Closure of Onsite Programming at PPH for Summer 2021
PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM WILL BE CLOSED FOR ONSITE PUBLIC PROGRAMMING FOR ITS 2021 SEASON
HADLEY – The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum, a historic house museum dating to 1752 in Hadley, Massachusetts, will again be closed for in-person public programming for its 72nd season in order to protect the health and safety of the community, museum interns, and staff. However, we will be undertaking several projects during this time including new interpretive programming, updates for the website, and archival processing of new collections to reinvigorate and expand our 2022 season. We are excited to present several free virtual programs this summer that will share the culture and history of this site through a discussion of topics that speak to the present through the past.
The museum will host Bridging the Past and Present, a series of virtual conversations with five scholars on the history of Hadley and the Porter-Phelps-Huntington family. All of these talks will be free and open to the public. This series is made possible by a generous grant from the Bridge Street Fund, a special initiative of Mass Humanities that strives to enable open access to local history.
With the temporary closure of the museum’s in-person programming, we hope to continue to encourage an historical understanding through new research into the PPH collections which we will be posting to our website and social media. We are fortunate to have eight new summer interns who will be cataloguing recent collections, organizing archival papers, and researching new and existing materials throughout the summer. They look forward to introducing themselves and their interests through the museum’s Facebook page. Without the museum’s in-person programs which bring community engagement and critical financial support for the operations of the PPH Museum, we hope all will visit our website to learn more about the museum’s collections and the important research our museum interns do each season.
The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is also the Way-Point Center for the National Connecticut River Scenic Byway. The museum hosts a panel exhibit on the natural history of the Valley, the Museum’s history, and sites along the by-way for travelers. While this interpretive center is closed along with the museum, a trail system beginning at the Museum and traversing the farm fields along the river and to the old buggy path to the top of Mount Warner, where the family grazed their cattle in the 18th century, remains open. This trail system was created with the help of the PVPC and cooperation from several organizations and land owners including TTOR, the Nature Conservancy, Kestrel Trust, and the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation. Parking is best at the museum on the outer circle where there are Please Park Here signs.
We appreciate everyone’s support during this time, and while the house will be closed, supporters can donate to keep the museum going until next season through the museum’s website, www.pphmuseum.org.
The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum’s summer 2021 programs are funded, in part, by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state Agency; the Amherst Cultural Councils, local agencies, supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council; Mass Humanities Bridge Street Fund; Easthampton Savings Bank, Gage-Wiley & Co. and with the generous support of many local businesses and the public.