Councilman-at-Large for the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Nation in South Jersey, on the history and current work of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Nation. (51)
May 24, 2019 - American Indians in Hopewell: A Census Puzzle Solved - Larry Kidder - Hopewell Museum
Program about the Carlisle Indian School and the students from that school that were placed with Hopewell Township farm families for either a summer or a full year as part of the government effort to remove their Indian culture. (51)
Sat., May 10, 2019, 10 am - 4 pm - HVHS booth at Pennington Day - Downtown Pennington Borough, NJ - penningtonday.org
April 24, 2019 - Following the DNA Trail - Joseph Klett - Hopewell Museum
Program on the use of autosomal DNA matches to help trace challenging lineages and identify hitherto unknown ancestors. (33)
March 10, 2019 - Life in Hopewell Township in the 1870s - Larry Kidder - Pennington Library
Program at the Pennington Library in association with the NEA Big Read grant for community reading programs. (67+)
March 8, 2019 - The Dark Side of the Sourlands - Jim Davidson - Hillbilly Hall
Program by East Amwell historian, Jim Davidson, exploring the "Dark Side of the Sourlands" - bootleggers, bandits, mysteries and murders.
Feb. 27, 2019 - Historical Watercolors: Hopewell Valley and Beyond - Jacquelyn Pillsbury - Mercer Co. Library Hopewell
Program about Jacquelyn Pillsbury's late mother-in-law, Joyce Enoch Pillsbury. Joyce was a lifelong artist and resided in Ewing, New Jersey for nearly 70 years. Joyce was a prolific artist, although many were unaware of her artistic ability. Her artwork was primarily watercolors of quirky local scenes, including barns, historic buildings, industrial sites, nature scenes, and urban buildings in Mercer County. (15)
Feb. 3, 2019 - Ere the Shadows Fade: New Jersey’s Civil War Era Photographers - Gary Saretzky - Hopewell Museum
Program on N.J. photographers, with the focus on Mercer County, including specific photographers from Flemington and Lambertville that are represented in the Hopewell Museum and HVHS archives. Scheduled through the NJ Council for the Humanities. (38)

2018 Past Programs

Nov. 4, 2018 - Take the Trolley to Trenton - Dennis Waters - Mercer Co. Library
Program on the early 20th century trolleys in the Princeton/Trenton/Lawrence/Hopewell area, with a concentration on Hopewell and Pennington. (79)
Oct. 20, 2018 – Fall Meeting of the Archaeological Society of NJ - Hopewell Museum
- The New Jersey Early Land Records Project: Unprecedented Access to Colonial Documentation - Joseph Klett
- Archaeology of New England Migration to New Jersey’s Delaware Valley: The Moore Family - Michael J. Gall
- Hopewell Valley Prehistory and the Hopewell Museum Collection - Ian Burrow
Sept. 30, 2018 – Mercer County 4-H – A Rich History of Making the Best Better - Chad Ripberger - Pennington Methodist - Annual Meeting (24)
Sept. 24, 2018 - John Hart: Portrait of a Patriot - Dave Hart - Mercer Co. Library
Screening of the documentary on the Hopewell farmer who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Q&A with the producer, Dave Hart. (43)
## June 14, 2018 - The History of the 100th Mercer County 4-H Fair - Larry Kidder - Howell Living History Farm
June 3, 2018 - "Pop," Sam and the Chief: Memories of Pennington NJ at Mid-Twentieth Century - Mike Thomsen - Pennington Library
Author talk: Photo essay on experiences growing up in Pennington during the 1940s and 1950s
May 25 - 28, 2018 - Hopewell Valley Heritage Weekend
May 26, 2018 - No Slave Beneath That Starry Flag: Civil War Heroes of the Pennington African Cemetery - Kellee Green Blake - Pennington School
Lecture by Kellee Green Blake, retired Director of the National Archives, Mid-Atlantic region
May 9, 2018 - The Lenni-Lenape - Bill Guthrie - Hopewell Museum
Program about the Lenape life in Hopewell Valley and the games they played in ancient and historic times
April 22, 2018 - Crossroads of the Revolution, Trenton 1774-1783 - Larry Kidder - Pennington Library
Author talk: Book on the story of revolutionary Trenton, N. J.
April 7, 2018 - Bus trip to the new Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia
March 21, 2018 - New Jersey State Quarter Design - Dr. Spencer Peck - Titusville Presbyterian
Feb. 20, 2018 - Black Families in Pleasant Valley - Larry Kidder - Mercer Co. Library Hopewell
Jan. 24, 2018 - The Archaeology of Central Park - Richard Hunter - Historic Hunt House

