EXPRESS ARCHIVES Mr. and Mrs. C.C. Ricker, of McElhattan, who are planning to move to Sunbury in September to make their home near their son and daughter-in-law, are shown here examining several items of the extensive collection of Indian relics and artifacts which Mr. Ricker has decided to give to the Ross Library of this city. The collection also includes a wide variety of other historical curiosities, collected by Mr. Ricker, during his long residence at McElhattan, in the home built by his father. Many of his Indian relics were found in the immediate vicinity of McElhattan.

LOCK HAVEN — The Annie Halenbake Ross Library will be displaying a special exhibit in September that, one could say, was decades in the making.

The library will have a multitude of Native American artifacts on display in the Edythe Hoy Bossert Gallery throughout the coming month, with an opening reception planned for Sept. 2.

The artifacts were donated in 1951 by C.C. Ricker, whose great-great grandson will be attending the reception.

The reception will take place at 11 a.m. on Sept. 2 at 11 a.m. at the library.

Ricker’s great-great-grandson, David, will offer a few words about the collection and stick around to answer questions.

Refreshments will also be served.

The Ross Library was able to share an original article — published in The Express on July 16, 1951 — about the donation. The Express is sharing it as it was originally written, with our readership leading up to the opening of the exhibit:

C.C. Ricker’s Historical

Collection Goes to Library

The extensive collection of Indian relics and artifacts, many of them found in the old Indian camp sites of Clinton County, gathered by C.C. Ricker of McElhattan in a lifetime of interest in historical lore, will be given to the Ross Library of this city.

The offer was accepted Friday when Senator George B. Stevenson, president of the Library Board, Isabel C. Welch, librarian, and Miss Rebecca F. Gross, chairman of the Library Committee of the Board, visited the Ricker home and expressed the appreciation of the library and the community for the gesture made by Mr. Ricker.

The collection, which has occupied a special room in the Ricker home, includes a great variety of Indian material, arrowheads, tomahawks, pottery and other items, plus numerous historical mementoes collected by Mr. Ricker in a long lifetime of interest in historical matters.

MOVE IN SEPTEMBER

The collection will be moved to the library before the Rickers sell their home and move to Sunbury, as they plan to do in September.

Meanwhile, arrangements are being made in the cramped quarters of the library, to find space for the storage and display of the Ricker collection. For the present, the major items will be added to the historical displays, most of which belong to the Clinton County Historical Society, stored on the second floor of the library in the Historical Room. That room is used extensively by students of the local High Schools and the college, as well as by adults interested in historical research.

HOPE FOR LIBRARY ADDITION

The hope was expressed by Mr. Stevenson, in accepting the collection from Mr. Ricker, that the Library will receive similar gifts before all the historical treasures of the county are dissipated, and that an addition to the library can be constructed at some future time to permit permanent display of a large historical collection.

The Ricker collection of Indian material is the largest and most valuable gift of its kind to be placed in the hands of the Library.