Spring into History this month with the HVHS!

Happy May Day!

We at the Hopewell Valley Historical Society are so excited for all the things that we and our partners will be bringing you in the coming months!

Of course, first of all is our big Anniversary Party on May 31^st! (the weekend after Memorial Day). We love Mercer County’s Hopewell Valley Golf Club for a party so we will be there once again with fun, food, a keynote speech by Trustee Larry Kidder, a HV trivia game, and the opportunity to visit with friends and fellow history lovers. Register here if you haven’t already!

50 years ago, in anticipation of the Bicentennial, some prescient Hopewell Valley residents came together to form the HVHS and the rest, of course, is history!  So much has been accomplished during those 50 years – so many houses researched, so many oral histories captured (250 to date), so much material culture archived, so many programs presented, so many newsletter pages written, as well as other events and works too numerous to mention. It is amazing what a group of people who care about something can accomplish.

To honor the first 50 years, we have published a beautiful, 300-page book featuring some of the work the Society has produced in the past and some new material. Edited by long time HVHS member/former president/current Trustee Jack Davis and gorgeously designed by Trustee Cheryl Jackson, the book is a labor of love by the whole Book Committee who worked on it tirelessly for several years. It will be on sale at the party and thereafter on the website, and in venues to be announced.

And there is other stuff going on too!

On Wednesday May 6, our archive consultant Katie Chase will talk about the Helen Case collection at Mercer County Library – Hopewell Branch.  Helen Case was a teacher’s aide for many years at Titusville Elementary School in the mid 20^th century.  Recently her collection of slides was donated to the Society and Katie and the archives team have installed an exhibition of many of the images in the Library’s community room. Katie will talk about the collection and about the Society’s archive work. Register here to attend in person or on zoom and come by anytime the library is open to view the exhibit. While you are at the library, take a few minutes to view our Trustee Kim Robinson's spring photography exhibit - the photo gracing this post is hers.

For more programs and events – see our calendar, which lists lots of interesting things produced not only by us but by our partners.  Of particular note are the numerous events celebrating the nation's Semiquincentenial in July. It seems like Titusville is going to be the place to be that day and we will advise as we learn more. We are constantly updating the calendar so it is a good idea to check it often to see what has been added. Also please keep in mind that Hopewell Valley Heritage Week will return September 13-20 - HVHS, The Hopewell Museum, and the Hopewell Public Library are deep into plans for that so we will let you know more when dates are finalized.

We have mentioned in this space before that we were pursuing Hopewell Township’s Oldis House (which we determined is dated to 1716), as a new home for the Society. We already did a lot of historic research and we offered to donate further time and expertise to apply for grants and oversee preservation of this important historic structure, and of course occupy it as a community center for education and celebration of Hopewell history. Unfortunately, after a year and a half of negotiations, we could not come to terms with the Township and since we rely on contributions from our members to sustain us, we had to walk away from it. So, we continue our search for a home. Our archives, which are housed at the extremely generous Mercer County Library, are busting at the seams and we feel we really need a place where people can come to delve into the fascinating history of our Valley. If you are aware of a place, please let us know at info@hopewellvalleyhistory.org

Not to end on a discouraging note - did you notice our new logo? 

We decided that after 50 years, it was time to retire the colonist who graced our stationery for so many years and design something that brought together as many aspects of the Valley as we could fit in a little drawing. We are immensely grateful to Jack Oliver who donated countless hours to the cause of designing the logo and refining it as we debated what should be featured. You will see the logo lots more – we hope to get some swag in time for Pennington Day on May 16, but if not, will definitely be available in time for the party.

We look forward to seeing you there and at all the other fun stuff coming up!