On Saturday, June 8, the Butler County Historical Society will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the June 6, 1944 Allied D-Day invasion of Normandy with the first of four summer multi-generational programs designed for children and their parents or grandparents. It will be held in the front yard of the society’s Benninghofen House museum at 327 North Second Street, Hamilton, and begin at 9:30 a.m. and end around 2:00 p.m.  The program is free and open to the public, thanks to a generous grant from the W. E. Smith Family Trust of Oxford.

Children and their companions will be able to visit the BCHS exhibit focusing on Butler County residents and companies that participated in America’s war effort. There will be a scavenger hunt, explanations of rationing and an opportunity to “collect” eggs. A World War II Jeep will be on display in the parking lot and give children opportunities to have photos taken with it.

All activities are designed as hands-on experiences with no set program. People can join the event anytime between 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. and come and go as they please. In the case of poor weather, activities will be moved inside to the Emma Ritchie Auditorium.

Butler County Historical Society members are invited to attend a preview of the society’s upcoming exhibit focusing on the men, women and industries that were involved in America’s effort to win World War II. The member-only event will be held on Friday evening, May 3, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Emma Ritchie Auditorium of the society’s complex at 327 N. Second Street, Hamilton. Light refreshments will be served. Non-members who wish to attend the event can join the society during the evening. People planning to attend are asked to RSVP.

Liza Vance, history graduate student at Northern Kentucky University, will describe her work in developing the society’s “Butler County World War II Soldier’s Stories” exhibit that will open to the public on June 6, the 75th anniversary of D-Day. The exhibit will present the first hand accounts of men and women who served during the war. Vance spent hours interviewing several soldiers that experienced the war while at Pearl Harbor, Saipan and during the D-Day Invasions in Europe. She also compiled much of the information presented in the exhibit, which is her “Capstone Project” that completes the university’s requirements for her Master Degree in Public History.

Butler County Historical Society members are invited to attend an “Out of the Archives” event that showcases several of the quilts in the society’s collection on Friday evening, March 29, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The member-only event will be held in the Emma Ritchie Auditorium of the society’s complex at 327 N. Second Street, Hamilton, and include free coffee, tea and cookies. Non-members who wish to attend the event can join the society during the evening. People planning to attend are requested to RSVP.

Mary Royer, member of the American Quilt Study Group and Midwest Fabric Study Group, will conduct a “Quilt Bed Turning” in which she discusses what makes a quilt and why so many people devote their time and skills to sewing beautiful and practical quilts. Several lovely quilts will be on display. The BCHS plans to open an exhibit of many of the society’s quilts in the near future.

A new exhibit of Victorian Era Valentines will open in the Butler County Historical Society on February 14^th and run through mid-April.  The exhibit is free to the public and will feature a variety of ways people expressed their love and affection for their sweethearts, spouses and others during the period from 1850 to 1900.  It will be in the Emma Ritchie Auditorium of the BCHS, 327 North 3^rd Street, Hamilton.  

On Friday, February 15, a reception and special Valentine’s Day program for the historical society’s members will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.  A wine and cheese reception will begin at 6 p.m.  BCHS Executive Director Kathy Creighton will discuss how the celebration of Valentine’s Day evolved at 7 p.m.  She will present how Cupid, flowers, and love became part of the holiday as reflected in Victorian Era cards.  Non-members who wish to attend the event can join the society during the evening.  People planning to attend are requested to RSVP.

The Butler County Historical Society is presenting an exhibit tied to next week’s Ice Fest 2019 celebration organized by the City of Sculpture.  The exhibit is free to the public and will open in the Emma Ritchie Auditorium of the BCHS on January 18 and run for two weeks until January 26.  

The display features vintage tools which were used to harvest natural ice for the many ice-making companies in Butler County during the 1880s and 1890s when the industry thrived.  Some of the items on view are ice saws, pikes, ice plows, ice tongs and smaller hand tools.  Several of the companies with ice fields along the Miami-Erie Canal and Hamilton’s hydraulic reservoirs will be featured in the exhibit.  

Also on view in the Emma Ritchie Auditorium will be the BCHS Victorian Christmas Village display.  This display features more than 60 porcelain lighted buildings, several horse-drawn carriages, over fifty trees and nearly 300 costumed figures that capture the colorful daily life of Victorian London, England in small scale.  It includes several churches, fire and police stations, three pubs, more than forty stores and shops and a special “museumland” that includes an opera house, museums of modern art, natural science, history and an observatory.