The Beginning
In June 1973, two Currier & Ives collectors, Ladd MacMillan and Ewell L. Newman, began working on “A Guide to Collecting Currier & Ives.” Ladd and Ewell so enjoyed the process of sharing knowledge about American prints that they decided to publish a press release in a number of antiques journals asking for interest in “Creating a circle of fellowship among those who collect and treasure these pictorial records of our early republic.”
They received over 200 responses. Ladd and Ewell invited these respondents to attend a founding meeting held June 6-7, 1975, at the Heritage Plantation in Sandwich, Massachusetts. About 80 people participated. During the meeting, provisional by-laws were created, a slate of officers elected, and the annual membership fee set at $20 per household. Those attendees who paid dues became the founding members of the American Historical Print Collectors Society. Ewell later remembered, “The long-time dream of our first President, Ladd MacMillan, and my own dream of a nation-wide fellowship of American historical print collectors now was a reality.”
AHPCS Founding Members
| Dr. & Mrs. Alexander Altschuller Dr. & Mrs. Henry A. Boorse Mr. & Mrs. Ronald P. Burrows Richard F. Casten Mr. & Mrs. Herbert Lawrence Coggins Dr. & Mrs. Harte C. Crow Mr. & Mrs. Francis W. Dolloff Mr. & Mrs. John E. Ebert Mr. & Mrs. Charles W. Evilsizor Mr. & Mrs. Milton L. Glass Mr. & Mrs. Jack Golden Mrs. George S. Graham, Jr. Samuel E. Hill Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Lamb Mr. & Mrs. David Larson Dr. & Mrs. Raymond E. Larson Mr. & Mrs. Paul W. Levengood |
Dr. S. Arthur Localio Joseph D. McDonald Mr. & Mrs. Frederick J. McGowan John M. McLean Mr. & Mrs. Ladd MacMillan George Michael Mr. & Mrs. Ewell L. Newman Cyrus T. Plough Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Roberts Mrs. Raymond A. Ruge Mrs. Fred J. Sheppard, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. William F. Stickle Mr. & Mrs. Edward C. Stotesbury Dr. & Mrs. Vincent Stravino Mr. & Mrs. Clayton M. Timmons Mr. & Mrs. W. E. West |
The Early Years
Following the success of the Sandwich meeting, AHPCS leadership began planning the first official annual meeting for the next spring. On April 22-23, 1976, over 100 print collectors, dealers, and museum curators met at the Sheraton-Park Plaza Hotel in New Haven, Connecticut. The members who had joined between June 7, 1975, and April 22, 1976, became the Charter Members of AHPCS. View a list of the AHPCS Charter Members.
Two publications were soon established: a scholarly journal, Imprint (with the first issue appearing in February 1976), and the AHPCS News Letter, which first reached members in February 1977.
In the early decades, the Society initiated programs to supplement the knowledge shared through its print publications, including hands-on workshops, regional meetings, and participation in public exhibitions. The first AHPCS-sponsored exhibition was displayed at the Morristown National Historical Park in Morristown, Jersey, in 1979 and featured prints on the life of George Washington.
Leadership
| June 1975 – June 1977 | Ladd MacMillan |
| June 1977 – June 1979 | Henry A. Boorse |
| June 1979 – June 1981 | David L. Larson |
| June 1981 – June 1984 | Eugene C. Worman, Jr. |
| June 1984 – June 1987 | Ruth Alden Graham |
| June 1987 – June 1990 | Marshall R. Berkoff |
| June 1990 – June 1991 | Robert Braun |
| June 1991 – June 1992 | Eugene C. Worman, Jr. |
| June 1992 – June 1995 | Milton A. Wohl |
| June 1995 – June 1998 | Georgia B. Barnhill |
| June 1998 – June 2001 | Wendy Shadwell |
| June 2001 – June 2004 | Greg Walla |
| June 2004 – June 2007 | Donald C. O’Brien |
| June 2007 – June 2010 | Brian Oickle |
| June 2010 – June 2013 | John Zak |
| June 2013 – June 2016 | Robert Newman |
| June 2016 – June 2019 | Lauren B. Hewes |
| June 2019 – June 2021 | Nancy Finlay |
| June 2021 – | Allen W. Bernard |