New Permanent Exhibits
New Permanent Exhibits
We have three new/updated permanent exhibits up at the Museum!
Our Collections Manager, Sara, and Collections Intern, Tyler, have been working extra hard lately to research, design and revamp some of the displays in the J.D. McDonald Hall!
summer sports
First, we moved our Summer Sports exhibit across the hall, reworked the display to showcase some new artifacts from our collection, and shine more light on the sports and activities that Rosslanders have enjoyed through the decades.
We asked our Collections Manager, Sara, about the process of putting together this exhibit.
What are some of Sara’s favourite artifacts highlighted in this exhibit?
A lacrosse ball from a game between Rossland and Trail on August 16, 1956 (Rossland won the game 8-7), signed by members of the Rossland team.
Names include Babe LaFace, Jim LaFace, Pie LaFace, Don Davis, Ken Davis, and Jim Haight.
Cindy Devine’s World Mountain Bike Hall of Fame Induction trophy from 2003 (on loan from Cindy Devine).
A handmade ring toss game from circa 1930.
What are some changes we can expect to see in this exhibit?
Tom Gomez recently donated a trophy from the Rubberhead Mountain Biking Races held in Rossland during Golden City Days (2003-2009). We’ll be getting that trophy out on display in the next few weeks!
What was the biggest challenge of putting together this exhibit?
Lifting the bike onto the case and maneuvering it into an “action pose” without getting clocked in the head!
It’s not all fun and games! The next exhibits showcase topics that speak to more worrisome parts of life in early Rossland!
Rossland Fire Department
Fires were a serious problem for many boomtowns, and Rossland was no exception. The Rossland Fire Department was established with the incorporation of Rossland in 1897 and has worked to keep the city safe ever since. This new permanent exhibit discusses some of Rossland’s major fires and showcases some of the artifacts that the Rossland Fire Department used to fight them!
Some of the artifacts in this exhibit came from the B.C. Provincial Firefighters’ Museum, which operated in the historic Rossland Fire Hall for a few years in the 1990s.
Tyler’s favourite artifact in this exhibit? The fire alarm box (below) from circa 1905-1925, which could send signals through the telegraph wires to summon the Fire Department to the scene of a fire. There were approximately thirty of these fire alarms installed throughout Rossland, each of which had an identifying number that would tell the Fire Department where to go.
Our favourite story from the Fire Department exhibit: Brian Yawney (son of Assistant Fire Chief William Yawney) recalled a story of fire horses that once “retired” from the Fire Department had been sold to the Drake Dairy Farm. According to him, whenever the fire alarm sounded in town, the horses would sneak away from the farm, following the sound of the alarm. They sometimes arrived at the scene of the fire still attached to their ploughs!
Fires in Rossland are a hot topic, and there’s lots of information about them on our website! Click the links below to learn more - and don’t forget to swing by the museum to check out the new exhibit!
Mater Misericordiae
In the summer of 1896, nuns from the Sisters of St. Joseph Catholic Church traveled to Rossland and established Mater Misericordiae Hospital the following year. “Mater Mis” was a full hospital, with an emergency room, surgical ward, and a maternity ward. It continued to operate until 2004.
The Museum’s Mater Misericordiae Hospital exhibit hasn’t been updated in decades! Our Collections Intern, Tyler, has been working this winter to revamp the exhibit, updating the layout and adding interpretation.
One of our favourite artifacts:
a nurse’s cap worn by Mater Misericordiae nurse Deborah Young, nee Erwin, from 1960-1970. Traditionally, a nurse’s cap with a black band identified a Registered Nurse (RN), whereas a white band, or no band, identified a nursing student.
What were some challenges of creating this exhibit?
We have lots of photographs in our collection that speak to the history of the hospital, and it was hard to choose which pictures to highlight!
We don’t have many artifacts from the hospital. Do you have any items that were used at Mater Mis or which speak to this history that you’d like to donate? Get in touch with Sara, our Collections Manager, at collections@ rosslandmuseum.ca or check out our website to learn more about our Collections Policy.
Be sure to drop by the Museum to check out our new displays!
We’re open Tuesdays to Saturdays 10 am to 5 pm (and will soon be open daily for the summer!)