Lewes Museum collections center named in honor of Hazel Brittingham

It’s only fitting that Hazel Brittingham cherishes the memory of the long-lost Cape Henlopen Lighthouse. She has been the guiding light for Lewes’ history for many decades. 

Brittingham’s tireless mission to tell the history of Delaware’s oldest town was recognized June 27, as the Lewes Historical Society dedicated in her honor the Hazel Brittingham Collections Center in the new Lewes History Museum. 

“This collections center is the heart of this museum. Without Hazel’s historical knowledge to guide us along the way to understand the significance of much of Lewes’ history, we would not have been able to do it correctly,” said Libby Owen, vice president of the historical society’s board of trustees and steering committee chair. “It all leads back to Hazel.”

Mike DiPaolo has been executive director of the historical society since 2001. In the last 16 years, he’s worked hand-in-hand with Brittingham to ensure her knowledge is documented for future generations to consume. 

“When I started, she said she was going to put everything in her head in my head,” he said. “That is an impossible task. Her extensive experience is what makes Lewes, Lewes.” 

Brittingham was born Nov. 12, 1927, at her Downs family home in Lewes. She worked as a secretary and assistant treasurer at Sussex Trust Company and at the Lewes and Cape Henlopen school districts from 1955 to 1980. 

She married Emory Brittingham of the Lewes Dairy family. She was a charter member of the Lewes Historical Society in 1962 and has written several books and contributed articles to newspapers and magazines. 

“The greatest tribute to Hazel is the fact that it takes an entire historical society with a board of directors, hundreds of volunteers and a great administrative staff … to do what Hazel has done single-handedly now for 40 or 50 years,” said Dennis Forney, Cape Gazette publisher and friend.

Lewes Mayor Ted Becker presented Brittingham with a resolution proclaiming June 27, 2017, as Hazel Brittingham Appreciation Day in honor of her decades of dedication to preserving and telling Lewes’ history. 

When it was finally her time to speak at the ceremony, Hazel joked, “Wow. I’m glad to know this woman.”

She reminisced about a carnival that was held on the site of the Lewes History Museum when she was a child. It was her first experience with a Ferris wheel. It was a thrilling experience, she said.

“Here I am 75 years later and I’m thrilled again,” she said. 

The historical society has a goal to raise $50,000 to cover the construction cost of the collections center, which will house all of the society's artifacts, documents, photographs and other historic items. To date, the campaign has raised about $41,000. 

Additional donations can be made by making checks payable to Lewes Historical Society and sending them to 110 Shipcarpenter St., Lewes, DE 19958.