Stamford History Real Time

Stamford Historical Society Receives Conservation Bookshelf

Treasured objects and artifacts held by the Society will be preserved for future generations with help from the IMLS Connecting to Collections Bookshelf, a core set of conservation books and online resources donated by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).  IMLS has now awarded almost 3,000 free sets of the IMLS Bookshelf, in cooperation with the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH).

The Society did not have any current materials related to conservation, preservation and storage of our collections, and these books will greatly aid us as we seek to better house and police our items.

“When IMLS launched this initiative to improve the dire state of our nation’s collections, we understood that the materials gathered for the Bookshelf would serve as important tools for museums, libraries, and archives nationwide,” said Anne-Imelda Radice, Director of IMLS.  “We were both pleased and encouraged by the overwhelming interest of institutions prepared to answer the call to action, and we know that with their dedication, artifacts from our shared history will be preserved for future generations.”

A Major Milestone: 100th Anniversary of the Stamford Historical Society’s Incorporation

This year the Society celebrates its 100th Anniversary of Incorporation.

Although the Stamford Historical Society was founded in 1901, it took a number of years before the Society met regularly.  After meeting five times between October of 1901 and March of 1902, the Society did not meet again until the fall of 1905.  From then on, monthly meetings were held, other than during the summer months of July and August.  This practice continues today as there is no August meeting of the Board.  It was not until 1909 that the Society was recognized by the State of Connecticut as an incorporated body.  Colonel Woolsey Hopkins, Society President (1901–09), had appointed a committee to see to this goal as early as 1907, but it was not until after his death that the goal was realized under the Society’s second president Frederick G. Mather (1909–23). 

In order to celebrate the 100th anniversary of incorporation, the Society is putting together a centennial exposition, 100 Years in the Making: Highlights from the Society’s Collections, that will chronicle our history as well as show off some of the finest pieces in our collections.