To the Editor:

What a year! The Newtown Historical Society is thankful to all of you — from our history camp families to our open house visitors — for coming to programs once again. It has been encouraging to see all your faces and hear how you were just as excited to engage with history again as we were.

When I first moved to Newtown in 2008, I was a high school history teacher starting out on my journey to fulfill the dream of working in a museum. Newtown Historical Society was the first organization I volunteered with and the first museum I technically worked at. As many of you know, I have taught history camp almost every summer since 2009! This means my longest held position is that of “head instructress.”

Unfortunately, the past two years have been hard because we were unable to host many of our beloved programs and open houses. This decrease in activity meant a decrease in donations and a decrease in our community engagement. The stories at the museum and in the collections are a window into our town’s history — and we cannot let that window go dark.

Moving forward, we are working to better care for our collection and make it more accessible to everyone from elementary school students to academic researchers by digitizing our artifacts and documents. This means redoing our website, scanning documents like 18th century letters, working with Western Connecticut State University to properly inventory the collection, and meeting with teachers and scholars to determine what would they like to have digitally available.

This comes at an enormous cost — about $6,000 in supplies and $5,000 for a new website!

In addition, there is a saying in the museum world that a collection is “only as good as its envelope.” The Matthew Curtiss House needs repairs to fix issues including basement flooding and roof leaks. We cannot keep our collection safe if the “envelope” it is in cannot keep the elements out.

Many of you have come through the house and stood in awe of how people lived in the past — or just reveled in the sheer size of the chimney! The house needs attention so that generations to come can experience the same sense of wonder.

I cannot thank the Historical Society, and the people who made it what it is, enough for investing in me and investing in the preservation of Newtown’s history. That is the reason I stepped onto the Board as President — to give back with my time and my museum profession.

Please join me in supporting Newtown Historical Society — through volunteering your time or through your financial donations — as we step into an exciting time of growth.

Melissa G. Houston

Newtown Historical Society Board President