Centennial Celebrations Planned For Chatham Historical Society

CHATHAM, NJ — The Chatham Borough Historical Society is celebrating 100 years of service in the borough.

The borough recognized the centennial of the Chatham Historical Society with a proclamation during the Dec. 11 borough council meeting.

Co-presidents Karen Hoerrner and Amy Crandall accepted the proclamation on the society's behalf, thanking the council for recognizing their 100-year milestone.

"We are proud to be part of an organization that has worked to preserve and to celebrate the rich history of our little town for 100 years. Over those many years, the Historical Society has collaborated with our local government, with other Chatham organizations as well as with individual residents and we look forward to continuing to serve the community," Hoerrner said.

The Chatham Historical Society prides itself on bringing together people who are interested in the borough's past and ongoing development. The Society promotes an understanding of the borough's historic character and understands that today's citizens, places, and events will become part of the borough's history.

According to the borough, 31 Chatham Borough residents met in 1924 at the Chatham Fish and Game Protective Association's Club House to organize a local historical society to preserve and protect the community's rich history and, in particular, to foster the town's boys and girls to become good citizens to recognize the town's rich history.

To commemorate the Tercentenary of the State of New Jersey in 1964, Merritt Lum Budd, a dedicated Chatham Historical Society member, led 400 people in 1959 to document Chatham's past and publish fourteen volumes of history known as the Fishawack Papers.

In 1967, the Society's Fishawack Papers influenced New Jersey novelist John Cunningham's authoring of Chatham at the Crossing of the Fishawack, in which he cites Jimmie Littlejohn's diaries of 44 years of "little things" that reflect life in Chatham, the quintessential American hometown.

Since its inception, the Chatham Historical Society has remained the guardian of the town's rich history, documenting and sharing the borough's growth through architecture, transportation, including the railroad, community volunteerism, particularly the Fire Department, preservation of the rich photo collections, including the Three Towns Pageant film and donated artifacts.

To celebrate their centennial year, Crandall said that the first of the society's events in 2024 will be "For the Love of Chatham", a champagne and cookies celebration at the Library of the Chathams set for 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 28.

"The year of 2024 will be the actual celebration. We are looking forward to having monthly events... celebrating all the different parts of our town," Crandall said.