Happy New Year! January finds us busy preparing exhibits and planning events for the upcoming season. Please plan to visit us in 2012. Opening day is May 1.

And please give some thought to joining the Historical Society-- great programs, great friendships, great opportunities to preserve history and serve the community. Our membership year begins in January. Individual memberships are $15 and family memberships are $25. Membership entitles you to a free copy of the Society's annual publication, The Key. For more information, email the curator.

A new year...history to preserve and share...history to be made. Wishing you a healthy and happy new year from SSCHS.

Searching for Henry Norwood

Former slave Henry Norwood and his brother, William, traveled from the Cosatot River "way down south" to Center Township in Sebastian County soon after Appomattox and Emancipation. In 1870 we find them listed in the census as farm hands and know that they were employed by the Gilliam family and L. B. McKinney, who helped them acquire homesteads of forty acres each in White Oak Valley. They appear to have been neighbors of the Stallings family, as well. Oscar Stallings wrote a most interesting article for an issue of the Key Magazine describing the life and times of Henry Norwood and his impact on the community.

The Historical Society is seeking photographs, stories and documents regarding Henry for an exhibit we'd like to develop. Henry was a beloved and respected member of the community with a fascinating and instructive personal history. Can you share information with us that will help us bring Henry's story to light? Please contact the curator at curator@sschistoricalsociety@gmail.com.

Merry Christmas from SSCHS

Wishing you all the joys and blessings of the holiday season.

A Little Wintery Weather

Last week's dusting of snow brought a holiday look to the Museum complex.

Howard Hill School Bell Finds a Home

Walker Cox of Greenwood has constructed a base for the Howard Hill School Bell, which has long languished on the dog trot of the Vineyard Cabin. Walker completed the project in fulfillment of his Eagle Scout Award. He is pictured her with his father, Mike.

The bell was repatriated to Greenwood some years ago after storage in a field near Oklahoma City. It now rests near the Redwine Pioneer Schoolhouse on the Museum Complex grounds.

Many thanks to Mike and his Dad for providing our bell its long awaited home.