The work of a Brantford woman to document local history is the basis for a new exhibit at the Brant Museum and Archives.
Jean Waldie worked as a district editor at The Expositor from 1943 to 1955. In January 1950, she was the first woman elected as president of both the Brant Historical Society and the Ontario Historical Society.
Nathan Etherington, the museum’s program and community co-ordinator, said Waldie wrote articles about local history from 1938 to 1958 that have been clipped and saved in a binder.
The museum’s collection was originally housed at the then Carnegie library on George Street in Brantford until Waldie’s fundraising efforts led to the purchase of a building at 57 Charlotte St. in Brantford that opened in 1952 as the museum’s home. All items donated or loaned, were written into an original ledger, which the museum still possess.
“Often Waldie would visit the displays in the Carnegie library and write about specific artifacts in the collection that were on exhibit,” Etherington noted.
“When I started reading these articles … I would think, ‘I know what artifact she is talking about.’”
Etherington noted that items donated or on loan to the museum from as early as 1910 used different numbering systems, recorded in a ledger by various curators over the years. The original incremental numbering sometimes led to disassociation, with artifacts, or information about them, becoming lost in the collection.
Using Waldie’s articles, he has been able to migrate these items into an up-to-date system, including the year they were donated and by whom.
“There is a writing desk from George Wilkes (a former mayor among other things) that did not have a number on it,” Etherington said. “By the description of the object in the article, I instantly knew what that piece was even though it didn’t have a number. That adds value to the collection because we know a bit more of the story.”
The process of updating the ledger system using Waldie’s articles brought about the inspiration for a new exhibit at the museum.
Items on display include artifacts from the family of poet Pauline Johnson, a large banner from the Canadian Order of Foresters and a Bible given to Ojibway minister Rev. Peter Jones in 1831.
“One of the most unique items in the exhibit is an ornate wooden chair, which we knew little about,” Etherington notes. “The article that Jean Waldie wrote talks about how only two of these came to Brantford to be sold by the Purcell Furniture Co. at 59 West St.”
He said doing research on the museum’s collection better enables the ability to tell the area’s story to the public.
The exhibit launches on Jan. 31 when museums in the province are able to reopen at 50 per cent capacity. COVID restrictions including masking and proof of vaccination are in effect.
The museum is open weekdays from noon to 5 pm, and Saturdays from 10 am to 5 pm