By John Tapley STAFF WRITER
Wednesday May 07, 2008
Three travelling exhibits from the Archives of Ontario are coming to the Ingersoll Cheese and Agricultural Museum and are among several changes at the facility that opens for the season May 1.
The museum’s large exhibit area has been reworked and freshened up, new exhibit cases have been purchased.
"It will look very different," says curator Tricia Smith. "I think it’ll flow a lot nicer and people will be excited when they come in."
The front area of the facility has also been reworked.
"From this point forward, we’re going to dedicate that area to travelling exhibits and private collections," she says, pointing out that if residents have collections they’d be interested in exhibiting they should contact the museum. "It could be anything."
A lifetime – Day by Day, Five Women and their Diaries will be the first travelling exhibit on display at the museum, running from May 1 to 30.
It explores the unique stories and images from the personal diaries of five 19th century women in rural and urban Ontario. They share their memories that span a lifetime from school days and friends to marriage and motherhood.
The next travelling exhibit coming to Ingersoll, which runs from June 2 to July 31, is titled Enslaved Africans in Upper Canada.
Produced in partnership with the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, the Archives of Ontario’s newest exhibit touches on the lives of enslaved Africans and focuses in the actions they took to resist their servitude. Historical photographs and documents of slaves and their owners paint a picture of the personal experiences of Ontario slaves.
The third and final travelling exhibit for the season centres around mapmaker, explorer and visionary David Thompson.
"Thompson’s journals, letters, maps and autobiography provide detailed insights into the fur trade, the native people he encountered, the lands he explored and the milestones in his life," states a summary from the Archives of Ontario.
Smith said the plan is to tie in artifacts from the museum’s collection with the travelling exhibits.
The Thompson exhibit will include a children’s activity area where kids can dress up as a surveyor and learn about period objects. There will also be a Voyageur Day where children can learn more about what Thompson’s life would have been like.
"It’ll be really exciting," Smith says. "It’s a way to focus on history outside the area but relate it to Ingersoll’s history. Hopefully, there’s something everybody will enjoy."
Another new addition to the museum for the season is the Tri-County Woodcarvers who will set up shop in the museum until the end of September, giving demos and displaying work.
Ingersoll’s contribution to a virtual museum is expected to be online this summer at www.virtualmuseum.ca, Smith says.
"That’s really exciting for us," she says. "It’s a way for people around the world to access Ingersoll history."
Opening earlier than normal this year, the museum can accommodate end of school visits, says Smith.
New hours are also among the changes at the museum. From May 1 to 16, the facility will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday. From Victoria Day through Labour Day, it will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and in September it will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
More information about the travelling exhibits can be found on the Internet at: www.archives.gov.on.ca
Publisher: Pat Logan Proprietor and published by Bowes Publishers Limited at 19 King Street West, Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada N5C2J2
