AHC Records in the Morning Call Archive

Recently, we had the opportunity to search the Allentown Morning Call's digital archive for every mention of the phrase "Allentown Hiking Club" in the newspaper. Imagine our surprise when my search returned 4,851 hits!

That averages out to about 54 times each year over the past 90 years.

However, the number of mentions varies greatly. In 1980-1989, the decade with the most hits, there are 1,666 mentions, or an average of 167 per year! Next was 1990-1999, with 1,361 hits. After this, the numbers of returns per decade fell off significantly - 456 for 1970-1979. Totals for other decades were 356 for 1954-1959, 352 for 2000-2009; 228 for 2010-2019, 204 for 1931-1939; 193 for 1960-1969; and finally 35 for 1940-1943. Due to World War II restrictions, AHC suspended operations in the Spring of 1943 and did not reorganize until February 1954.

The types of articles include announcements of hikes, descriptions of competed trips, human interest stories, informational pieces, Appalachian Trail work trips, as well as mentions in obituaries, and notices of events and meetings.

Obviously, we were not able to read every article. But in searching for the earliest mention of AHC, I discovered that it was in the newspaper of October 30, 1931. This was a surprise, since our club records begin with a meeting on December 2.

As the newspaper articles indicate, AHC can trace its history back to October 29. The following clippings tell the previously unknown story of our first weeks.