The Collections Committee had another successful year. We continue to receive donations of various items of Warner history and spend many hours organizing, accessing, cataloging and filing. Shirley Lake and Sylvia Blanchette continue the work of the Tuesday Ladies, while Bev Hill retired in August. Fernanda Harrington and Evie Joss continue the Wednesday work of organizing and accessioning the large Davis Family manuscript and photograph collection. Barbara Proper resigned on May 6, and Rebecca Courser assumed the Office Manager’s position the following week.

Dick Mueller of Warner has volunteered to place the town of Warner cemetery records on the Internet. He is entering the Society’s paper records into a website "Interment.net," thus allowing nationwide access to and research of our cemetery records on-line. He will give the Historical Society a CD master copy once the project is completed. He will provide a link to the Warner Historical Society and Town of Warner websites. He plans to have his students at Bishop Brady High School work on the project as part of their community service project, entering records and taking digital photographs of every headstone of all the cemeteries, which will be entered on another website.

Work on the Civil War publication of the Joseph S. Rogers letters is progressing. The project is taking longer than first anticipated, but work has begun on the index. We are still hoping for a Christmastime publication date.

An anonymous donor purchased for the Historical Society two Laurette Carroll watercolors of the Soldier’s Monument and the Lower Warner Meeting House, painted in the 1970s, and four scenic paintings by Sylvia Brofos from the personal collection of Reese and Midge Hanbury.

Martha Sammis donated a number of artifacts, furniture pieces, maps, etc. from the home of her late brother Wilson Sammis, items that he had collected from the Sibley Wilkins house in Lower Warner.

Carol Brown Howard donated a couple of boxes Simonds Free High School old trustee records that she carefully organized.

Dean and Roxanne Smith donated a box of Simonds Free High School memorabilia and another two boxes of miscellaneous Warner photographs, memorabilia, etc.

This past June Rebecca Courser and I researched, created, and mounted the summer exhibit entitled "This morning broke clear … Warner, N.H. in the wake of the Civil War." This exhibit was designed to supplement and enhance the forthcoming documentary movie about Warner from 1860-1900 that will be released later this year. The grand opening of the exhibit was held on July 4 with 100 guests attending. More than 70 people have viewed the exhibit this summer.

Rebecca researched, wrote, and presented a number of Society programs this year, including presentations to the Men’s Club, the Masons, the Women’s Club, and the Businessmen’s Association. She also wrote numerous articles for the town’s newspaper and is the creative force behind the Society newsletter.

Fernanda Harrington researched, organized and created a program entitled "Between Farm and Mills: the Buswell Sisters of Hopkinton, 1820-1860." This reading of the Buswell sisters letters by five local girls offered a glimpse into their lives as they moved from isolated farm work to the mills and large cities of Nashua, NH. and Lowell, Mass.

We attended a conservation workshop in April at the New Hampshire Historical Society on caring for your historic paper collections. Rebecca was awarded a scholarship to attend a three day photo digitizing workshop, sponsored by the Northeast Document Conservation Center at the New Hampshire Historical Society.

Once again, a very special thank you to the Collections Committee Members and all the work they do throughout the year in organizing and preserving Warner’s history.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary E. Cogswell