Erland Lee Museum has garnered another designation.
The National Historic Site is the Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce’s 2014 Community Recognition Award winner and will be honoured at the chamber’s 48th annual Community Awards on May 21 at Winona Vine Estates.
“We are really pleased and very thankful to the chamber for recognizing us,” said Margaret Byl, president of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario, which owns and operates the museum. “We’ve (Women’s Institutes) been around for 118 years and we’re very proud of that.”
Originally a farmhouse belonging to Erland and Janet Lee, the museum is recognized as the birthplace of the first Women’s Institute, which was formed in 1897 with the idea of helping women improve homemaking and child care. The home belonged to the Lee family between 1808 and 1971.
Wanting to preserve the vintage house as a memorial to the birthplace of the Women’s Institutes and feature the vanished, middle-class, rural Victorian lifestyle, the FWIO purchased the home in 1972. It opened as the Erland Lee Museum, with the exterior and the 1873 additions restored to their 1897 beauty, that same year.
The museum was closed, though, in 2010, after a study commissioned by the FWIO revealed a $1-million repair and upgrade backlog. It also was shuttered because of several liability issues, including an old chimney thimble that was coming through the ceiling in the home’s parlour and needed to be removed.
Members spent the next three years fundraising to reopen the site to the public. Area councillor Brenda Johnson also joined the campaign and secured a grant from the city to be used if the museum reopened.
Members and the community celebrated the grand reopening of the museum in April 2013. The FWIO also moved its provincial office to the site in 2014. The organization had been in Guelph for 20 years.
Byl said the museum has seen its share of ups and downs.
“The key to its survival has been our volunteers,” she said. “We’ve had amazing volunteers; we’ve had amazing people coming and just donating their effort, time and money. It’s really pulled the organization and the community together.”
The museum contains three floors of original Victorian furniture and furnishings, with an emphasis on the history of the Lee family and the events surrounding the founding of the Women's Institutes in 1897. The dining room table on which Janet Lee penned the first Women’s Institute constitution still stands in its original location. The farmhouse is complemented by an 1873 carriage house, which contains two floors of local history exhibits.
The Women’s Institutes is now an international organization.
Since 1897, members have gone on to campaign for a number of changes to benefit society, such as requiring traffic to stop when children are entering or exiting school buses, the use of breathalyzer and blood tests to determine drivers’ sobriety and the pasteurization of milk.
The FWIO has about 3,500 members in 290 branches across Ontario.
“The museum is the birthplace of Women’s Institutes, which is now worldwide,” Byl said. “It’s very important not only for the community, but also for tourism. We get members and people that know about Women’s Institutes coming from all over the world to the museum, which is pretty amazing.”
Lori Raudnask, president of the chamber and chair of the awards committee, said the museum is more than deserving of the award.
“The whole story behind it – the people and what happened here – it’s a little piece of history right in our community,” she said. “What the Women’s Institutes has done for women and for change in the community and beyond over 118 years is really quite amazing. To think it all started here in Stoney Creek is pretty incredible.”
For more information on the museum, visit fwio.on.ca/erland.
Erland Lee Museum has garnered another designation.
The National Historic Site is the Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce’s 2014 Community Recognition Award winner and will be honoured at the chamber’s 48th annual Community Awards on May 21 at Winona Vine Estates.
“We are really pleased and very thankful to the chamber for recognizing us,” said Margaret Byl, president of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario, which owns and operates the museum. “We’ve (Women’s Institutes) been around for 118 years and we’re very proud of that.”
Originally a farmhouse belonging to Erland and Janet Lee, the museum is recognized as the birthplace of the first Women’s Institute, which was formed in 1897 with the idea of helping women improve homemaking and child care. The home belonged to the Lee family between 1808 and 1971.
Wanting to preserve the vintage house as a memorial to the birthplace of the Women’s Institutes and feature the vanished, middle-class, rural Victorian lifestyle, the FWIO purchased the home in 1972. It opened as the Erland Lee Museum, with the exterior and the 1873 additions restored to their 1897 beauty, that same year.
The museum was closed, though, in 2010, after a study commissioned by the FWIO revealed a $1-million repair and upgrade backlog. It also was shuttered because of several liability issues, including an old chimney thimble that was coming through the ceiling in the home’s parlour and needed to be removed.
Members spent the next three years fundraising to reopen the site to the public. Area councillor Brenda Johnson also joined the campaign and secured a grant from the city to be used if the museum reopened.
Members and the community celebrated the grand reopening of the museum in April 2013. The FWIO also moved its provincial office to the site in 2014. The organization had been in Guelph for 20 years.
