In an attempt to breathe new life into a piece of local history, the Bordentown Historical Society recently began an initiative to restore a portrait of a once famous resident, Francis Hopkinson, who was a founding father and signer of the Declaration of Independence.
The painting of Hopkinson, which was created in 1974 for the nation’s Bicentennial in 1976, was painted by Henry Hartman, an artist who was a longtime Bordentown resident.
Hartman created many illustrations during his life and was chosen by Dell Publishing Company during the 1950s to create the cover art for their “Lone Ranger” comic book series of which the historical society has a few of them in their collection.
As part of the restoration process for the painting, the historical society is currently seeking donations via social media and a GoFundMe page.
The historical society said they plan to not only restore the painting, but to frame it and showcase it at their meeting house on Farnsworth Avenue as well as various other locations in upcoming years.
“Since our historical society has branched out in many forms of social media over the past year, I thought that it would be really fun and exciting to try our first attempt with GoFundMe,” said Bordentown Historical Society Co-President, Doug Kiovsky. “I chose the painting because it really needs a face lift and period frame to match.”
Kiovsky explained that the painting of Hopkinson serves as much historical value for the nation as much as it does to preserve a part of Bordentown’s rich history.
“Francis Hopkinson is one of our nation’s founding fathers as a signer of the Declaration of Independence and as the designer of our United States and New Jersey flags,” he said. “He is also our country’s first native composer, as well as a poet. Most importantly, he lived in Bordentown and married into the Borden family.”
Currently, the historical society is within $200 of reaching its goal to have the painting restored and framed. Once it’s completed, the historical society said it will let contributors know about it and hang the painting.
For people interested in contributing a donation to the restoration project via the GoFundMe page, they can visit the link at https://www.gofundme.com/francis-hopkinson-painting-restoration.
For those who don’t have a GoFundMe account, nor access to the site, they can mail a check donation to the Bordentown Historical Society at 302 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown, and indicate that the monetary amount is for the “Francis Hopkinson Painting Restoration.”