Oxford Area Historical Association (OAHA) will make a little history of its own this year by celebrating its 25th anniversary. From its beginnings, OAHA has always been a band of dedicated volunteers committed to preserving the history and telling the stories of Oxford and its 5 surrounding townships.

The idea of creating an historical association grew out of a conversation between Jahan Sheikholeslami, President of Oxford Mainstreet Inc. (OMI) and Dr. Faye Robinson Doyle, OAHA’s first President. In January 2000 a letter, written by Dr. Doyle, was sent to a group of people, inviting them to a meeting to determine if an interest existed in forming an historical association. Nineteen people attended that first meeting and from this meeting came the initial group of volunteers and framework for OAHA. Throughout the late winter and spring of 2000 meetings would be held to flesh out the organizational structure, elect officers, and create the Bylaws. 

According to OAHA’s minutes, its first location was in “the right back corner of the old savings and loan premises on 3rd St., where they had some office space and a filing cabinet”.  Sadly, this location was lost in the fire of September 2023.  Oxford Area Historical Association held its first General Meeting on Nov. 15, 2000, at the Ware Village Chapel. The meeting consisted of a short business meeting followed by a talk on “Oxford Citizens during the Civil War” by Ralph Denlinger. There was also an exhibit on the Oxford area and a table where those interested could become members. This program was free for all, beginning a practice still in place today. 

The OAHA Board and volunteers did not let the lack of a physical location hamper them from preserving and bringing Oxford area’s history to the community. One of the first major undertakings for OAHA was the preservation of the Hopewell School Bell and building of the tower in which to house it. This project was led by OAHA volunteer Kent Vendrick. The group of volunteers salvaged and cleaned mortar off bricks from the demolished Hopewell School as well as some other older houses being torn down. Their motto was “The mortar, the merrier!” In 2004, a truck carrying the cupola and bell participated in a parade to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of Oxford, then called Hood’s Crossing. Work on the bell tower was completed in 2005, and a dedication was held on December 17 of that year. To this day the bell which started atop the Union School Building in 1869 and was then moved to the Hopewell School, can still be heard as every school day 2-3 kindergartners come out in the morning to ring it.

In those early years, OAHA volunteers created and lead walking tours of downtown Oxford. They participated in parades and had table displays at festivals. OAHA Board members took turns creating pop-up displays in downtown storefronts. Pamphlets and books like, The Dickey Family, A History of Churches and Worship Groups in the Oxford Area, and Country Doctors of Oxford, Pennsylvania were written and sold for a “donation”.  In addition to focusing on history in and around Oxford, OAHA sponsored bus trips to nearby historical locations, like Gettysburg, Harper’s Ferry, and St. Michael’s, MD. OAHA partnered with Oxford Area School District and Oxford Educational Foundation to bring in historical reenactors, who portrayed people like George Washington, Ulysses Grant and African-American Revolutionary War hero, Ned Hector. These reenactors would present programs to students during the day and then an OAHA program in the evening.

The cornerstone of OAHA’s offerings to the public has been, and still is, its monthly programs. From the very beginning, these programs have mostly focused on local history, presented by local presenters. There have been programs on people: the Dickey family, OlaBelle Reed Campbell, or the Parker sisters; on places: Hinsonville, West Nottingham, or the Mason-Dixon Line; on industry: auger making, Lukens steel, or the Oxford Co-Operative Car Company; and well, history: coming of age in the 1960s, Oxford during the Civil War, or the Battle of the Brandywine. These programs, always free to the public, have been presented in a variety of locations around Oxford, like the Oxford Presbyterian Church, the firehouse, the Masonic Lodge, Oxford Public Library, Herr’s auditorium, and Ware Presbyterian Village. During COVID, when no one could gather OAHA began hosting online programs, which they continue to do today by live streaming their programs on their Facebook page.

While OAHA volunteers were participating in all these activities which brought the historical stories of the Oxford area to the community, they were also collecting and preserving what materials they could, given their space which never seemed to be adequate. Concerns always existed about storage and display limitations, and when space became available in the one room schoolhouse building located on the East Nottingham Township municipal property OAHA decided to move as much archival material as possible there. Additionally, they agreed to start inventorying the collection to assist volunteers in making the archives more accessible to researchers.  

