Parkwood Volunteers 2012

I was counting up the hours of contributed volunteer time yesterday and although the year has not officially ended, the amount of time donated by our volunteer corps surpasses 10,000 hours. That's 10,000 hours of interpreting McLaughlin family history to the public; condition reporting and updating collections management records; cups of tea and scones served; special events organised and executed; walls washed and silver polished; floors waxed and buffed; gift shop merchandise priced; gardens weeded and watered and clocks wound and worked on. What amazes me is that these 10,000 hours are achieved with rarely a grumble and often a very vocal thank you to me for allowing people to volunteer at Parkwood and experience what a gem of Canadian heritage this National Historic Site is.

2012 was not without its challenges to the volunteer either. Much of our year and regular operation was disrupted by film production. Disruption that was welcome and sought by management, since those who follow our blog understand the financial necessity of filming at the site, but this limits the amount of time that I am able to dedicate to the important part of the volunteer experience, retention. Although the parking lot was filled with transport trucks, lighting cranes, generators and the mansion filled with equipment, 100 extra people, cardboard protection and mats, our volunteers rallied and continued to offer the best "experience" for the visiting public.  

 

They perservered and met each Tuesday and Thursday for croquet matches, continued to attend their regular volunteer shifts, often parking off site, or arranging for drop offs and pick ups to avoid film crew vehicles, and even covered our reception duties when our small staff was pulled into the fray of film production hours and needs.



The volunteers embraced the creation and put up with the floundering Museum Morsels, our historic culinary club, now in full swing, but were patient as I slowly pulled it together despite overnight shifts, with on again, off again enthusiasm (on my part) for the project. Their attendance to our sessions, where we delved into food and social history (they all know my area of passion) reignited my personal interests and zest for the program amongst the craziness that surrounded us. Their combined excitement for the goals I established when I set out to create this program has generated a keenness among the corps that it is hard not to be caught up in their eagerness to experience food history.

Over the last few quiet days at Parkwood, I have been working on my volunteer programs, you remember, the retention pieces I neglected in 2012, and I am very energized about what 2013 will have in store for Parkwood NHS and the 160 dedicated volunteers we boast about with frequency.

Canada's Garden Route Winners, Susan & Melissa at Parkwood

Parkwood welcomes Canada’s Garden Route contest winners, Susan & Melissa.

Canada’s Garden Route is a showcase of gardens coast to coast presented by VIA Rail.  The route was recently promoted in an e-mail contest with Scotts & Miracle Gro, and the winners chose a Canadian garden journey aboard VIA over other international garden offerings.  And more exciting for Parkwood, the winners selected our historic gardens (one of the 25 feature gardens along the route) as one of five stops!

Winners Susan and Melissa experienced a sense of the lavish lifestyle enjoyed by the family at this Canadian autobaron’s grand estate during the inter-war years, and what it took to maintain it.  Susan & Melissa sampled the worlds of both the wealthy owners and the large house and garden staff: cutting fresh flowers for the mansion; trimming up the mosaiculture beds in the Italian Garden; lunching fountain-side at the Formal Garden teahouse; going behind the scenes in the greenhouses and in the mansion; even meeting up with a crabby cook and an errant parlormaid.

Garden Voices of Ontario’s Historic Gardens

This is a new initiative organized for 2012 by Parkwood National Historic Site. Prompted by interest expressed by participants at a 2011 historic gardens workshop at Parkwood, it was then organized with grant support from the Ontario Ministry of Culture’s Cultural Strategic Initiatives Fund.  Ontario Garden Tourism Coalition and National Historic Sites Alliance for Ontario came on board as collaborative partners, and a steering committee was formed with representatives from historic gardens, tourism and related sectors.

Project Aims

We set out to tell the stories of Ontario’s historic gardens, with enriched programs and experiences that would motivate Ontarians to get out and explore them.

We knew a little about some of the recognized names associated with some of the garden designs, such as Dunington-Grubb and Olmstead, and we hoped to increase greater awareness of our design roots.

We considered a single week or timeframe to create an event (such as Historic Gardens Week in Virginia), but from submissions we found that best-viewing times and programming themes were too varied to bring together in a single week. 

We left it to each garden to devise its best showcase opportunity, and established a broader scope and a sort of umbrella theme for the project –
taking inspiration from the wonderful publication Garden Voices:  Two Centuries of Canadian Garden Writing by Edwinna Von Baeyer and Pleasance Crawford.   For in a sense, we can hear or experience the voices of the owners, designers, workers, and era influences that have shaped our historic gardens, in the physical evidence and in the animation of those voices through interpretation and programming.

