The Historical Society of Haddonfield has received a new challenge grant in support of its planned new Archives Center building: starting in May, all donations made in honor of past president Pat Lennon will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a donor who worked with Pat at the Historical Society and admires …
The Historical Society is co-hosting a book launch for Jan Twitchell’s new book, A Fortunate Life. The event will be held on Thursday Dec. 7 at 3 pm at Brandywine Living, 132 Warwick Rd, Haddonfield. Jan began the book as an oral history for the Historical Society, before it turned …
The Historical Society of Haddonfield plans to build a new Archives Center on the site of an existing garage on the Society’s property at 343 Kings Highway East, just steps from Greenfield Hall and the Mickle House. The new two-story building was designed by Haddonfield resident Eduardo Guzman of DCM …
Help us build a new Archives Center! Use this form to make an online donation to the new building, or contact us to discuss other giving options.
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!
As of October 14, we are almost entirely sold out for this year’s Haunted Haddonfield Walking Tours! We still have a couple single tickets left here and there, as well as a handful of tickets left for Sat. 10/31.
If you’re hoping to attend, you should act fast to buy your tickets on EventBrite before they’re gone!
Unlike past years, we are requiring all tickets to be purchased in advance — no walk-ups — and we are limiting tour groups to 25 guests due to COVID-19 concerns. You can read all the details about the tours here.
The Historical Society of Haddonfield is holding a free, family-friendly, socially distant Halloween Scavenger Hunt in downtown Haddonfield for the entire month of October.
We’re hanging a series of posters downtown so that you can help “Lizzie the Witch” figure out the answer to our Halloween riddle.
You can complete the scavenger hunt online, or click here for a PDF that you can print out and take along on your walk. (Each poster also has a QR code that will take you right to the Halloween Scavenger Hunt page.)
All of the scavenger hunt posters will be visible from the sidewalk, so participants can maintain social distancing.
The posters tell a story, so we recommend visiting them in order starting with poster #1. Each poster also has a secret word. Once you’ve found them all, you can unscramble those eight words to find the answer to the riddle. Then, submit your answer to the Historical Society either online, via email, or on paper before November 1 for a chance to win a $50 Haddonfield gift card. Free to enter, but only one entry per person, please.
Questions? Feel free to contact the Historical Society at info@haddonfieldhistory.org or 856-429-7375. You can read the Historical Society’s Health and Safety During the Pandemic statement here.
A huge thank-you to our sponsors:
The Historical Society’s Book Club will hold its next virtual discussion on Tuesday November 17 at 7 pm.
We’ll be discussing Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik. The digital book is available through the Haddonfield Public Library’s web site using Hoopla.
This book is a “breezy, fun, and thoughtful take” on the life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who passed away on September 18.
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.
By popular demand, the Historical Society has decided to extend the Haddonfield Frog Race until November 15!
Inspired by an actual bicycle race that was held in Haddonfield in 1897, we are challenging you to complete 11 miles biking, running, walking, or even swimming before November 15. Frog costumes are optional!
Register now for this fundraising event. The cost is $25 for ages 13 and up, and $20 for ages 12 and under.
(Already completed your 11 miles? You can submit your activity log here.)
The first 100 registrants will get a free t-shirt with an image of the original frog-costumed bike rider, and all those who submit their completed race form before November 15 will be entered into a drawing to win an $80 gift certificate to the Philadelphia Zoo (i.e. 4 free tickets).
The 2020 version of the Haddonfield Frog Race is virtual, of course, and all participants must follow state and local COVID-19 and safety regulations.
You can complete your 11 miles inside or outside, in one outing or 100 outings, fast or slow. It’s up to you!
The original 1897 frog race was held on New Year’s Eve. A group of bicycle riders held a race through Haddonfield to try to catch a leader who happened to be wearing a large, inflatable frog costume. (We wrote about the race in the March 2017 issue of the Bulletin.)
Newspapers around the country ran articles about the 11-mile race, and we found mentions of the race in newspapers in Rochester and Syracuse, New York; Lawrence, Kansas; and Washington, D. C., among others.
The organizer of the 1897 race – and the rider wearing the frog costume – was Mr. G. L. Carr, of Haddonfield. According to the 1895 Haddonfield directory, Guy L. Carr was a clerk for the druggist, C. S. Braddock Jr., at 201 East Main Street (now Kings Highway). By 1900, the Haddonfield directories list him as a painter. He had disappeared from the directories by 1908 and no further information is known about Carr.
We hope the 2020 (virtual) Haddonfield Frog Race will be a fun, family-friendly diversion during this Haddonfield Virus Year.
You can learn more and register for the race by clicking here.
Questions? Contact the Historical Society office at info@haddonfieldhistory.org or 856-429-7375.
The Historical Society of Haddonfield is pleased to announce that local favorite Bill Meehan will once again be leading Haunted Haddonfield Walking Tours in October — this year with new social distancing protections in place.
Tours will be held on October 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 and 31, 2020, with a rain date planned for November 1. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for kids 12 and under. Proceeds benefit both the Historical Society and the Haddonfield Public Library.
This year, ALL tickets must be purchased online in advance. Buy your tickets now!
Each tour will be limited to only 25 participants, and no tickets will be sold on-site to allow us to strictly limit our group sizes. (The Eventbrite ticketing system will only offer tickets that are still available; if your first-choice date is sold out, try another date!)
In addition, all ticket-holders aged 2 and up will be required to wear a face covering to participate, and we will be encouraging physical distancing between household groups.
Ticket-holders will meet in front of Greenfield Hall, 343 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield.
Other frequently asked questions:
Other questions? Contact the Historical Society at 856-429-7375 or info@haddonfieldhistory.org.
GREENFIELD HALL
Public hours are temporarily suspended through March 31, 2020
Public research hours are temporarily suspended through March 31, 2020
Click here for our inclement weather policy.
Greenfield Hall and the Archives Center are both CLOSED Saturdays & Sundays except as noted above for the first Sunday of the month.
We are closed in August, on major holidays, and for the week between Christmas and New Year’s.