York Sunbury Museum to Launch New Acadian Exhibit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The York Sunbury Museum Launches New Acadian Exhibit

York Sunbury Museum (571 Queen Street, Fredericton, NB E3B 5C8)

Fredericton, New Brunswick (September 23, 2010) – The York Sunbury Museum, through a partnership with the New Brunswick Capital Commission, has given their Acadian exhibit a new look this year and is ready for a re-launch. 

Curated by Dr. Sheila Andrew, Acadians of Fredericton is one of the York Sunbury Museum’s seven permanent exhibits and presents some of the interesting history of the Acadians in the Fredericton region of New Brunswick. 

The Acadians are the main French-speaking community of the Canadian Maritimes and many are the descendants of the seventeenth century settlers.  The French Governor, Villebon, built Fort Nashwaak on the site of modern day Fredericton in 1692, and New England forces besieged it unsuccessfully in 1696.  The fort served as the capital of the Acadian colony during its short existence.  Acadian traders and farmers had already settled on the shores and a village was established on St. Anne’s Point until it was destroyed in 1759 during the Seven Year’s War.  This exhibit includes the history of the Acadian flag, the Acadians who remained in the Fredericton area and those who returned to it,  Acadians in Education and the Cyr family as well as an overview of Acadian history of the province and  the growth of a vibrant Acadian culture in the town.

A graduate of the University of Oxford and of the University of New Brunswick, the curator Dr. Andrew is the author of The Development of Elites in Acadian New Brunswick, 1861-1881.  She recently retired from the History Department at St. Thomas University though returns frequently to teach on a part-time basis.  Dr. Andrew has published papers on several aspects of nineteenth-century Acadia including the use of jokes, the role of women teachers, and the contribution of convent schools to the development of French in New Brunswick.

The exhibit features artefacts from the Village Historique Acadien, Kings Landing, The Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick and the Cormier family as well as a trunk of replica Acadian costumes for visitors to try on.  The York Sunbury Museum is grateful to our partners and volunteers who assisted with the creation and installation of the exhibit, our volunteer translators (Uta Doerr, Clarence Robichaud and Donald Albert)  who have been working for months on the project, Louise Melancon for the costume of Evangeline, Joanne Venart for the replica Acadian clothes and Charlotte for the interpretive panel design.

The opening reception will take place at the York Sunbury Museum on September 30th at 5:30pm. 

The York Sunbury Historical Society founded the York Sunbury Museum in 1934 and the Museum found permanent headquarters in the Officers’ Quarters (571 Queen Street) in 1959.  The Society and Museum remain a non-profit enterprise with a small paid staff and numerous volunteers who work tirelessly to create informative exhibits, organize free public programs and publish a local history periodical The Officers’ Quarters.  The York Sunbury Museum is open to the public Tuesdays to Saturdays from 1pm until 4pm and is the place to visit to learn about the history of the Fredericton region.