— Valerie Wernet, Cortes Island Museum

The summer season is coming to a close, and the archives team at the Cortes Island Museum is wrapping up our summer photo-sharing campaign, “From the Archives.” The course of the summer brought twelve weeks of hand-selected photos, each with a unique theme, and it was a great success. Thanks to awesome communitymembers, archivists were able to put names and locations to several previously unidentified photos. Photos shared this summer on Facebook and Instagram also received almost 3,400 “votes” in the form of likes, sharesand comments.

You can see the twelve top photos presented below. You can also enjoy them on our Facebook page.

Hungry for more history?

Did you know that Cortes Island Museum & Archives has our very own Online Archives? You can browse our digitized collection any time for free. Just follow the link on the museum’s main page, or head straight to https://collections.cortesmuseum.com/. The museum’s “From the Archives” campaign, and the entire Online Archives, are brought to you thanks to a generous grant from Library and Archives Canada.

So, what’s next?

Like so many things on this island, that depends on all of us. Our non-profit museum has two main sources of funding: grants and donations. If you enjoyed this summer’s photos, consider making a contribution to the Museum. Donations from folks like you allow us to apply for more grants, offer more programming, and continue to digitize our growing collection. Donate here.

Got old photos lying around?

Another way in which the Cortes Island Museum is building its collections is to rely on donations of material to our Archives. The Museum is grateful to the individuals, families and organizations who have generously donated photographs and papers to the Archives.

If you have things, you feel might belong in the Archives, please reach out to  cimasarchives@gmail.com. We welcome donations which support the mission of the Museum. Every donation makes a lasting contribution to documenting the history of Cortes Island for future generations.

If your photos or papers end up in the Archives, we’ll do our best to describe them using national archival standards, digitize them as appropriate, and store them in a safe environment for long-term preservation.

Here are the community’s 12 favourite photos of the summer:

Whaletown school class, 1964.

Rex Weyler beside a tarp sheltering protesters, including Linnaea school students. Photograph taken at a blockade to protest clear-cut logging by MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. near Squirrel Cove, 1990.

Mabel and Buster Christensen, Eve Rickbacker and Mary (Ward) Anderson, 1960s.

This building has gone through a few incarnations over the years. Now it’s a private home.

Thanks for a great season!

The links to our Facebook posts for all 12 albums:
Week 1 – Portraits – https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3813817398741690&type=3
Week 2 – Schools – https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3832083883581708&type=3
Week 3 – Transportation – https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3850137695109660&type=3
Week 4 – Farms – https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3866904136766349&type=3
Week 5 – Logging – https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3885709828219113&type=3
Week 6 – Pets – https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3904620742994688&type=3
Week 7 – Festivals – https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3923787614411334&type=3
Week 8 – Interiors  – https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3943900995733329&type=3
Week 9 – Boats – https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3963639160426179&type=3
Week 10 – Stores – https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3983922791731149&type=3
Week 11 – Homesteading – https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4004684986321596&type=3
Week 12 – Halloween&Christmas – https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4024768354313259&type=3