Royal Bank Newsletter

VOL.48, No. 3 HEAD OFFICE: MONTREAL, MARCH 1967 Thingsto Remember THE HISTORYOF CANADAis in the longand continuing historicinterest pertaining to Canada;(2) to "con- processionof all the people who passed this way before serve"those objects, which means to maintainobjects us and left memoriesof themselvesand theirworks in goodcondition or restorethem as far as may be and the places they knew. Remembranceof them possible;(3) to conductresearch, much of which is beinggiven a frontseat at Canada’scentennial cele- basedon thestudy collections; (4)to educateby a wide brations. varietyof means:the publicationof scientificand Museums,preserved and restoredbuildings, tell the popularworks, exhibits, guided tours, and public lec- storyof menand womenpitted against the wilderness, tures,including films. withoutconveniences or comforts, and often with little hope thatconditions would improve. Their valiant Canada’smuseums livesare shownin theirhandicrafts and documented There are, roughly,four types of museumsin by letters,deeds, grants of landand old portraits, Canada:the NationalMuseum, provincial museums, thingswhich enchant the eye and inspirethe mind. localmuseums and specialmuseums. Thesethoughts are closeto the heartsof many In the NationalMuseum the principaldisplays are Canadians.Reports have been published of somefifty recreationsof the naturalsettings of l~ndiansand museumsbeing organized as centennialprojects, nine Eskimosand of Canada’swildlife. It hasexquisitely- of themmajor new buildings.’In addition,pioneer workedand well-designeddioramas of life in all homesare beingrestored, and somegathered together intovillages. All thesewill summon up remembrance periodsof Canada’shistory. Its scope encompasses the wholecountry, its people, and its natural history. It of thingspast and helpus to understandhow Canada becamewhat she is, our presentcircumstances, and collectsa wideassortment of objects,ranging from microscopicorganisms to huge war canoesand totem how we may projectthe advancesof the pastinto the poles;it recordsall available information about these future. specimens,and it preservesthem for thisgeneration Museums and thoseto come.It is one of the greatresearch museumsof the world. In these days, museumsare not lookedupon as stodgydull centres. It is not enoughto assemblea Provincialmuseums are, of course,interested princi- collectionof naval and military relics, of stuffedbirds pallyin theirown environment,but theymust go out- and animals,of nativesoup bowlsand arrows.Most sideit on occasionfor objects which contribute toward museumsof this kind are patheticand dusty,more understandinglocal conditions. reminiscentof death and thetomb than of thestirring Thisis illustratedin a smallway in theNew Bruns- timeswhich they are supposedto recall. wick Museum. The landingof the United Empire Museumsare now findingit possibleto educatein an Loyalistsat SaintJohn on May 18, 1783was a matter interestingway. Mr. J. D. Herbert,Director of Mani- of the utmostimportance not onlyat the timebut as toba’sMuseum of Man and Nature,writes: "A museum the beginningof developmentthat is stillgoing on is an institutionthat seeks to educateby explaining afternearly two hundredyears. But thatevent cannot the nature,significance and relationshipsof things be understoodif we startin a vacuum,so the Museum chosento illustratethe wondersof natureand the hascollected letters, ships’ papers and objects with worksof man." whichthe Loyalistswere associated in theirprevious Dr. R. Glover,Director of the Human History dwellingplaces. Branchof the NationalMuseum of Canada,sees the The most importantsection of the Newfoundland purposeof the museumas fourfold,and thesefour Museum,and a valuablecontribution to knowledge,is dutiesinterlock: (1) to collectobjects of scientific its BoethuckCollection. This commemoratesthe indigenousIndians of Newfoundland,a vanished race Specialmuseums whoselast survivor, Nancy Shanawdithit, died in 1829. Somelocal museums specialize in periodsor sub- Thesewere the people, says the Encyclopedia of Canada, whomthe Europeansshot down at sight-- the French jects,for examplethe U.E.L.Museum at Adolphus- even paid a bountyfor theirdestruction- on the town,the BrantHistorical Museum, the Bell homestead at Brantford,and the SouthSfmcoe Pioneer Museum, principlethat "there is no goodIndian but a deadone." withits 5,000implements. The rectoryof the church CentennialYear will see the QuebecMuseum dis- at Batoche,Saskatchewan, has beenestablished as a playing"French Canadian Arts". This is to givean museumtelling the storyof the NorthwestRebellion. over-allpicture of painting,sculpture, jewellery, draw- Thereare specialmuseums, big and small,covering ing,decorative arts and folklore arts from the beginning untiltoday. the developmentof