This week, April 8 to 11, the Archives at Grey Roots, as well as archival institutions across Ontario, celebrate Archives Awareness Week. For first-time visitors and experienced researchers alike, it’s a great time to learn more about the Archives as we offer free admission, as well as a “Behind-the-scenes” tour where we will display some of our archival items including letters, maps and photographs; materials which help to illustrate Grey County’s history.
The Archives is accessed by many types of researchers – genealogists, students and academics, authors and more – though one of our most familiar faces is Joan Hyslop, Registrar at Grey Roots. In keeping with our “behind-the-scenes” look at the Archives, I asked Joan if she could describe how she uses the Archives in cataloguing, and caring for, artefacts in the Museum’s Collection. Joan notes:
Museums cannot take in everything so it is wise to do some preliminary research on an object before accepting it, if possible, to see if it was owned, used or made in the County of Grey. Often items come in without a chance to do research beforehand and donors [may only] have vague histories, or provide names they are not sure of the spelling of, or cannot remember life dates of someone who had owned or made the object. The Archives is a resource that helps me verify names, dates and sometimes also helps me with clues to date an object. It also provides images that complement our exhibit preparation work.
One example of how archival and museum collections can help support and complement one another can be seen below:
A2006.073.061 – William Henry Harrison with son, James [Date unknown, 190-?]. Craig Studio, Owen Sound, Ont. (The Grey Roots Archival Collection).
2007.051.001-005 – Marbles
On the left, an image of William Henry Harrison (seated) and his son, James, is held by the Archives.* On the right, examples of stone marbles found on an Owen Sound property formerly owned by Mr. Harrison, a stone quarryman, are part of the Museum Collection. Each contributes to a more complete understanding of the history behind a person, item or object, and more broadly, to the history of the County.
In order to build well-documented profiles of individual objects for future display, captions, or a planned online database, Joan is also using resources in the Archives to identify and record both the given name and maiden name of past female donors (as women were often identified, or identified themselves, using their spouse’s name, e.g., Mrs. John Smith).
Those records which she finds most helpful in her research include transcriptions of gravestones in local cemeteries and the Surname Collection (a compilation of birth, marriage and death announcements drawn from local newspapers), both compiled by the Bruce & Grey Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. Joan also makes use of local history books and Ancestry.com to access vital statistics, census and military records.
If you are interested in beginning your own genealogical or local history research project, the Archives may hold relevant reference or archival resources. We invite you to visit the Archives in person, ask questions via telephone or email, or search the online Archives database.
*This image was recently shown in a Black History Month segment on Timeline Magazine, by FairchildTV, which included a visit to Grey Roots!
With special thanks to Joan Hyslop, Registrar, Grey Roots Museum & Archives
Kate Jackson, Archives
Grey Roots Museum & Archives Blog 