Since its inception in January 1953 at the home of Mrs. T. Rowe Price, the Women’s Committee of Historic Hampton, Inc. (HHI) has benefited from the talents and labors of a dedicated group of women who have served on the committee.
Today, the Women’s Committee, supports Hampton initiatives through its Annual Spring Luncheon held in April and its Annual Fall “Evening of Elegance,” also known as “Wine and Dine,” held in October or November. Both events feature a Silent Auction and entertainment.
Throughout the years, the Women’s Committee has hosted events to attract visitors to Hampton and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support Hampton. Past events included Pony Shows, Farm Days, and Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage Tours.
For a number of years, the Women’s Committee ran a gift shop in the Mansion and supported the Hampton Tea Room, which opened on March 3rd, 1953.
The crowning achievement of the Women’s Committee was perhaps the creation in 1972 of a fund to restore Hampton’s Orangerie, likely built between 1829 and 1832 and destroyed by fire in 1928. Thanks to the Orangerie Restoration Committee, the generosity of Mr. Eli Lilly, whose mother had been a Ridgely, the Middendorf Foundation, and other benefactors, Orangerie restoration began in October 1974. On May 23rd, 1976, the Orangerie was presented to the National Park Service as a bicentennial gift. The Orangerie Restoration Committee raised nearly $180,000 in three and a half years for this outstanding project.