This pin was donated to special collections by Richard Hasbrouck in 2006. It was presented to a member of his family back in 1891.

In a dainty plastic bag in Sojourner Truth Library lies a beautiful golden pin on a chain. It is not a white gold— it is a yellow gold, either due to what it is made from or because of over one hundred years of exposure to the sunshine and oily hands. The pin is small, measuring ½ inch tall by ¾ inch wide. It is shaped like an open, hardcover book. In delicate cursive script, “After Labour Reward 1891” is engraved onto its surface. “After” and “Labour” are on the left page, and “Reward 1891” is on the right page. The pin, although solid, is well designed like a book, and the “pages” are not flat- they have a slight curve to them which makes them more realistic. Twenty six small, golden loops attached together connect the book to its pin. The chain is four inches long, and the needle is about 1 ½ inches long. The needle section of the pin is not purely a pin plated in gold, in the middle it has a swirl to it, as though it was taffy that somebody had decided to twist. Like a sewing pin, this pin has a small golden ball at its top.

Along with the pin in the collection was a sheet saying that the pin was presented to either Charlotte E. Reeve or Laura Hasbrouck. However, in the Auld Lang Syne yearbook, the classes from several years around 1981 are listed. Each class has a “slogan.” The graduating class from June 1891’s slogan was “After Labour, Reward.” There are twenty five students in this graduating class. However, only Charlotte E. Reeve is listed in this graduating class, so it would make the most sense that she was the student who was presented with this pin, not Laura Hasbrouck, because this pin was presented to the graduating class, and Laura Hasbrouck is not one of the twenty five names on the list.

This is significant to New Paltz history because it represents the growth of our university. ***