Please help us promote the rich heritage of the Cariboo by volunteering or making a donation to one of our projects.
Our Most Recent Endeavor:
Thanks to a grant from the Quesnel Community Foundation, the Friends of the Quesnel Museum were able to hire a conservator who specializes in industrial artifacts to assess the equipment on the Riverfront Trail and prepare a maintenance plan. Carl Schlichting visited Quesnel and Barkerville in June 2014.
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The Friends of the Museum contributed to raising funds to rebuild the Cornish water wheel on Front Street. The work was completed during the summer of 2016. Two new interpretive signs were also installed in Heritage Corners with information about the water wheel and the S.S. Enterprise.
Representatives of the Quesnel Community Foundation, Integris Community Foundation and the Friends of the Museum celebrate the completion of the restoration of the Cornish water wheel. |
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Oral History Preservation Project:
In our most ambitious ongoing project, we are recording and preserving the oral histories of Quesnel’s families. These precious interviews will become part of the permanent Archives and be available to all researchers.
A list of interviews is available here.
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Stella McIntyre interviewing Paul Gauthier |
Chinese Heritage Projects
The Friends of the Museum have sponsored several Chinese Heritage projects, including a professionally-produced video history featuring many of Quesnel's Chinese 'pioneers', the construction of a Memorial Cairn dedicated to the Chinese buried in the Quesnel Pioneer Cemetery, publication of a booklet documenting the lives of these individuals and the development of the exhibit Upstairs at Wah Lee's; Portraits from the C.S. Wing Studio.
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Dedication of the Chinese Memorial Cairn |
Exhibits
The Friends of the Museum have helped fund a number of special exhibits developed by the Quesnel Museum. Upstairs at Wah Lee's, an exhibit of early twentieth century portraits by Quesnel's first professional photographer opened at the Museum and is now on tour to museums and galleries in Western Canada. The River of Memory project resulted in a portable exhibit and an educational web site focused on the interaction between members of the First Nations and the North West/Hudson's Bay Company during the fur trade period. The second video collection of Southern Carrier oral histories produced by the Museum, Elder Stories: Survival on the Land, was published as part of this project.
The Friends of the Museum provided an advisory group to helped develop The Booming Fifites;Through the Lens of the Quesnel Advertiser and organized events during the exhibit, including Movies in the Park, a Show and Shine of vintage automobiles and Remembering the Fifties, a gathering to share stories and memories.
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Upstairs at Wah Lee’s exhibit opening |
Publications
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Barkerville, Quesnel and the Cariboo Gold Rush
The Friends republished Gordon Elliott's classic history of the Cariboo, originally published in 1958 as Quesnel, Commercial Centre of the Cariboo Gold Rush. 184 pages with 40 b&w illustrations.
The Friends have also assisted in the publication or reissue of:
- Historical Walking Tour of Quesnel – 24 pp., b & w illustrations.
- Quesnel Pioneer Cemetery Tour - 16 pp., b & w illustrations.
- Quesnel Pioneer Cemetery Chinese Memorial Cairn – 16 pp. b & w illustrations.
The Friends of the Museum also raised funds to support the digitization of the Cariboo Observer newspaper which can be searched on line
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Pioneer Cemetery Research and Tour Project
Members of the Friends have been involved since 2000 in documenting and helping to preserve the unique Pioneer Cemetery located in the downtown of Quesnel beside LeBourdais Park. In 2007 they launched a guided tour program of the cemetery.
Cemetery Tour lead by Amrita Kauldher |
The Annual Used Book Sale |
Annual Used Book Sale
Each Spring, the Friends host a tremendously popular Used Book Sale to raise funds for the Museum and related projects. Donations of books, music, videos and puzzles are accepted during regular operating hours at the museum during the month of April and the sale is usually held the first Saturday in May.
The Friends of the Museum acknowledge the support they have received for these projects from:
Black Press/Quesnel Cariboo Observer
British Columbia Arts Council
British Columbia Museum Association
Canadian Heritage/Patrimoine canadien
City of Quesnel
College of New Caledonia
The Hudson's Bay Company Foundation
Integris Credit Union
The Irving K. Barber Learning Center
The Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation
The Province of British Columbia
The Quesnel Community Foundation
Rotary Club of Quesnel
Friends of the Quesnel & District Museum & Archives Society
705 Carson Avenue
Quesnel, BC, V2J 2B6
250-992-9580
museumfriends11@gmail.com
Registered Charity Number: 85937 6071 RR0001
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