The following is an update from the very popular HVHS committee known as Archives. Every Thursday and Friday afternoon, volunteers meet at the Mercer County Library - Hopewell Branch to address questions, preserve cultural material, and organize HVHS holdings. For more about the Archives, click here.
ARCHIVES HOURS EXPANDED
To accommodate visitors and volunteers, the archives are now open Thursdays from 2pm to 6pm. Friday hours remain 12 to 5pm.
Please contact us in advance at www.hopewellvalleyhistory.org for questions, requests, donations. We will retrieve items for review at a nearby library table. Appointments are always welcome!
HIGHLIGHTS TO DATE
The Hopewell Herald Collection. Thanks to volunteer Catherine Schurdak, some 18 boxes of old Hopewell Herald newspapers and two boxes of local isolated newspapers were inventoried and rehoused in archival boxes. We are working on a formal agreement with the Hopewell Museum that will enable relocation of the papers to dedicated museum space in the near future - and afford
much-needed space in our 10 foot by 14 foot room at the library! They will join the extensive Hopewell Herald collection from the museum's archives, the David L. Blackwell Research Collection, and deaccessioned issues from Hopewell Public Library. A comprehensive list of local titles and digital access is the ultimate goal.
We were awarded a CAPES (Caucus Archival Projects Evaluation Service) collection survey from the NJ Caucus of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference in April. Consultant Gary Saretzky performed a similar review in 2016. His 2024 visit resulted in a 32-page report. Priority recommendations on space and equipment serve as a future blueprint. Finding aids created by archivist Katie Chase for our manuscript and photograph collections drew favorable attention."Keep in mind that digitization has two benefits: preservation and information." (from the HVHS CAPES recommendation).
We were pleased to host an honor student from the NJ Historical Commission's public history internship program this past summer. Kate Jackson, a Hopewell Borough native and graduate of CHS, is now a Rutgers senior history major. Her work in the archives researched settlement patterns among People of Color in the Hopewell Valley.
Guests from the Matawan Historical Society toured the HVHS archives (one at a time) and the Hopewell Museum this past spring. Along with the HVHS house lineage committee, they witnessed Dendrochronologist Michael Cuba's analysis of a Woodsville structure.
Members attended the NJ State Museum's exhibit opening, Discovering Grant Kastner (1863-1941), which featured 200 photos from his glass plates, focused on the Delaware River & Mercer County. Themes & clarity were reminiscent of our Frisbie Collection.
Shannon Tourto, a MC Library (Hopewell) staff member, and Bonita Grant, HVHS archivist, display the Pennington Bicentennial Quilt. (Photo by Kim Robinson) In anticipation of 2026, we revisited quilts made in 1976 to memorialize the Country's Bicentennial; two were made - one in Pennington and one in Hopewell Borough. We examined the Pennington quilt housed in our archives. It was removed from its archival box, carefully refolded, and refreshed in new acid-free tissue. The Hopewell bicentennial quilt, displayed for decades, is at rest in archival housing. Thanks to initiatives from Beverly Mills of Hopewell Borough and Diane Monteleone, creator of one of the Pennington quilt squares, the Oral History Committee will interview members of both bicentennial quilt groups.
NEW DONATIONS FROM NEAR AND FAR
Laura Poll, former Trentonniana Librarian for Trenton Public Library, delivered a wealth of Hopewell valley materials in July! It included maps, pamphlets, Pennington Seminary brochures, 1960's/1970's Pennington political campaign literature and a wonderful late 19th century Bear Tavern photo. [☆☆Insert copy of BT photo?]
She was delighted to receive Trenton-related photographs from the Joseph J. Dutko Collection from his daughter, Suzanne Dutko Stout. Laura was subsequently hired as the first-ever certified archivist for Middletown Township Public Library.
A friend of the late Caroline Woodward directed a large box of photographs, clippings and political memorabilia to our post office box. Both Caroline and her late husband, Donald, served as Hopewell Township mayors. Included are family pictures, farm fields, buildings & livestock. The donor agreed to a telephone interview with our oral history committee.
HVHS member Bob Bishop answered a stranger's knock recently at his Harbourton home. Judith Hunt Propert sought a home for her extensive collection of genealogical charts, IDENTIFIED photographs of Hunts, Hixsons, Dilts, Hoaglands, Harbourton school, etc.
A meeting was arranged in September with Judy and with local Hunt expert and Pleasant Valley Vigilant Society member Charlie Hunt at the archives. They exchanged information on family farmsteads in and around Hunt's Corner. Charlie created a new map based upon their discussions.
Archives accomplishments are made possible by the dedication & enthusiasm of volunteers: Amie Rukenstein, Anna Kudryashova, Carol Smith, Catherine Schurdak, Debbie Gwazda, Diane Monteleone, Doug Dixon, Gary Ireland, Holly Weise, Kathy Browne, Sherry Cronin, Suzanne Dutko Stout.
Anna Kudryashova, our former CHS volunteer, is a freshman at William & Mary. Caroline Flannery, a current CHS senior, will join us this fall. Our history's past is in good hands!
As always, we thank the decades long hospitality and friendship of the Hopewell Township Library's staff. We and they look forward to a new roof in the near future.
-Bonita Craft Grant
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