Village Improvement Associations: A 19th Century Idea Ready for a Reboot?

As we will soon observe Memorial Day, it’s appropriate to take a visit to Hillsdale’s Veterans Memorial Garden. It is a solemn and grateful remembrance of the soldiers, sailors and airmen who served and sometimes lost their lives in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The memorial, which is located on Rt. 23 just west of the Sheriff substation, was designed in 2009 by Hillsdale resident and entrepreneur Matthew White and features a plaque for each of these conflicts.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that the original concept for the war memorial dates back to 1946, when a group of Hillsdale residents wanted to commemorate the veterans of the two world wars by building a playground “of suitable size for baseball and other games, with a building to be used as a recreation center, with provision for bowling alleys and an auditorium suitable for basketball, social functions, etc, with a suitable plaque located in a prominent position with the names of all Hillsdale residents who have served in World War I and World War II,” according to a reminiscent 1977 article in the Roe Jan Independent.

And with that, today’s Hamlet Park was born. We’re still awaiting the recreation center, and we believe we will wait a long time. But there is a baseball field with bleachers, an illuminated basketball court, and some playground equipment. The park has been the site of many well-attended events, including the Pumpkin Festival, the flea market, a classic car show, and numerous summer concerts.

In recent years Hillsdale’s Hamlet Committee developed a proposal to redevelop the park, but a lack of funds put the project on indefinite hold.

But back in 1946, the hamlet had a secret weapon: the Young People’s Village Improvement Association (hereafter, the YPVIA).

In the late 1800s, many New England villages and towns formed Village Improvement Societies to, among other things, beautify the village, start a library, or fund an improvement for which the town council did not want to tax the citizens. Stockbridge, MA claims to have created the first such society.

In 1898, Henry Dudley Harvey, publisher of the Hillsdale Harbinger, founded the Village Improvement Association, which eventually morphed into the YPVIA.

Henry Dudley Harvey

 

The YPVIA was periodically disbanded for lack of members, but in 1946 it was revivified for the purpose of establishing the war memorial. A rather large boulder was situated at a spot overlooking what would become the playground. It’s still there, the centerpiece of Matthew White’s design for the Veterans Memorial Garden, and it still displays the original plaque honoring Hillsdale’s servicemen.

The YPVIA raised the funds to purchase the three-acre plot from Euston Betten that would become Hillsdale Memorial Field, and continued to raise funds to maintain the field and its facilities.

One of the earliest fundraising tactics, in 1898, was the creation and sale of a cookbook. It had 265 recipes in 13 categories, according to a copy we found on eBay.

Note the year on the title page: 1898

 

Ironically, the nine directors of the YPVIA were not young people at all. They were prominent, middle-aged Hillsdale citizens who decided what projects to undertake and how to finance them. The YPVIA engaged in a variety of fundraising activities, including food sales, a strawberry festival, and concerts. At Christmastime in 1951, the YPVIA reissued the 1898 cookbook.

In addition to raising money, the members of the YPVIA (who actually were young people) provided free labor for community projects, and paid a dollar in annual dues for the privilege. A July 1980 Roe Jan Independent article noted that Mrs. Cornelius “Margaret” Hunt, president of the YPVIA, had volunteered the YPVIA to clean up the Old Community cemetery on Old Town Rd. (We should note that Margaret Hunt was a bit of a force of nature in Hillsdale and had her fingers in many local pies. She also served as Town Historian for some 20 years.)

Margaret Hunt (Photo Credit: Heather Stevens)

The Old Community cemetery

The Roe Jan Independent noted that during the yearlong celebration of America’s Bicentennial in 1976, the YPVIA presented the town with a flagpole and a specially issued Bicentennial flag along with an American flag. The flagpole was erected in the park across from the Methodist church at the intersection of Rts. 23 and 22. During that summer, eight-year-old Keith Gallup (whose parents, Roger and Bette, were actively involved in the YPVIA) would raise the flags early each morning and lower them each evening.

The next year, the Revolutionary War memorial was erected next to the flagpole.

The YPVIA was active into the early 1990s. But we can find no sign of it today. Are there any former members of the YPVIA who would consider bringing it back?