Daly News Fall 2014 1

P. 1 Contents

P. 2 Upcoming Events

P. 3 Gowen’s Then and Now

P. 4 Fragments of Antiquity

P. 5 Upcoming Exhibit

P. 6 The Garden Grows

P. 7 Ceramics Settling the Prairies

P. 8 Membership Application

Volunteer Opportunities

CONTENTS

The Daly

News

Note of Thanks:

We would like to thank the visitors,

volunteers, staff and board members of

Daly House Museum for making an

already exciting summer experience

unforgettable!

Sincerely,

The Summer Interns of 2014

Daly News Fall 2014 2

Rural and Northern

Archives Meeting

The Rural and Northern Archives of Manitoba (RNAM) upcoming

meeting is being held at the Vallyview Community Centre, on

September 12th.

Guest speakers Graham Street, Shawn Cameron and Nathan Bower will

be discussing their various experiences filming documentaries for MTS’

“Stories from Home” series.

Call 204-727-1722 for more information!

Antiques Roadshow 2014

It’s that time of year again!

Daly House Museum’s

Antiques Roadshow will be

held on September 24th

from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

This event provides the

public with an opportunity

to have their valuables,

heirlooms and antiques

appraised by a

professional.

Call 204-727-1722 to book

or for further information!

Daly News Fall 2014 3

The Daly House Museum is pleased to partner with the S.J. McKee Archives (Brandon University) for the upcoming exhibit “Gowen’s Brandon: Then and Now.” Using historical photographs taken by Frank Gowen, a professional photographer in Brandon from 1906-1914, the project will compare Brandon during a period of unprecedented development (c. 1911) to the Brandon we see today.

Between 1900 and the beginning of the World War I, the city of Brandon’s population more than doubled, going from approximately 5,600 residents to just under 14, 000. As a result, Brandon’s industrial, business and residential districts saw significant development in the first decade of the twentieth century. Frank Gowen, a British trained photographer known for his scenic images, arrived in Brandon at the height of this expansion. Partnering with photographer Alexander C. Davidson in 1911, Gowen produced a number of images that documented Brandon during this period of expansion. Featuring over fifty of these photographs, the exhibit will provide an overview of the city’s people, landscape, architecture and environment before World War I. With the help of local photographer Graham Street, we were able to replicate Gowen’s original images,

capturing Brandon as it is in 2014. Gowen and Street’s images will be exhibited side by side to visually express the changing character of Brandon over the last century.

Over the last several months student assistant Morganna Malyon has been researching Brandon’s history and the content of the photographs. She will spend the fall months compiling this information and getting the photographs reproduced and ready for display. The exhibit is set to open early January 2015, and the photos will be hung concurrently between the Daly House Museum and the Tommy McLeod Curve Gallery on the second floor of the library at Brandon University. A documentary about the project, co-produced by Graham Street, Nate Bower and Shaun Cameron, is set to be released by MTS Stories from Home at the time of the exhibit’s opening. We would like to take the time to thank the Manitoba Heritage Grant program for the generous grant made available to us. Without it this project would not have been possible. The Daly House Museum and the S.J. McKee Archives are both very excited about this project, and look forward to having it on display for the community.

By Morganna Malyon

Gowen’s Brandon:

“Then and now”

Daly News Fall 2014 4

Combining Fragments

of Antiquity

By Jenna Cuggy

For the summer, I have been

working at Daly House as the

Archives Processing Intern. The

majority of my time has been spent

creating archival descriptions and

conducting tours. During the

summer, I have learned how to

properly create archival descriptions

using RAD standards and to enter

these descriptions on to the Past

Perfect and MAIN databases. The

collections I have worked on include

the Burchill/Stoll Collection, the

Joyce Shewan Collection, the

Canadian Council of Women Fonds,

the Assiniboine Historical Society

Collection, the McKenzie Seeds

Collection, and the Beecham Trotter

Collection. I have especially enjoyed

viewing the many photographs in the

Daly House archives. I was also

thrilled to find personal journals and

documents such as teaching reference

letters, from the 1850s.

Without this job, I would never

have experienced such an intimate

look into the past. These collections

brought history alive for me and

allowed me to piece together the

stories of the

individuals who

created them.

This internship

has provided me

with the experience of applying my

writing and research skills learned at

university to a work environment, as

well as practice in presenting such

information to the public. The

opportunity to give tours to children

and youth has been especially

valuable. I have enjoyed learning how

to adapt tours to a younger audience.

This summer, I have also had the

opportunity to participate in special

events, including the Travellers Day

parade, the Strawberry Social, and

Doors Open Brandon. Getting

dressed up in costume was lots of

fun!

I am grateful for the opportunities I

have had at Daly House this summer,

and would like to thank my fellow

interns, the staff and the volunteers

for continuously teaching me new

things about the museum and making

this summer such a fun and valuable

learning experience!

