“Henry County Heritage Trust (HCHT) held its monthly meeting on June 26, 2024, at the museum in Mount Pleasant. The meeting began with a surprise, as board member David Gates was presented a Quilt of Valor.
After the approval of minutes and finance reports, a recap of HCHT’s participation in the Preserve Iowa Summit was discussed. Special open hours were offered, allowing tours of the Van Allen House and the IW Archives Room, and several people took advantage of the opportunity. More than 225 “Our Town” coffee mugs, donated by HCHT, were snatched up by summit attendees during the June 6-8 event.
We are pleased to announce that Spencer Barton will be working with HCHT for the upcoming year, serving not only as the knowledgeable archivist of our Iowa Wesleyan collection, but helping lead the cataloging and inventorying of the massive number of HCHT artifacts. The IW Archives Room will continue to be open to the public for tours and research on Mondays, 10:00 to 2:00, and other times by special arrangement.
Along with the museum’s regular open hours on Saturdays, 1:00-4:00, the Van Allen House will now also be open for touring. Susan Loescher will host.
Ray Wilson, from the Southeast Iowa Civil War Roundtable, will give a July 20 program on “How to Search for your Civil War Ancestors”. Upcoming summer programs include Joel Garretson speaking on the “Garretson Heritage Farm,” and Dennis White sharing his knowledge about, “Native American Artifacts of Henry County.”
Recent donations include several MPHS pennants, dating to the early 1900s. Sally Babinat, descendant of Henry Clay Dean, will be visiting in July, offering memorabilia from the Rebel’s Cove Historical Society.
The meeting adjourned for members to help set up the Events Room, in preparation for the June 29 program, “19th Century Photography”, with David Van Allen and Haven Noble presenting.”
The next scheduled HCHT board meeting will be Wednesday, July 24, 10:00 AM at the Henry County Heritage Center Museum, 403 West Madison Street. The public is invited.