Any students looking for a summer job? For the first time in 23 years of operation, the Vankleek Hill Museum has not received a single application for its two summer student positions.

The positions are for 35 hours each week at a rate of $15.50 per hour and applicants must be between 16 and 30 years of age. Some weekend time is required, but the museum works to accommodate personal time and family vacations. As staff at the Vankleek Hill Museum are often in close quarters with each other and the public, vaccination against COVID-19 is required.

Summer work for the museum’s two student staff includes cataloging, where staff describe artifacts, ensure paperwork is up to date, number artifacts, and plan storage. There will also be genealogy, family history, and building research. Preservation of local history is continuously in motion.

Adding to collection

The museum has been busy this summer and has added extensively to its collection over the winter months in preparation of opening for the summer. The Museum Collections Committee meets monthly in the off-season to review artifact donations. Archival items, such as photographs, calendars, early deeds, 1890s bank cheques – a whole variety – steadily arrive. Artifacts such as women’s wear, milk bottles and local history books – to name just a few – also make their way to the museum. All must meet the standards of the museum’s Collection Policy, which is available on the Vankleek Hill Museum website.

Do you have a family history or a genealogy work? The Vankleek Hill Museum welcomes donations to help expand its library and archives. You can contact the museum about your donation through its Facebook page, or by telephone at 613-678-2323.

The Vankleek Hill Museum will be open through the months of July and August, Wednesdays through Sundays, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Jill Crosby (right) recently donated a copy of her Crosby Family genealogy to the Musée Vankleek Hill Museum. Accepting the publication into the genealogy collection is Historical Society director Alice MacLaurin. Jill explained that her parents did the research, long before the ease of access to online internet archives began. She recalled that as a youngster she travelled with her parents John and Joanne Crosby to visit cemeteries and family locations looking for hints and treasured stories. Jill has continued building on the family history. Photo: Vankleek Hill Museum