The Historical Society of Plainfield held an opening reception for two new exhibits at the Drake House Museum on Saturday, Feb. 2. in the second floor ballroom. One of the two was curated by Troop 73 Life Scout, Justin Almendral, as part of his Eagle project. Plainfield’s Forgotten History is an exhibit of fifteen photographs from the Historical Society of Plainfield’s archives collection.
Almendral is a life Scout of Troop 73, and for his Eagle Scout project, he and his assistants purchased a photograph scanner and scanned over 300 photographs in the Society’s collection. As a culmination of his project, he selected photographs that illustrate life in Plainfield spanning 100 years, from the 1870’s to the 1970’s. The photographs include: Muhlenberg Hospital, Plainfield High School, the Plainfield High School Band, St. Mary’s Commercial School, the railroad, trains, sports, and recreation.
The Historical Society received a grant from the Gannett Foundation that enabled Curator Leanne Manna to design and create professional exhibit panels. The panels will be available as a traveling exhibit to other venues, and in the future will be available online at the Drake House Museum website.
The Drake House Museum is located at 602 West Front St. in Plainfield.