Daly News Fall 2014 5

Behind the Yellow Wall Paper explores five writers from the Victorian era that experienced mental

illness firsthand.

This exhibit was inspired by a travelling exhibit from the U.S. National Library of Medicine called

The Literature of Prescription. These banners have been incorporated into our exhibit alongside

additional research about Virginia Woolf, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Charles Dickens, and Emily

Dickinson.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The story is

semi-autobiographical. As it unfolds, you hear a tale of a woman who is very clearly suffering from

postpartum depression. Her husband, a doctor, thinks he knows best and assigns her the infamous

rest cure. The rest cure was assigned as a cure-all for many female patients during the Victorian era.

Essentially, it consisted of sleeping and eating; patients were often fed their meals and given sponge

baths to minimize all physical exertion. This process could go on for up to three weeks.

Occasionally the treatments lasted even longer. The protagonist of the story goes mad during the

rest cure, because she is unable to express herself. Copies of the short story will be provided in the

exhibit hall for those who are curious about how the story ends.

Mental illness was fascinating to Victorians, but they knew very little about it; hence the popularity

of the asylum. Thanks to the Victorians and their asylums, we better understand triggers, diagnoses,

and treatments for all kinds of mental illnesses.

The four additional writers were chosen for this exhibit because of their personal experiences with

mental illness. Virginia Woolf suffered from Bipolar II Disorder and Charles Dickens suffered from

depression with an early onset in childhood. Many doctors and literary critics assume that Emily

Dickinson was agoraphobic and suffered from extreme anxiety. Lastly, Fyodor Dostoevsky suffered

from epilepsy, which is both a physical and mental illness. However, during the Victorian era

epilepsy was viewed as a purely mental ailment. Dostoevsky is the only writer we are certain

suffered from his diagnosis as he recorded his seizures diligently throughout his lifetime and later in

life was formally diagnosed as an epileptic.

It is a well-known fact that many creative types suffer from various forms of mental illness. Each of

these writers has successfully portrayed their personal struggle within their works, making them

invaluable to both the world of literature and psychology. The exhibit is scheduled to run from

October 20 to November 29, 2014.

“Behind the

Yellow Wallpaper” By Leslie Hutchinson

Daly News Fall 2014 6

The Garden Grows

As always, thank you to the gardeners who’ve come out every Wednesday evening over the summer to keep the Victorian Garden looking pristine, fresh and growing! A big thank you to those who also donated plants from their home gardens. We had many compliments and expressions of gratitude from the public over the summer. We couldn’t manage the garden

without your help – it’s invaluable.

Below is the outline for the fall gardening schedule:

Wednesday, September 3rd

Weeding & deadheading, removing annuals from Children’s Garden and removing/emptying hanging flower pots, spreading (3 bags) compost on Children’s Garden

Wednesday, September 10th Weeding & deadheading, removing other annuals (petunias, alyssum, peppers, hibiscus etc.), spreading (4 bags) compost in their place

Wednesday, September 17th

Weeding & deadheading, removing annual herbs from herb garden, picking tomatoes, spreading (1 bag) compost on Herb Garden

Wednesday, September 24th

Lifting the dahlias and packing in plastic bins for cold storage, spreading (12 bags) compost in their place and on the rose bed, plus any other appropriate garden winter preparation activities.

Events Held in the Garden 2014:

Children’s garden planting

Grad photos

Baby showers

Doors Open

VecTor Trains Event

Strawberry Social

Doors Open Volunteer BBQ

Fruit Share (Herb Garden)

Communities in Bloom Luncheon

And several weddings!

Daly News Fall 2014 7

Ceramics settling the

Prairies

By Franchesca Hebert-Spence

This summer I felt like a detective. Spending the past three months examining small clues that led to discovering the names of patterns and ages of the many ceramic pieces we had hidden in our vast collection. Handling century-old ceramics was incredibly informative. Analyzing the work of other artisans, who were practicing decades before myself, gave me new perspective on pottery and ceramics in general. The permanence of ceramics, and the meaning they develop through everyday use, provided a large amount of material for a great exhibit!

Some of my favorites include a mug from the Douglas and Doreen Bottley Collection. This piece was won by Sam Gilmour (father of the donor) in a foot race in 1881 when Mr. Gilmour was 18. Despite being over a century old, the condition of this artefact is almost pristine. It’s apparent that Sam Gilmour took great care of his prize because of its sentimental value.

On the other side of the spectrum, the Belleek pieces we have in our collection might not be in as great condition, but they aptly reflect the artistic tastes of the period. Belleek Potteries originated from Ireland and is well known for it’s lustre-ware. Its work has an opalescent sheen and the company only hired talented artisans to create it’s masterpieces. The potteries are still manufacturing work today. Queen Victoria was one of the early clients of Belleek Pottery.