Ridge House Museum Everyday Forever exhibit

The Ridge House Museum has announced their new exhibit Everyday Forever. Scheduled to be on display in the exhibit gallery of the museum from March 8 to December 23, 2014, the exhibit will let visitors in on a textile conservation project undertaken last year at the museum.

When the Ridge House Museum was started in 1975 through a joint venture between the Ridgetown Rotary Club and the Ridgetown Historical Society, many local community members contributed family heirlooms to the fledgling museum collection. At that time, Evelyn Backus donated hundreds of artifacts to the museum from her ancestors including an extensive clothing collection ranging in time from about the 1860s-1920s. For some years, this part of the Backus collection was stored away waiting for some much needed cleaning. Last year, the Ridge House Museum received a Preserving Canadian Treasures grant from the Canadian Museum Association for just this purpose. This show will not only highlight the changing fashions of the late 19^th century but also pull visitors into the work performed by the Conservation Specialist as part of this project.

The Ridge House Museum would like to thank the Canadian Museum Association for supporting this conservation project and the generous support of Dr. Yosef Wosk that makes the Preserving Canadian Treasures program possible. Many of the clothing items included in this collection could not have been exhibited prior to the conservation project that was made possible by this grant.

The Ridge House Museum is at 53 Erie Street South, Ridgetown. For more information or to book a tour, please contact Ridge House Museum curator by email at ckridgehouse@chatham-kent.ca or by phone at 519-354-8346 x39.