Acadiensis/Volume 2/Number 2/On the Use and Value of Historical Museums
On the Use and Value of Historical Museums.
ROBABLY most of the readers of these lines who have been in the city of Montreal have visited and been charmed by the historical museum in the Chateau Ramezay. Certainly no person interested in the history of Canada should fail to take the first opportunity to see it. Here within the walls of a building, itself replete with historical associations, are gathered together many objects associated with the great persons and events of the country's past. Portraits of the founders and makers of Canada, and other historical pictures, documents, autographs, coats-of-arms, maps, Indian and other antiquities, medals, books, church and other relics, articles from famous historic sites, and many other things of like sort are carefully preserved in proper cases, explained by appropriate labels and a judiciously-arranged catalogue, and accessible every day without cost to all who choose to come. A well-informed and interested custodian is in charge, ready to explain these objects still farther to any earnest inquirer; while in the same building, and readily accessible, is a considerable historical library. Here the thoughtful visitor may feel to the full that charm in the contemplation of historical objects which Crawford so well expressed when he said: "We have an involuntary reverence for all witnesses of History, be they animate or inanimate, men, animals or stones." Wandering at will amid these reminders of his country's past, he finds summoned before him, with a vividness elsewhere impossible, a succession of pictures of the men and the events which have made Canada what she is, a glimpse of the stately procession of a people's march to greatness. It will be strange, indeed, if he does not thrill with that pride and confidence which are the joy and the strength of patriotism, and if he does not pass from such a building with a better understanding of his duty as a citizen, and a firmer resolve to use every opportunity to promote the public good.
But the Chateau Ramezay, though unquestionably the finest historical museum in Canada, is by no means unique. Most of the larger cities, and many of the smaller towns of the United States possess them. That in the old State House in Boston, and the charming old museum at Deerfield, Massachusetts, are good types. It is, however, as would be expected, in Europe that such museums are best developed and most highly valued. In Germany, for example, they are very numerous, and are developed to a high degree of historical and educational perfection. Usually they are placed in some historical building, and often the highest architectural skill and great sums of money have been lavished to secure a combination of proper arrangements for the display of the objects with a pleasing architectural effect and a retention of the essential historical features of the structure. The great Germanic Museum in the ancient city of Nuremberg, is one of the best types of what such an institution should be. All such museums show certain common characteristics; they are under the control of a local historical society; they contain collections, well-labelled and well-catalogued, which are partly gifts and partly loans ; they have, connected with them, an historical library ; they are open free to visitors, if not every day, then certain days of each week; they are in charge of experienced custodians who are enthusiasts in such work, and whose desire is to make them as useful as possible to the public. The advantages of such museums are manifest enough. They are, above all, public educators, fostering knowledge of local men and events, thereby stimulating local interest and pride; they are invaluable adjuncts of historical education in the schools, providing an object lesson far more suggestive and illustrative than any text-book can possibly be; they stimulate research into local history and an appreciation of the value of historical objects and places; finally (a consideration not to be despised) they are a great attraction to visitors from other parts of the country and from abroad. Most tourists are interested in the history of the places they visit, and will go, other things being equal, to those places in which the history is made accessible and attractive. The establishment of historical museums is not simply an accompaniment of advancing civilization; it is also, in a certain way, a measure of it.
Where is New Brunswick's historical museum?
The history of New Brunswick, though not important from a world stand-point, is extremely varied and attractive from a local point of view. Few of the newer countries can point to annals so replete with human interest. Of all the several periods of her history, many relics are still extant and obtainable, though they are gradually being lost through neglect. Particularly is this true, however, in the case of the most important event in New Brunswick history, the coming and settlement of the Loyalists. If the various Loyalist relics—books, documents, furniture, personal effects, etc.—now scattered through the provinces, could be brought together into one museum (as would be entirely possible, in time, if a properly-managed museum existed), they would form a collection of the greatest possible interest and value, both to the people of the province and also to the many visitors from abroad, for generations to come. It must astonish persons of culture who visit St. John to learn that there is no such museum in the province, that the often and vigorously-expressed pride of the citizen of St. John in his ancestry, and the touching references in the city's tourist literature to the rich historical associations of the place, are mere words not emphasized by deeds. One would think that the first instinct of a people truly proud of their history and ancestry would be to show their pride in some tangible and visible fashion, to preserve the records and set them forth for their children and all the world to see. But New Brunswick has not done this. Of course her failure to do so is not due entirely to lack of public spirit, for New Brunswick is poor and many other things must be provided; but neither does poverty alone explain it, for the province has men of fortune as wealthy as many elsewhere who give largely to such public and worthy purposes.
But is the time not ripe, in these years of relative prosperity, and at the turn of the centuries, to establish a Provincial Historical Museum in St. John? The New Brunswick Historical Society is the proper body to initiate a movement to that end. Happily, there is no lack of historical buildings in St. John for this purpose, but there is one singularly adapted both by associations and by position for it, the old Ward Chipman house, undoubtedly the most interesting historical building now standing in the city. If this building could be acquired, modified to suit the new use, made the home of the Historical Society and of the Provincial Museum of New Brunswick History, placed in charge of a proper custodian, kept open and made useful to the public, it would form a great factor in the intellectual development of the province. The situation is charming, and the ground in the vicinity could be laid out as a small park, in which large objects of historical interest, such as cannon, etc., could be placed, and trees and shrubs from historical localities could be planted. Two manifest difficulties occur one, that such a building is not fireproof, and hence the collections would be endangered. This is true, and a fire-proof building would be better; but such a building would be so expensive as hardly to be practicable at present, while on the other hand, with "slow-burning" floors and fire-proof doors, and particular care in the use of fire, even such a building as the Chipman house could be made fairly fire-proof. The second and most obvious objection is the expense of acquisition, alterations and maintenance. Here is the opportunity for the public-spirited citizen of means, the one, I venture to assert, who would not be found wanting at such a juncture in most of the neighboring states. If the building could thus be acquired by gift, the means for its alteration would, no doubt, be obtainable in part from the citizens of the city, and in part from the province, which might properly contribute to an object of such provincial importance. The city of St. John could well afford to pay for its annual maintenance, partly for its worth as a feature of its educational system, and partly for more material reasons, namely, for the return it would bring to the city through its additional attractiveness to tourists. The tourist associations could not have a better advertisement than this for their circulars, one vastly more effective than the present generalities to which they are confined. Or if the establishment of such a museum in an old building like the Chipman house seemed unwise or impracticable, it might well be arranged in connection with the new Public Library building, which must before long be provided. As to objects for the museum collections, these would not all come immediately, but experience elsewhere shows that when once such a museum is established there is a tendency for historical objects to set towards it, the more especially when the current is aided by the efforts of a persistent and diplomatic committee.