Even with the move to the East Nottingham Township building, OAHA still did not have enough space for its growing collection of items and no good way to display what they had or offer access to researchers. OAHA Board members continued to search for locations to house the organization and its’ collection. The Barnsley School was considered as was space in the expanding library. Another location mentioned was the historic Union School Building. In addition to the need to find a place with adequate space to house OAHA’s archives was the need to secure the funding which would allow OAHA to be able to afford that space.

The solution to how OAHA would be able to afford a physical location came from one OAHA’s former Board members and long-time volunteer, Carl Fretz, and then OAHA Board President, Vernon Ringler. Carl Fretz had always urged OAHA to think about a physical location to house a museum like space to display historical artifacts from the Oxford area. When he passed away in 2015, Mr. Fretz bequeathed OAHA $2,500. Vernon Ringler, Board president, suggested using the donation to create a challenge to other donors to raise $25,000 for the purpose of securing a rental property for the OAHA’s archives and artifacts. He wrote a letter outlining the challenge and sent it to several donors. The Carl Fretz Challenge as it came to be called surpassed the goal of $25,000, ultimately raising over $30,000 to assist in the securing of a physical location for OAHA. With this funding, OAHA was finally able to move its archives and many of its artifacts to a location on Locust Street in downtown Oxford. This location not only gave the organization a climate-controlled repository for its archives, but also offered space where volunteers could work on cataloging the collection, researchers could access the collection, and artifacts could be displayed.

While the Locust Street location was serviceable, from the beginning it had its limitations. The location provided ample space for a few volunteers to work and to house much of the paper archives, but OAHA still was renting two storage units to house almost all of its artifacts.  Additionally, the space to display items or create exhibits was very limited. OAHA needed a bigger, permanent place.

To think through strategic options toward this undertaking, the OAHA Board contracted with Krys Sipple in February 2020.  Around the same time, the Board began to seriously consider making an offer to the Borough for the old train station.  OAHA’s future, while seeming a little scary, also looked exciting and full of possibilities.  Then in March of 2020, COVID shut everything down.  The archive building was shuttered and programs ceased.  The uncertainty was palpable.  Would OAHA be able to survive?  Luckily, thanks again to the determination of a handful of dedicated volunteers, OAHA was able to adjust and keep moving forward.

Board meetings were held via Zoom and this modern-day technology was used to deliver historical programs and information into people’s living rooms via the Internet, providing an escape for people cut off from their community. It also kept OAHA relevant and alive in the lives of Oxford area residents.  That connection gave OAHA’s Board the courage to make an offer for the train station.  Ultimately the Borough did not accept OAHA’s offer, but that disappointing decision turned out to have a silver lining as the Board realized the train station would not have been big enough for OAHA’s collection and its future plans.

As the limitations of COVID went away, OAHA resumed its previous in-person activities while looking for a space to call home.  It didn’t take long for the now vacant Union School Building to be mentioned as a possible location, after all it had been mentioned in the past.  Now, however, the building was more appealing as significant work had been done to the interior of the building.  In January 2023, the OAHA Board unanimously voted to take the exciting, but daunting step to sign a lease and an agreement of sale for the Union School Building.  In March of that year OAHA moved into its new, permanent home.  For the first time ever, all OAHA’s archival materials and artifacts were in one location, a space big enough to preserve and display items, provide researchers space to work, and invite local students in for field trips.

None of OAHA’s current successes would have been possible, however, without the dedication of its volunteers over the past 25 years.  A special thanks needs to be made to the leadership and vision of the past Board Presidents—Dr. Faye Robinson Doyle, John Bradley, Vernon Ringler, Ken Woodward, and Gail Roberts.  Each of these individuals gave their all to OAHA and moved it forward.  Oxford Area Historical Association will be presenting a program on OAHA’s first 25 years on April 10th at 7 PM at the Vista Ridge Pavillion as well as planning an Open House at the History Center (119 S. 5th St., Oxford) in the Fall to celebrate our anniversary.  For more information visit our website at www.oxfordhistorical.org or stop by the History Center on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9-12 PM.