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Windham Historical Society Facts

Founded:
n 1967, several residents of Windham who felt a strong desire to preserve and share the town’s history, organized the Windham Historical Society. For many years, meetings were held in private homes and community meeting rooms.

In 1983, the Town House was turned over to the Historical Society when town offices were moved to the newly renovated community center. Membership grew and the Town House, built in 1833, was turned into a museum, with a library and office. A fireproof walk-in safe used by the municipal officers to store town records, became a useful place for the Society to store its many donated documents and artifacts.

Two other historic buildings were obtained in the 1990s, and renovated into museums consistent with their past use. All three sites – the town house, library and grocery – are maintained by the Society and open to the public.

In 1996 the Society applied for and received recognition by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501 (c) (3) organization. As such, all donations to the Society are tax deductible.

Mission:
The goal of the Windham Historical Society is to foster interest in the history of the town by presenting relevant public programs, providing educational opportunities and maintaining historical facilities where displays of the town’s past are available.

The Society collects materials, information and objects which help verify and preserve Windham’s history and provides for the preservation of such material, making it accessible to all who wish to examine or study it.

Collections:
Windham Historical Society has an extensive collection of maps, town documents, cemetery records, journals, diaries, letters, school yearbooks, organization records, town reports, genealogy files, clothing, tools and implements, housewares, photographs, publications and artwork.

A library is available with dozens of books on many topics as well as an excellent selection of genealogy books.

Collections also include war memorabilia, encompassing all wars from the Revolution forward; furniture, household items, children’s toys, farming and shoe-making tools; bibles, coins, flags and over 24 large indexed scrapbooks including news items. Many notebooks with photos and information on houses and their history are available.

Facilities:
The Society owns four museum buildings and recently purchased an abutting village farm including a historic house, barn, outbuildings and fields.

Each of the museums was an important center for the development of Windham. These include the first town house (also used as a school), an old grocery/cobbler shop and two small "village" libraries

Future plans including creating a Living History Center on the recently purchased property.

Activities:
The Society presents programs to the public nearly every month, as well as bus tours, open houses, workshops and participate in many town activities. The Society is a resource for any area of research regarding the history of the town, its organizations and families.

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