Byl said the museum has seen its share of ups and downs.
“The key to its survival has been our volunteers,” she said. “We’ve had amazing volunteers; we’ve had amazing people coming and just donating their effort, time and money. It’s really pulled the organization and the community together.”
The museum contains three floors of original Victorian furniture and furnishings, with an emphasis on the history of the Lee family and the events surrounding the founding of the Women's Institutes in 1897. The dining room table on which Janet Lee penned the first Women’s Institute constitution still stands in its original location. The farmhouse is complemented by an 1873 carriage house, which contains two floors of local history exhibits.
The Women’s Institutes is now an international organization.
Since 1897, members have gone on to campaign for a number of changes to benefit society, such as requiring traffic to stop when children are entering or exiting school buses, the use of breathalyzer and blood tests to determine drivers’ sobriety and the pasteurization of milk.
The FWIO has about 3,500 members in 290 branches across Ontario.
“The museum is the birthplace of Women’s Institutes, which is now worldwide,” Byl said. “It’s very important not only for the community, but also for tourism. We get members and people that know about Women’s Institutes coming from all over the world to the museum, which is pretty amazing.”
Lori Raudnask, president of the chamber and chair of the awards committee, said the museum is more than deserving of the award.
“The whole story behind it – the people and what happened here – it’s a little piece of history right in our community,” she said. “What the Women’s Institutes has done for women and for change in the community and beyond over 118 years is really quite amazing. To think it all started here in Stoney Creek is pretty incredible.”
For more information on the museum, visit fwio.on.ca/erland.
Erland Lee Museum has garnered another designation.
The National Historic Site is the Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce’s 2014 Community Recognition Award winner and will be honoured at the chamber’s 48th annual Community Awards on May 21 at Winona Vine Estates.
“We are really pleased and very thankful to the chamber for recognizing us,” said Margaret Byl, president of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario, which owns and operates the museum. “We’ve (Women’s Institutes) been around for 118 years and we’re very proud of that.”
Originally a farmhouse belonging to Erland and Janet Lee, the museum is recognized as the birthplace of the first Women’s Institute, which was formed in 1897 with the idea of helping women improve homemaking and child care. The home belonged to the Lee family between 1808 and 1971.
Wanting to preserve the vintage house as a memorial to the birthplace of the Women’s Institutes and feature the vanished, middle-class, rural Victorian lifestyle, the FWIO purchased the home in 1972. It opened as the Erland Lee Museum, with the exterior and the 1873 additions restored to their 1897 beauty, that same year.
The museum was closed, though, in 2010, after a study commissioned by the FWIO revealed a $1-million repair and upgrade backlog. It also was shuttered because of several liability issues, including an old chimney thimble that was coming through the ceiling in the home’s parlour and needed to be removed.
Members spent the next three years fundraising to reopen the site to the public. Area councillor Brenda Johnson also joined the campaign and secured a grant from the city to be used if the museum reopened.
Members and the community celebrated the grand reopening of the museum in April 2013. The FWIO also moved its provincial office to the site in 2014. The organization had been in Guelph for 20 years.
Byl said the museum has seen its share of ups and downs.
“The key to its survival has been our volunteers,” she said. “We’ve had amazing volunteers; we’ve had amazing people coming and just donating their effort, time and money. It’s really pulled the organization and the community together.”
The museum contains three floors of original Victorian furniture and furnishings, with an emphasis on the history of the Lee family and the events surrounding the founding of the Women's Institutes in 1897. The dining room table on which Janet Lee penned the first Women’s Institute constitution still stands in its original location. The farmhouse is complemented by an 1873 carriage house, which contains two floors of local history exhibits.
The Women’s Institutes is now an international organization.
Since 1897, members have gone on to campaign for a number of changes to benefit society, such as requiring traffic to stop when children are entering or exiting school buses, the use of breathalyzer and blood tests to determine drivers’ sobriety and the pasteurization of milk.
The FWIO has about 3,500 members in 290 branches across Ontario.
“The museum is the birthplace of Women’s Institutes, which is now worldwide,” Byl said. “It’s very important not only for the community, but also for tourism. We get members and people that know about Women’s Institutes coming from all over the world to the museum, which is pretty amazing.”
Lori Raudnask, president of the chamber and chair of the awards committee, said the museum is more than deserving of the award.
“The whole story behind it – the people and what happened here – it’s a little piece of history right in our community,” she said. “What the Women’s Institutes has done for women and for change in the community and beyond over 118 years is really quite amazing. To think it all started here in Stoney Creek is pretty incredible.”
For more information on the museum, visit fwio.on.ca/erland.