Village Squire, 1980-08, Page 4The past comes
alive
Western Ontario is full of small area museums.
They welcome you and your children
for a look at the way we were.
Thanks to the foresight of people who
understood the importance of preserving
the past for the future, Western Ontario
has excellent musuems in which yesterday
comes alive today and today will be alive
tomorrow.
BRUCE COUNTY MUSEUM
In terms of space - 22,000 square feet -
the museum is not the largest in Western
Ontario; in terms of staff - 17 summer
employees and two fulltime, Claus Breede,
Director, and Jim MacDougall, Curator, it
might even be called small; but in terms of
preservation of artifacts and reaching out
into the community, Bruce County Mus-
eum in Southampton is "big."
Dr. Morton, a dentist, was the driving
force behind the establishment of a
museum in the old public school from 1954
to 1956. A collection of his instruments,
lamps, chairs, drills, a foot -pumped drill
and a 'travelling' dentist's chair pay
tribute to the founder.
In 1975, the old high school next to the
museum was dismantled to allow expan-
sion of the original building, which is now
PG. 2 VILLAGE SQUIRE/AUGUST 1980
BY ELAINE TOWNSHEND
102 years old. The extension was funded
partially by private funds. Wintario and a
sizeable bequest from the estate of Wilfred
Krug of Chesley.
Women's Institutes were instrumental in
setting up the original museum and later
were responsible for moving a log house to
the site. For many years, the ladies served
as hostesses, demonstrating handwork and
explaining the house to visitors.
Installation of environmental controls to
enhance preservation of artifacts is tenta-
tively scheduled for completion by Dec-
ember 1980 and is being financed by a
5118,000 grant recently approved by the
National Museum's Corporation. Work
began last year with a S20,000 donation
from Bruce County.
TEXTILE COLLECTION
The museum in Southampton has one of
the most extensive textile collections in
Ontario ranging from coverlets to christen-
ing gowns originating as early as 1850. For
preservation, items are packed in acid free
tissue paper and placed in acid free boxes.
Cataloging and a condition report is done
on each article.
The oldest artifact in the museum is a
tooth from a woolly mammoth - an extinct
northern elephant.The artifact weighs 61/2
pounds; it is between 10,000 and 14,000
years old and was unearthed in a farmer's
field in Tara when he was harrowing. On
loan from the Royal Ontario Museum for
the summer is a parasauralophus - a
bird -hipped lizard found in the badlands of
Alberta.
Among the many interesting galleries
are the general store - an authentic
reconstruction of our ancestors' 'super-
market" - a furniture gallery, which pays
tribute to one of the largest industries of
the county and includes a parlour setting
and bedroom suite with rollaway bed; and
the marine gallery - a collection of dugout
canoes and implements from the thriving
19th century shipping industry on the
Great Lakes.
Bruce County Museum has extensive
archives. The reading room with its
microfilm projector, purchased by the
Historical Society, is a popular area for
research.
The museum is open seven days a week
from the May 24 weekend to Labor Day
weekend and is open for group appoint-