Most people who visit the Daly House Museum have no idea
that we are also an archives and research centre. The Stephen A. Magnacca
research centre, which occupies the third floor of the Daly House Museum,
houses hundreds of documents pertinent to the history of our city. Researchers
are always welcome to visit and take advantage of these important resources.
While
archival documents have a reputation for being inherently boring, the truth is
they contain a wealth of fascinating information. Little known interesting
facts about our city’s lengthy history can be found in every folder.
Why is
this information and evidence about Brandon’s past so important? One of the reasons is the lack of pride so
commonly seen in our citizens. Many people do not realize that Brandon was one
of the first major cities in Western Canada.
A pocket atlas found in our archives reveals that at the turn of the
century, Brandon was much larger than either Calgary or Edmonton. Brandon was also the location of the first
medical clinic in Canada. The clinic was
opened by three local doctors, all of whom we have documents from!
Without
archives, many of these resources would likely have been lost or thrown away
long ago. However, we do much more than
simply store documents. We do two main
things at the research centre: keep the archives safe and in a controlled
environment so that they are preserved for future generations, and organize and
catalogue the records so that researchers can easily find what they are looking
for.
Every
document that is accepted as a donation for the Stephen A. Magnacca research
centre goes through a lengthy process.
First, we must determine whether each document has historic value and is
suitable for our archives. These items
must be unique, local, and from the early days of the city. We have documents related to people, places,
businesses, and various organizations.
After
documents are accepted, they must be stored in a safe way. We handle documents with cotton gloves and
keep them stored in a cool, dry environment in acid-free boxes and
folders. We remove any materials that might
be corrosive. Photographs and delicate
documents are placed carefully in a material called Mylar, a transparent
plastic that is acid-free. Preservation
can be a lot of work, but without it our city’s most valuable documents would
fade and even fall apart.
The
other important step in archiving is making easy to use descriptions so that
researchers can find what they are looking for.
Every folder we go through is described.
Then, when someone comes in to do research, one of our staff or
volunteers can go through the database and find items that are useful to the researcher.
Many
Brandonites do not know that the Daly House Museum has a research centre, and
yet much of the work done by our staff, volunteers, and summer interns is directly
related to the archives. We are just as proud of the archives as we are of the
beautiful displays our visitors enjoy every day.