2017 Past Programs (partial)

Nov. 17, 2017 - The Story Of Titusville Mills & the Fiddlers Creek Ravine - Jack Koeppel - Howell Living History Farm
Oct. 15, 2017 - Spirits of Hopewell Valley – Pennington Methodist Cemetery
Actors and singers recreate the lives of residents as they were in the 18th and 19th century, Old Methodist Cemetery, Pennington-Titusville, Road, Pennington
Oct. 12, 2017 - A Proud Heritage – African-American Presence in the Hopewell Valley and Surrounding Regions - Hopewell Museum
Presented by the Stoutsburg Cemetery Association
Sept. 24, 2017 - Philadelphia’s Newest Gem: The Museum of the American Revolution - Matthew Skic - Annual Meeting
July 27, 2017 - The House on Main Street - Jim Merritt - Mercer Co. Library Hopewell
June 14, 2017 - Ballfield to Battlefield and Back: From FDR to JFK - George Case III - Hopewell Elementary School
May 2, 2017 - Care of Family Papers - Janet Riemer - Mercer Co. Library Hopewell
March 10, 2017 - Early Recreation: Enjoying the Sourland Region - Jack Koeppel - East Amwell Township Building
Jan. 29, 2017 - Additions and Alterations to Historic Homes And the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation - Eric Holtermann - Pennington Library
Jan. 11, 2017 - The Mercer & Somerset Railroad & The Frog War! - John Kilbride - Mercer Co. Library Hopewell

2016 Past Programs (partial)

Oct. 11, 2016 - The Delaware & Raritan Canal: A History of Passage - Linda Barth - Howell Living History Farm
Sept. 18, 2016 - The Town of Trenton during the Revolution - Larry Kidder - Annual Meeting
July 11, 2016 - If You Knew Sousa - Jerry Rife - Hopewell Museum
Lecture on "The Most Famous Musician in the World," and concert by the Blawenburg Band (Hopewell Boro 125th celebration)
June 4, 2016 - Hiking & History: A Guided Hike Along the Woolsey Brook Trail in Allinger Park
May 15, 2016 - New Jersey's Colonial Landscape - Joe Klett - Hopewell Museum
May 1, 2016 - Mercer Magic: Roeblings, Kusers, the Mercer Automobile Company, and America's First Sports Car - Clifford Zink - Mercer Co. Library Hopewell
April 24, 2016 - The National Register: The Role it Plays in our Communities - Kathleen P. Galop - Pennington Library
March 10, 2016 - The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln - Bob Gleason - Mercer Co. Library Hopewell
March 9, 2016 - The Continental Army in Hopewell Township, June, 1778 - David Blackwell - Hopewell Museum
Encampment Near the Baptist Meeting House - Hopewell Boro 125th celebration

2015 Past Programs (partial)

Oct. 25, 2015 - Through the Lens of George & Walter Frisbie - Pennington Borough Hall
Sept. 12, 2015 - Architectural Styles of Pennington - David Blackwell - Annual Meeting
May 9, 2015 - A Look Back at Ewing’s General Motors Plant and the Naval Air Propulsion Testing Center - Ellie Calcagno - Timberlane School
March 15, 2015 - A Century in Titusville: The Niederer Family & Egomatic - Randy, Karl and Ken Niederer

HVHS Past Programs