We provide an on-line forum for the exchange of technical expertise, research, training and material needs such as tools, supplies, and sources for goods and services among our members to preserve and promote the traditional practise of the trade within the framework of a non-profit educational foundation. The HCC is a public clearinghouse for recent historical footwear research, educational resources, and the expertise of its members It supports educational activities such as a web-based forum, publications; demonstrations and workshops of historical, traditional, as well as modern boot and shoemaking at annual general meetings.
Members receive an annual membership directory; The Crispin Courier, a newsletter published three times a year; special guild events notification; access to the purchase of HCC re-printed textbooks on historical shoemaking and allied trades; and occasional group purchases of hard-to-find essential materials.
The guild also maintains a library housed at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and annually produces and distributes educational DVD videos of guild lectures, workshops and demonstrations from the yearly meetings.
The HCC conducts an annual general meeting during the weekend closest to the 25th of October, St. Crispin's Day, usually at sites of historic interest, which alternate from the east coast, the mid-west, and the western United States. This includes a general business meeting, and educational presentations and lectures by members and guest-speakers, artisans and authorities, demonstrations, and side-trips of interest, as well as an exhibition of members' work and tools and items for sale or trade. The HCC has an annual dinner, anciently known as the “feasting and drinking”, where old and new members alike enjoy a taste of the camaraderie, hospitality, and fellowship for which cordwainers have been renowned down the centuries.