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Auxiliary Volunteers of the Museum of Northern HistoryThe Auxiliary is a group of committed volunteers from the Kirkland Lake area who help the Museum of Northern History in a variety of ways. The group was formed in 1989, with seven members - Esther Boone, Ronnie McKinnon, Dianne Merrell, Mel Ford, Caroline McMillan, Donalda Shelp, and Pauline Lessard. Over the years, the number of Auxiliary members has increased, with an average of 20 Auxiliary members per year. For any volunteer group to stay as focused as when it was first created, and remaining consistently strong in both membership and participation, is an accomplishment.
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The Auxiliary hold monthly meetings and work closely with Museum staff to provide annual events and new programming at the Museum. Annual events like the Canada Day celebration provide an activity to bring families out to the Museum, while luncheons, books sales, workshops and guest speakers have helped to attract different audiences and age groups to the facility. Some of these events also serve as fundraisers, another important function of the group. Each event also raises the profile of the Museum, ensuring it stays an active and vital part of the community.3
Canada Day at Museum of Northern History2 July 2002
The Museum of Northern History
Credits:Image from Museum of Northern History Collection
Image from Northern Daily News
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Museum Auxiliary2 July 2002
The Museum of Northern History
Credits:Image from Museum of Northern History Collection
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Museum AuxiliaryDec 2002
The Museum of Northern History
Credits:Image from Museum of Northern History Collection
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The Auxiliary members also create an annual temporary exhibit for the gallery space at the Museum. Previous exhibits have featured Finnish, Ukrainian, and Native cultural displays, themes based on a type of artifact or colour, and displays commemorating Remembrance Day.All of these exhibits have required months of planning, organizing, and research. For each exhibit, a call goes out to the public, allowing the community to actively participate in the exhibit and become a part of it by loaning images, articles, and objects.
This was the same approach the Auxiliary used when they started the "Women of Kirkland Lake" exhibit.
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Museum Auxiliary5 March 2005
The Museum of Northern History
Credits:Image from Museum of Northern History Collection
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Museum Auxiliary23 October 1998
The Museum of Northern History
Credits:Image from Museum of Northern History Collection
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During the planning process, the Auxiliary first accumulated a long list of potential women to be highlighted in the exhibit, from Kirkland Lake's past and present. The list of names included women who had a presence in the area's development on a social, cultural, political and economic level. It was not an easy feat, but the list of candidates was narrowed down to the women included in the original "Women of Kirkland Lake" exhibit, and this virtual exhibit.The women featured in the exhibit were selected based on their contributions to the development of the town, whether it was establishing organizations in the town's early years as pioneers of the community, through careers and volunteering, and culture. Many of the women featured in the exhibit had a wide range of interests that covered more than just one of these categories.
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The "Women of Kirkland Lake" are considered to be remarkable for their achievements in politics, prospecting, entrepreneurship, and more. This exhibit expands on those themes through the biographies included, and also focuses on the highly relatable stories of the day-to-day life of women as the community of Kirkland Lake was developing from the 1920's onwards. These are the stories that are not found in the local history books, and through this exhibit these stories are now accessible to the public.11
Women of Kirkland Lake Exhibit - Civic Display and Cases8 June 2012
The Museum of Northern History
Credits:Image loaned from Museum of Northern History
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The "Women of Kirkland Lake" exhibit was installed in the Museum of Northern History's main gallery space, and was on display from June 8th until August 6th 2012. Through the Auxiliary's work to share these stories to an onsite (and now online) audience, this virtual exhibit will help to increase awareness of the influence and importance the "Women of Kirkland Lake" had in the community they called home.13
Women of Kirkland Lake Exhibit - Pioneer Display8 June 2012
The Museum of Northern History
Credits:Image loaned from Museum of Northern History
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Women of Kirkland Lake Exhibit - Education Display8 June 2012
The Museum of Northern History
Credits:Image loaned from Museum of Northern History
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