A little Thanksgiving time capsule!

These photos from the Helen Case Collection at the Hopewell Valley Historical Society show the Thanksgiving celebration at Titusville Elementary School on November 21, 1956, which was the day before Thanksgiving that year. Do any of you recognize yourselves in this photos? We know that Debbie Shellenberger (now Niederer) is the fourth from the left in front! Let us know if you see yourself or can recognize a friend.

We can see from the photos that programming at Titusville Elementary included a Thanksgiving feast with decorations, students dressing as pilgrims, and a dramatization of the First Thanksgiving. The photos did not contain any more information about this particular celebration, but we do have a news item from The Hopewell Herald of November 28, 1951, which details the program at Hopewell Elementary from that year, including:

• Song: “Come, Ye Thankful People”

• The One Hundredth Psalm

• The Lord’s Prayer

• Flag Salute

• Song: “America, the Beautiful”

• Song: “For the Beauty of the Earth”

• The Story of the Pilgrims

• We are Thankful at School

• Pumpkin Poem

• Turkey Songs

• Prayer of Thanksgiving

What's a turkey song??!!

We wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all, however you celebrate it!

NOTE:

Many collections here at HVHS came to us through the humble heroism of community members who care about our history. Helen Case was a long-time secretary at Titusville Elementary who saved these precious slides when the school closed in the early 1980s. Maybe you know a piece of history that needs saving? Contact us here to tell us about it.