The long-time curator of the Buxton National Historic Site and Museum has been recognized for her dedication to preserving history.
Shannon Prince was recently awarded the Thomas Symons Award for Commitment to Conservation by the Ontario Heritage Trust for her work with Ontario’s Black heritage and history. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Ontario’s lieutenant governor, presented the award during a virtual ceremony at the end of February.
Prince, who has been the curator of the museum since 1999, said she loves what she does, describing it as “sharing the invaluable history about the stories of these amazing people” who lived in the Elgin Settlement.
“I feel that I am honoring the rich legacy that has been entrusted to me and many other trailblazers that started this many years ago,” she said.
The museum tells the story of the organized Black settlement in Buxton, which was established in 1849, and its role as a terminus on the Underground Railroad for fugitive slaves.
As well, the historic site covers the people who lived in the settlement and the story of the Buxton Mission School, which was known for its quality education and for being integrated.
Prince said until the start of the pandemic, the museum was still taking in new items like Bibles used in the 1800s or letters written by families who lived in Buxton. She recently talked with someone who will entrust the museum more documents sometime this summer.
“Those (types of documents) are just a wealth of information … not only of what was happening in the settlement, but what was happening with that particular family, which is wonderful, especially for this generation that is just coming up,” she said . “We don’t want that history to be lost.”
Last year, Prince wrote the article on the Elgin Settlement for The Canadian Encyclopedia. She said school groups have since contacted the museum to learn more about specific aspects of the settlement.
Prince is a sixth-generation descendant of settlers from Buxton. She said her passion for conservation started when her husband, Bryan, who has written books about African Canadians, wanted her to tell the stories of the women in the Elgin Settlement.
She is also a member of the National Historic Sites Alliance, which works to conserve the items of its members’ sites. She has worked on joint research projects with universities and historical associations in Canada and the US
The overall narrative of the story the Buxton Museum tells has stayed the same since 1999, Prince said, but the individual stories have changed.
“We’ve added so many more stories to make that narrative so interesting to entice people to come back to hear more stories,” she said. “There are so many incredible stories that are still untold.”