Closed Until Further Notice

The Historical Society has decided to extend its temporary closure, in keeping with COVID-19 safety guidelines issued by local, state, and federal officials. We will be suspending all in-person programming and continuing our temporary public closure until further notice. We look forward to getting back to our programming as soon as possible!

Next Virtual Book Club Discussion Scheduled for July 14

The Historical Society of Haddonfield’s Book Club has added an extra virtual get-together this summer to commemorate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage.

We hope you’ll join us for a Zoom discussion on Tuesday July 14 at 7 pm. For this meeting, we will be discussing the struggle for suffrage. We invite you to read any of the following:

Option 1: Suffrage: Women’s Long Battle for the Vote, by Ellen Carol DuBois (2020)

Option 2: Remember the Ladies: Celebrating Those Who Fought for Freedom at the Ballot Box, by Angela P. Dodson (2017)

Option 3: Sisters: The Lives of America’s Suffragists, by Jean Baker (2006)

Option 4: The Road to Seneca Falls: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the First Woman’s Rights Convention, by Judith Wellman (2004)

As always, all are welcome to join us for the discussion, even if you haven’t finished one of the suggested books.

The Book Club discussion will be held as a Zoom.us video chat. If you’re interested in joining us, please RSVP to info@haddonfieldhistory.org and we’ll send you the Zoom link (and some basic instructions) the day of the chat.

Time to Renew Your Historical Society Membership Today

If you haven’t already done so, please take a minute to renew your membership in the Historical Society of Haddonfield today. (If your contribution is already on its way, thank you!)

Your past support has enabled us to accomplish so much this past year:

We created a new virtual tour of Greenfield Hall for students engaged in distance learning this spring, and hosted high school researchers as they explored primary source materials in our Archives Center.

Our “First Sunday” pop-up displays featured recipes and cooking techniques, a look at the temperance movement and an informative exhibit on women’s suffrage. We launched a story-collecting project called “Haddonfield Virus Year” to document how our community has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We need your continued support to help us preserve Haddonfield’s amazing history. Would you renew your membership for $35, $55 or more today?

Your membership benefits include a subscription to THE BULLETIN newsletter, free admittance to our quarterly lectures, free tours of Greenfield Hall and the Don Wallace Tool Gallery, as well as discounts on events, rentals, and Society publications.

Please renew your membership today and help support us in the year ahead! You can renew online or mail us a check today.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Historical Society Launches New Virtual Tour of Greenfield Hall

The Historical Society has created a new virtual tour of our headquarters building, Greenfield Hall, to share with students and visitors who are unable to visit in person right now cause of COVID-19 concerns.

The virtual tour includes brief videos about the history of Greenfield Hall and a few of the museum artifacts in our collections.

You can find all of the videos at https://haddonfieldhistory.org/virtualtour

Looking Back: How Spanish Influenza Affected Haddonfield

Gauze mask from 1918

In the latest issue of the Historical Society’s Bulletin newsletter, we looked back at how Haddonfield was impacted by an earlier pandemic: the Spanish flu of 1918-1919.

Click here to read the full article.

Interested in more articles like this about Haddonfield history? Become a member of the Historical Society today, and you’ll get four issues of the Bulletin a year!

Book Club Plans Virtual Discussion for May 18 Meeting

The Historical Society’s Book Club is planning a virtual get-together for its May 18 discussion.

We’ll be meeting May 18 at 7 pm via Zoom.us, in conjunction with the Haddonfield Public Library’s Book Club. We’ll be discussing The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women, by Kate Moore. The digital book is available through the Public Library’s web site using Hoopla.

The nonfiction book explores the story of women factory-workers in New Jersey and Illinois who suffered agonizing deaths in the 1920s and 1930s because they had used radium-infused paint on the job. (The paint made clock faces glow in the dark.) Sadly, the women were largely blamed for their subsequent health problems, even after radium was proven to be toxic, but their struggles helped pave the way for workplace safety measures.

Kirkus Reviews called the book “compelling,” and says Moore “clearly separates the heroines from the villains throughout this deeply researched book.” The book was named as one of 12 Notable Non-Fiction Books of 2018 by the American Library Association.

The Book Club discussion will be held as a Zoom.us video chat. If you’re interested in joining us, please RSVP to info@haddonfieldhistory.org and we’ll send you the Zoom link (and some basic instructions) the day of the chat.