Doug Dixon provides a visual history of St. Michael’s, exploring the grounds, building, and interior using photos and memories from a variety of contributors
Presented by Douglas Dixon, Hopewell Valley History Project
Wed., May 8, 2024, 7 pm – Free and open to the public
– Attend in person – Hopewell Presbyterian Church, 80 W Broad St., Hopewell
– Or join online via Zoom – Click to Register Only for the Zoom Presentation
Hopewell Public Library Speaker Series
Co-sponsored by the Hopewell Valley Historical Society and The Hopewell Museum
What was St. Michael’s Orphanage? Some know it from old photos, with the large forbidding building standing alone in an empty field. And many now know it as the over 400-acre D&R Greenway St. Michael’s Farm Preserve just outside Hopewell Borough, with few visible remnants of its past use.
In this presentation, Doug Dixon provides a visual history of St. Michael’s using photos and memories from a variety of contributors. We will explore around the building to see kids playing on the playground and around the grounds. And we will go inside the building to see the children in the nursery, school rooms, chapel, dining room, and dorm rooms.
More on St. Michael’s
St. Michael’s Orphan Asylum and Industrial School was a major local institution that operated for three quarters of a century (1898 to 1973), providing support and education for abandoned and neglected children, from infants to around age 14.
The buildings are gone, but St. Michael’s lives on in local memories. The building had a capacity of 450, and was home over the years to thousands of children, over a hundred Sisters of St. Francis who operated the facility, and other live-in staff, plus families living on the associated farm. The site also hosted additional day workers and day students.
About the Speaker
Douglas Dixon is an independent technology consultant and writer, now morphed into a history enthusiast and author. He is a board member of The Hopewell Museum and the Hopewell Valley Historical Society, and developed the Hopewell Valley History Project (HopewellHistoryProject.org).
Since mid-2019, the History Project has collected, digitized, and freely shared local historical materials to aid research into area people and places. With the assistance of some 140 local contributors, the site now hosts some 640 documents and maps, 4170 images and videos, and an interactive Hopewell History Map. With these materials, Doug also has authored some 40 Hopewell Borough History Briefs -over 500 pages of research reports on local organizations, businesses, and properties, and the people who made them.
As a software technologist, Doug specializes in Web technology, databases, and digital media. He has authored four books on digital media, published hundreds of feature articles, and presented over a hundred technical seminars and talks.
The in-person event is free and open to the public – No registration is required
– Attend in person – Fellowship Hall at the Hopewell Presbyterian Church, 80 West Broad Street, Hopewell, NJ 08525
– Or join online via Zoom – Click to Register Only for the Zoom Presentation
More on St. Michael’s Orphanage
St. Michael’s Orphan Asylum and Industrial School operated for three quarters of a century (1898 to 1973) just south of Hopewell, providing support and education for abandoned and neglected children.
Presentation
- Upcoming Talk – St. Michael’s Orphanage: A Visual History – Wed., May 8, 2024
Posts
- Post – Photos of St. Michael’s Kids
- Post – St. Michael’s Photos – Behind the Building
- Post – St. Michael’s Orphanage Census Records
- Post – St. Michael’s Orphanage Photo Collection
- Post – Investigating History in Hopewell Maps – St. Michael’s Building
Media
- Images – View the 200+ St. Michael’s images on the History Project site
- Video – A Home in the Country: The Story of St. Michael’s Orphanage, by Jack Koeppel, 2016 Hopewell Public Library presentation
