Membership

Memberships are offered to individual human beings only. Joint memberships are not permitted. Two or more persons joining simultaneously from the same household may receive a 25% discount on all memberships. Persons residing in the same household as Society members in good standing may receive a 10% discount on new memberships.

Persons wishing to join the Society must provide a name, postal mailing address, and functioning e-mail address. While the Society is willing to offer memberships to persons under fictional names, it does request that members also provide “real” names that will be recognized/usable by the US Postal Service.

Memberships may be purchased as gifts for third parties, but in such cases the purchaser must provide the name, postal and email addresses of the recipient as well as the purchaser. The benefits of membership will accrue to the member, not the purchaser.

The Society offers memberships without regard to race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, geographic location, marital status, sex, gender, sexual orientation or age. All Society members in good standing shall have full and equal access to the privileges of Society membership.

The Society collects personal information from members solely for the purpose of establishing and maintaining membership records, and processing annual renewals. The information is never revealed to anyone. Sometimes we can’t even find it ourselves. The Society endeavors to keep its membership records accurate, but members are responsible for providing to the Society correct and up-to-date contact information, both for postal and electronic mail. The Society cannot be responsible for failures to communicate that arise from lack of correct contact information.

Our record-keeping system organizes people by their e-mail address. This allows us to correlate your membership records to your purchase records in our online store, so that we can properly credit members for bonus stamps. A lot of people use multiple e-mail addresses, and while there are lots of good reasons for that practice, it does make it very difficult for us to keep track of members. Please know that if you use different e-mail addresses for transactions in the online store and for actually communicating with us, we may not be able to keep your records straight.

Memberships are renewable annually from the date of induction. Lifetime members will be renewed automatically. The Society will endeavor to remind its yearly members of membership expiration and offer renewals for dues of $5.* Yearly members in good standing for at least six months may convert to lifetime membership at any time after six months by the payment of a $60 fee*.

Yearly members who spend more than $50 in the HPLHS store from the time of their last renewal will be eligible for a free renewal of their membership when it next expires.

Renewing members will have their memberships extended by one calendar year from the date of their expiration, and will receive a dated renewal stamp to affix to their membership card.

Members who do not renew their memberships within six full calendar months from their membership expiration date will no longer be considered members in good standing. Lapsed members who wish to return to good standing will be required to pay the full membership fee again.

Members may withdraw from the Society at any time by so notifying the Society in writing. The membership record of a withdrawing member will be deleted.

* Dues and fees subject to change at the Society’s discretion. Current amounts will be posted in the Society’s online store.

Renew Here

Annual members in good standing for at least six months can upgrade to Lifetime Membership by the payment of a $60 fee*. Members joining on an annual basis will not be permitted to upgrade until at least six months of membership have elapsed.

* Dues and fees subject to change at the Society’s discretion. Current amounts will be posted in the Society’s online store.

Upgrade Here

Upon enrollment, members are issued with an official certificate and membership card. (Yearly members will receive a tripartite card that folds into a standard size. Lifetime members will receive a booklet-style card in its own foil-stamped holder.) Members are responsible for preserving these documents, and they are void if altered in any way other than the addition of official bonus stamps. One replacement of lost membership documents will be complimentary. Any additional replacement document(s) for a yearly member will be assessed a $2 fee*. Additional replacement document(s) for a lifetime member will be assessed a $10 fee*. The Society reserves the right to limit the number of times membership documents will be replaced within any given membership year.

Members are required to conduct themselves with courtesy toward other Society members and staff. Members who, in the Society’s estimation, behave discourteously in any online forums, communications, or personal encounters, or who betray the secrets of the Society to non-members, may be stripped of membership and its benefits.

The Society can accept no responsibility for insanity resulting from the use of its website or other products. We have no sanity ourselves.