We collect what often seems like ordinary material – family photographs, postcards and memorabilia pertaining to Hastings businesses and social organizations, houses and parks, local celebrations, school days, leisure activities and more. While we are always interested in the early days, the collection is especially lacking in material from the 1960s onward.

If you have anything of local interest that you might like to donate, please contact us for further information. You may fill out the donation form ahead of time and bring it with you, or include it if you are mailing item(s). Forms can also be filled out at the Historical Society at the time of the donation.

If you are donating photographs, we accept donations of actual photos, or as loans that will be scanned and returned. Digital images are also welcome via email or thumb drive. All photographs will be archived, with attribution to the photographer if known, and will become property of the Hastings Historical Society.

When donating photographs, please identify any people and events, as well as the date and location if possible. If exact dating is not feasible, please guess at a date (e.g., “circa the 1970s”).

SOME OF OUR WISH LIST:

Our archive is missing the following Hastings High School yearbooks: 1934, 1935 and 1942. Going back further, we have very few yearbooks before 1935. Anyone with an extra they would like to donate would be helping to complete our collection.

We welcome photos of everyday life, such as people skating on Sugar Pond, kids playing on playgrounds, people riding bikes or using cell phones.

Thank you for your donation to the Hastings Historical Society.

The richness of our collections depends on donations from people like you!

The Hastings Historical Society was established in 1971 and is chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. Its purpose is to collect, preserve, and disseminate the history of Hastings-on-Hudson to members and the public.

Many of the requests for information that we receive pertain to buildings in the village. Newcomers may want to learn about the history of their new home, including previous owners and any remodeling that has been done.

We have an extensive Houses and Buildings file in our archive. By completing our questionnaire, you can provide information on your home (or the Hastings home you grew up in) that will be added to the archive and further enrich our holdings. We also welcome items such as blueprints, drawings and photographs, both inside and outside your home.

Hastings Houses: Every home has a history

In our continued efforts to enrich the Hastings Historical Society’s archives, we would love to know about your home in Hastings-on-Hudson. Please share technical, familial or any other details that you think would enliven the portrait of your home.

Many of our most treasured documents are personal stories of life in our village. 

They provide a window into life in the past and make it come alive. Through numerous reminiscences, we have information that ranges from what it was like to live here during the Revolutionary War, to accounts of arriving in Hastings as young immigrants in the early 20th century, to fond recollections of eating at Larry’s (King) Pizza in the 1980s. Please email or mail your reminiscences to the Hastings Historical Society. They don’t need to be long, formal essays; just tell us the memories that are meaningful to you.

You don’t have to be a historian or journalist to write for our blog or quarterly publication, the Hastings Historian. Contact us if you have any ideas for future blog posts or articles that you would like to contribute.

We welcome volunteers and there are many ways to get involved, both on site and from home. See our volunteer section for some ideas.

The materials we use to keep our photos, papers and artifacts from harm and environmental degradation are expensive. Artifacts are stored wrapped in acid free tissue or ethafoam (padding), and then placed in museum-quality archival storage boxes. Papers and manuscripts are also stored in archival boxes.

For example, while a small photo storage box runs $10, an archival box large enough to store one army uniform costs $75.

Occasionally we receive a donation of an item that is in declining condition and in need of conservation or restoration. Some examples are old flags and deteriorating art work. Often the cost of restoration is beyond our means. Through generous donations, we can get the necessary work done.

We have currently identified two works of art that are in need of conservation after evaluation by a professional art conservator. They are:

“The Hudson River in Winter” circa 1920 by Helen Patterson Williams. Among the measures needed are the removal of heavy yellow surface grime, treatment of the delaminating layers along its edges, and corrective in-painting. Cost of conservation: $850.

“Summer Landscape with Pond,” artist unknown, but attributed to one of the Draper women circa 1890 and donated to us by the Draper family. Among the treatments required are removal of heavy surface grime, repair of small surface punctures, and corrective in-painting. Cost of conservation: $750.

If you are interested in learning more about these paintings and the work that they require, please contact us. Any amount is appreciated and will be acknowledged in our quarterly newsletter, with the donor’s permission.  If you wish to make a contribution earmarked for their conservation, please click below on “Preserve-An-Artifact” Contribution.