varioushuman activities: the NationalAeronautical Collection, Ottawa; the Cana- The RoyalOntario Museum is Canada’sbiggest, and dian War Museum,Ottawa, and the CanadianRailway it is amongthe three or fourlargest in theworld. Its Museumat Delson,Quebec. The CanadianRailroad threeacres of galleriesin themain building describe HistoricalAssociation is devoted to thecollection and thestructure of theearth, its animals past and present, preservationof records and rollingstock relating to and the marchof civilizationfrom Babylon to early railand inland water transportation. Canada. Manitobahas, as itscentennial project, the "Museum Restoredhouses of Man and Nature".This concept gets away from the Lifeas it waslived a centuryago is bestseen in the stereotypedsplit between natural history on the one old housesrestored and furnishedby devotedlocal handand humanhistory on the other.It portraysman andnature as partsof an indivisiblewhole -- in other women’sgroups and historicalassociations. As the words,man in his environment,linking together the visitorwalks through their doors he entersthe life and timesof thepeople who lived there. past,the present and the future in one greatunifying theme. A houseof particularinterest because of its many associationsis that of SimeonPerkins, in Liverpool, The WesternDevelopment Museum in Saskatchewan hasseveral branches, each of whichdisplays early farm Nova Scotia.Colonel Perkins was a merchantand machineryand articlesonce common to everyhouse- ship-ownerwho camewith the UnitedEmpire Loyalists in 1759and built this house in 1766.Here is Perkins’s hold.A starthas beenmade on reconstructionof a desk,from which he managedactivities ranging from pioneervillage. The SaskatchewanArchives Board, theWest Indies to Labrador;here is thatunusual piece withpreservation of government records as itsprimary of furnitureabout which many have read but which few function,has broadenedout to the collectionof haveseen- a trundle-bed.A trundle-bed is one that historicalrecords. rollsunder an ordinarybed and canbe pulledout for The new Provincial Museum and Archives of use.The PerkinsHearth Cook Book, containing many Alberta,scheduled for openingin October,will be a excerptsfrom the Colonel’s diary, is beingreissued in freepublic institution which will portray Alberta by its fourthedition as a centennialproject by the Zion collecting,preserving and exhibiting significant natural Guildin Liverpool. andhistorical items. Not manymiles away is UniackeHouse, built by an BritishColumbia has under construction a large new Irishadventurer from Cork who becamea memberof Archives-Museumcomplex. the Nova ScotiaCouncil and AttorneyGeneral. A uniquefeature is thatthe closetdoors have holes Local museums drilledin themto admitcats in pursuitof mice. The localmuseum has the functionof showingthe Althoughhe was influentialin NovaScotia govern- lifeand times of itstown or county.To be fullymean- ment, Judge ThomasChandler Haliburton is most ingfulit shoulddemonstrate the processof develop- popularlyrecalled as theauthor of a seriesof stories mentfrom pre-pioneerdays to the present.Little aboutSam Slick,a smartYankee peddler of clocks. thingsare important:the AlbertCounty Museum in Haliburtonhas beennamed "the father of the Ameri- New Brunswickdisplays a name-quiltused in fund can schoolof humour."His househas beenpreserved, raisingfor a communityhearse- a pertinentexhibit and in it you may see one of the originalSam Slick withinthe context of tellingthe county’s history. clocks,with wooden works. Thegreat strength and the pulling-power of the local In 1705 Claudede Ramezaybuilt his chfiteauin museumis itsconcentration on what is local.It owesit Montreal.After the conquest it wasthe officialresi- to itsvisitors to givethem a coherentstory, attractively dence of the governor-in-chiefof BritishNorth told, of how and why this particularcommunity America.In 1775 the AmericanContinental Army originatedand developed.As Mr.Herbert remarks, it madethe chgtteauits headquarters. In 1776 there came is possibleto entertainand educate at thesame time, to it BenjaminFranklin as an envoyto stirthe French or to do neither:"The choice you makewill determine Canadiansto revolution.Benedict Arnold occupied whetheryou run a museum,a midwayor a mausoleum." the chateaufor severalweeks. It has beenpreserved so wellthat the mark of theold reception dais is still and the communityroom, where Champlain instituted to be seenon the salonwall. the Orderof the Good Time. Ontariohas dozensof pioneerhomes. At Orilliais ChamblyVillage, near Montreal,is part of the the StephenLeacock Memorial Home. It contains seigniorygranted to Jacquesde Chamblyin 1672.In it originalfurniture and a numberof Leacock’smanu- arethe St. Hubert house, built in 1760,the

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