Story Behind the Artifact

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Friday, May 27th, 2016
10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

A great artifact reveals a story about the past.  The upcoming feature exhibit, Story Behind the Artifact, highlights a selection of artifacts from the Nanaimo Museum’s collection that have the most remarkable stories.  The exhibit runs from May 20 to September 5 and an exhibit tour takes place on June 1.

Story Behind the Artifact will feature artifacts with local stories.  “The best artifacts have incredible stories to tell,” says Aimee Greenaway, Interpretation Curator at the Nanaimo Museum.  “And this exhibit is great opportunity to display some of the best artifacts in our collection.”  The artifacts on exhibit range from ordinary household object to those that have survived fatal accidents.  They cover hundreds of years of Nanaimo’s history, from First Nations stone tools to surveying instruments used up to the 1990s.

A nursing uniform worn by the first Chinese Canadian Registered Nurse (RN) in the province is one of the artifacts on exhibit.  “Anna Fong Dickman’s uniform just came into the collection a few month ago,” says Greenaway.  “Anna’s daughters donated her Nanaimo General Hospital lapel pin two years ago so we are building an incredible collection related to her.”  Dickman completed nurse’s training at the Nanaimo General Hospital in 1927.  Later, she was later rejected from four RN training programs in BC because she was Chinese Canadian.  In 1931 she obtained RN credentials.

As a community museum, the Nanaimo Museum’s main criteria for bringing artifacts into the collection are their histories.  “Each artifact must be able to tell a significant story about a person, place or event in Nanaimo’s past,” says Greenaway.  “Their stories can evoke laughter, sadness, pride and a new appreciation for our past.”

The Nanaimo Museum is hosting a presentation for this exhibit on June 1 from 1:30-2:15.  Pre-registration is required and the cost is $5 per person.  At the presentation, visitors will join exhibit curator, Aimee Greenaway, for a guided tour of Story Behind the Artifact.

 

The museum is open 7 days per week from 10am-5pm beginning May 20.  The Nanaimo Museum is located in the Vancouver Island Conference Centre, beside Serious Coffee.