VS Historical Society

	HENRY WALDINGER MEMORIAL LIBRARY
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			60 Verona Place, Valley Stream, Long Island, NY 11582 (516) 825-6422

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Valley Stream Historical Society History of the Society

On July 7, 1972, a group of 12 Valley Stream residents met to form a historical society for the Valley Stream community. They were Mable Dibble Ackerly, Carolyn and Dwight Young, Alan and Helen Dowdeswell, Helen Rack Moore, Edward Moore, Burt and Betty Vanderclute, Howard Ruehl, Lillian Rack Weaver, and Seymour Morgenroth. The Valley Stream Historical Society received official recognition from New York State on January 17, 1973 and was granted a provisional charter in 1974.

The Society held meetings to promote membership, with programs centered around the history of Valley Stream and Long Island. A newsletter entitled, "Panorama," was the public relations tool of the society. The major goal of the Society was to establish a museum to house the historical artifacts that had been collected and stored in the basement of the Village Hall and various members' residents. The Society continued to operate under a Provisional Charter for the next two decades while working on its capital project to establish and open the Pagan-Fletcher Restoration to the public.

In 1998, a committee comprised of H. Bertram Keller, Joan Duffy, Karen Selah, Frank Koegler, and Carol McKenna met to complete the questionnaire required for the absolute charter by the New York State Education Department. Finally, on June 13, 2000, the New York State Board of Regents granted the Valley Stream Historical Society its Absolute Charter.

On Sunday, January 14, 2001, the Valley Stream Historical Society celebrated its Absolute Charter at the Pagan-Fletcher Restoration, with Mayor Ed Cahill and Village Trustees, Society founders and officials, and Society supporters. Former Mayor Dominick Minerva, who was the mayor in 1977 when the Village originally authorized the purchase of the house that is now the Pagan-Fletcher Restoration, was one of the honored guests. Hempstead Town Council Member and Former Mayor James Darcy presented a Town of Hempstead proclamation to the Society. Carol McKenna, Village Historian, recounted the history of the society and reviewed the accomplishments of the Society.

(Information about the history of the Valley Stream Historical Society provided by Carol McKenna, Village Historian, Inc. Village of Valley Stream.)