DELAWARE SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF ANTIQUITIES: HALE BYRNES HOUSE

Delaware Society for the Preservation of Antiquities is a nonprofit organization organized to protect, preserve and promote the buildings and grounds of the historic Hale Byrnes House, and to provide related educational programs for families and fishermen, students and scholars..

This is an 18th century Quaker house that served as the site of George Washington's Council of War prior to marching to Battle of Brandywine.

offering educational public programming for adults and families. Hale Byrnes House is the southern anchor site of the federally designated Wild & Scenic White Clay Creek and we participate in a variety of related environmental programs including Christiana River clean-up and White Clay Creek Fest.

Our goal in the next few years is to repair and restore serious water damage caused by flooding and drainage issues . so that we can continue to grow our public programming and outreach efforts.

Our curator in residence (pays rent and all utilities to live here and does not get paid) is a Cooperstown Museum Graduate and also has an MPA in Agency Management. from the College of Urban Affairs, UD. As volunteers, she and her husband are the resident eyes & ears on the land.

The house is operated as a 501c-3 nonprofit, staffed entirely by volunteers.

We have recently an independent accountant's review of our finances and are launching a major membership drive.

We have an excellent reputation among the scholars of the American Revolution, including such noted figures as Edward L'Engle, Larrie Ferreiro, Linday Cherwinsky, and network extensively to make this both a community-based location and a nationally recognized historic site.

Our volunteers are drawn from the local community and are well-educated, dedicated, and hard-working people.

Our executive director is an Advisor Emeritus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, former Board Chairman of the Delaware Humanities Forum, and has masters degrees in both Agency Management and in Museum Studies. Our current Board Chairman is retired from Artesian Water Company.

From summer - end of December 2020 all our programs were held on Zoom. Pleased to say 301 people attended those programs during that time. We were very fortunate to have received a grant from the Delaware Humanities Council that allowed us to pay those speakers.

The attic floor, a wooden handrail to downstairs cellar, and got the 50 year old septic system & leach field repaired have all been repaired. With the financial assistance of the State of Delaware, In 2020, the roof was repaired and re-shingled by the State of Delaware and a new furnace was installed, and we are waiting to hear from the Longwood Foundation about a 2021 grant we have applied for to replace the back deck.

Due to Covid, most our fall 2020 and 2021 programs have been on Zoom. Surprisingly enough the numbers of participants has been better than expected.

We were very honored to have Honorary French Consul Michael Scullin bring Consul General Penguilly and French Ambassador to the United States. M. Etienne here for a private luncheon in September 2020.

Total visitation 2019 was 918. Total visitation in 2020 with Covid restrictions in place was 685.