NOT FAKE NEWS: HCHS Newsletters from 1965 thru the present are Digitized!
What’s the News(letter)?
In 1965, The Hunterdon County Historical Society decided that it was time to begin printing a newsletter. That tradition has continued to the present day. Recently, a scanning project was completed that covered the entire publication run of the Hunterdon Historical Newsletter from the first edition in 1965 until the present. Those newsletters have been posted to our website and are available for viewing.
The newsletter is the official organ of the Hunterdon County Historical Society and provides a keen insight into the history and operations of our own organization. It also is a significant source of historical information and family information in and unto itself, due to the number of historical articles and papers that have been published over the years.
The autumn edition of 1965 included this message from President Norman A. Wittwer to the membership:
The time has come for our Society to take another step forward by beginning the regular publication of a newsletter – hereafter spelled with a capital N.
Recent increases in the scope of our activities and in the degree of participation of our members makes necessary such a two-way communication medium.
Present plans are to publish three issues each year – autumn, winter, and spring. Each Newsletter will include an announcement of the upcoming meeting, plus an abstract, if available, of the paper to be presented at the meeting.
News of activities of the Society, recent acquisitions, names of new members, lists of newly-published books, and similar announcements will be reported in the Newsletter. This will reduce the length of the business portion of the meetings.
A “Notes & Queries” Column should prove interesting and valuable to those with particular questions concerning Hunterdon history or genealogy. Recent books with a special Hunterdon significance will be reviewed occasionally.
Plans also call for including an article of local historic interest, with each issue, perhaps as an insert. We will welcome members’ contributions of short historical papers.
I find it amazing that the description of the newsletter-to-be still describes our newsletter to this day, 55 years later. I do not know if the publication of the newsletter had the desired result of shortening business meetings, but I do know that the Newsletter has become an integral part of the purpose and mission of our Society. It is still one of the principal means of communicating with our Members exactly how we collect, preserve, and share the history of Hunterdon County.
Check out all 55 years worth HERE!