Next Book Club Meeting Scheduled for May 22

The Historical Society’s Book Club will next meet on Tuesday May 22 to discuss an influential classic: Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Published in 1852, Stowe’s book is a fictional tale about a long-suffering enslaved man and the people around him, and focuses on the immorality of slavery. The book was hugely popular in the nineteenth century and helped fuel the abolitionist movement leading up to the Civil War, but it also popularized many negative stereotypes about African Americans.

We’ll meet to discuss the book on Tuesday May 22 at 7 pm at Greenfield Hall, 343 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield. All are welcome!

Volunteer Docents Needed for May School Visits

Have you ever thought about volunteering as a docent at Greenfield Hall?

Each year, the Historical Society hosts visits from elementary school students as part of the school curriculum on local history. In May, we are scheduled to welcome nine classes of second-graders, and we’d love your help either as a lead docent or a helper.

Volunteers should be willing to commit to helping with at least two tours of Greenfield Hall on weekday mornings. The tours are scheduled for 9:30-11:30 am between May 1 and May 31.

All volunteer docents are also required to attend a training session at Greenfield Hall on Wednesday April 11 from 11 am – 12 pm. If you’d like to volunteer but cannot attend training on the 11th, please let us know.

If you’re interested, please RSVP to Marsha Marshall at info@haddonfieldhistory.org. Thank you, and if you have any questions, please contact us at info@haddonfieldhistory.org or 856-429-7375.

May 6 “First Sunday” to Include Pop-up Display About Children’s Lives in Haddonfield and Surrounding Areas

The pop-up display will continue through most of May and be available for viewing during Greenfield Hall’s public hours (Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1-4 pm) or by special appointment at another time.

Historical Society Closed Friday 3/30 and Sunday 4/1

Due to Easter and Passover, the Society will be closed Friday 3/30, and we have cancelled our usual “First Sunday” hours on Sunday April 1. See you next week!

Historical Society Receives $50,000 Grant to Reserve Space for Haddon Township Collections in New Archives Center Building

The Historical Society of Haddonfield has received a $50,000 grant from the William G. Rohrer Charitable Foundation that will allow it to reserve space in its planned new building for Haddon Township Historical Society archival collections.

With this gift, the Historical Society of Haddonfield has raised more than $690,000 for a new archival center to be built on its property on Kings Highway East in Haddonfield. The Society is now more than three-quarters of the way toward its fundraising goal of $900,000, and expects to break ground later this year. A separate restricted endowment already in place allows the Society to employ a professional archivist and covers other expenses of the archives center as well.

“Haddonfield and Haddon Township share a long history, and we are fortunate to already hold a variety of archival materials related to the history of Haddon Township,” said Carol W. Smith, president of the Historical Society of Haddonfield. “This new grant will allow us, for the first time, to provide preservation and access to Haddon Township Historical Society’s archival collections as well.”

“This planned new facility will be a win-win for both historical societies,” said Sandy White-Grear, Director of Education and Community Outreach for the Haddon Township Historical Society. “We are thrilled to be gaining storage space in a state-of-the-art, ADA-compliant facility that will also be able to provide access for class visits and researchers – and at no cost to taxpayers.”

Renderings of the planned interior of the new Archives Center, with the first floor reading room (top) and moveable storage on the second floor (bottom).