The project received a lot of good feedback anecdotally from colleagues in the museum, garden and tourism communities.  The project gave support to broader garden tourism initiatives, as a complimentary stream to other garden attractions, festivals & events generally, and as part of a build-up toward major international garden showcases in Ottawa and Niagara to mark Canada’s 150^th in 2017.

The project was intended not only to increase awareness about historic gardens, but also to increase visitation and visitor revenues, attract volunteers and dollar support.  Given provincial investment and perceived interest of gardens and historic gardens as “new” tourism offerings, the project was timely.  Readiness of the gardens to participate was a challenge however.

 
Project Results

Thirty-five historic gardens were identified, and grouped together perhaps for the first time.  Eight feature gardens came forward with experiential offerings beyond the standard fare.

The project prompted dialogue about what constituted a historic garden or landscape.  Notable 20^th century gardens for example are clearly preserved historic gardens, while many other gardens would be considered recreations of gardens lost to time.  For that matter, gardens we would call historic are still on the drawing board.  Historic garden movements or practices also draw in cemeteries, forts, railway gardens and parks, and merge with the broader idea of cultural landscapes – all Intriguing and useful discussions.

More problematic were discussions about garden tourism, particularly experiential tourism which calls for a much richer visitor offering than the typical talk & point garden tour.  As many owners or operators of historic gardens do not speak “tourism”, we worked with Brain Trust Marketing & Communications to develop a number of tools and materials.  These can also be adapted to other projects or used in future. 

A new website was created, www.garden voices.ca, to showcase the feature experiences and the rest of the historic gardens.  It too  can be adapted for future use and linked to any related historic, horticultural or tourism site.  Other marketing efforts provided an opportunity for gardens to maximize on their own budgets (eg. with placements/publications not normally within reach of small organizations). 

A number of difficulties encountered illustrate, in our view, that historic gardens and landscapes need to be better understood and supported.  They are generally lacking in resources, volunteers, and the will to present gardens as more than “second-fiddle” to buildings & collections.  Programming is generally quite limited, and the historic garden voices are often not well-articulated. Recreated gardens aspire to period-correctness and authenticity but often lack resources for research, design and upkeep.

As  project milestones and submission dates approached, some gardens dropped out as feature garden contenders, finding themselves unable to make the programming leap, or that their gardens would not be up to scratch in terms of conserved state or event basic maintenance.   An additional aggravation for some gardens was centralized budget, programming or marketing controls that did not allow for decision-making at the site level. 

We prefer to view this as not a sad state of affairs, but rather as a new beginning for Ontario’s historic gardens and landscapes.  Indeed, those gardens that declined to participate as feature gardens were quick to add “this year”, adding their pledge to resolve their readiness issues or other challenges in preparation for next year, suggesting life beyond the project.

Parkwood honours longest-serving volunteer at 40th Annual General Meeting.

Bill Smith received accolades from the Board of Directors, Members and staff for his volunteer service through most of Parkwood’s history as a heritage institution and charitable organization.

Executive Director Brian Malcolm offered a partial view of Bill’s extended service:

“My direct knowledge about Bill’s volunteer service only covers the last 23 years or so.  Most of you know Bill as our Comptroller, our behind the scenes accounting guy, and that certainly is the case these days.

But there was a time when Bill got dragged into just about everything – from barbecues and bulb planting, to Easter Egg hunts and Swing Band concerts, helping put budgets and financial reports together since the 1970’s.   As a member of the Management Committee from the1980‘s to the mid 1990’s, Bill was often called on to leave his ledgers and files and get involved with urgent matter du jour.  Later, Bill got us all to leave our ledgers and files, as he helped shepherd Parkwood through the early agonies of computerized accounting.

Until recently, Bill kept daily hours and had the misfortune to have an office right between Jane’s office and mine, and right across from our sometime development office.  We had constant access to him, and what a fantastic resource for us.

But think for a minute about the volunteer hours and the level of service contributed each day, each week, year-round and each year. Truly, I can’t imagine how Parkwood could have made the strides it has without Bills’ constant commitment, and faithful attention to some of the most important matters.

Over the last few years we have focused on sustainability.  Frankly, we have been acutely aware of the value of Bill’s volunteer services.  It’s beyond any typical measure of expectation.   I can’t think of another organization that has enjoyed such a gift.”

Treasure Scott Smith introduced a special motion at the 40^th Annual General Meeting

“BE IT RESOLVED THAT that, as The Parkwood Foundation celebrates its 40^th anniversary, it recognizes the decades-long volunteer contribution of William Smith as Comptroller – with resounding gratitude for his long-service, dedication and wise counsel.”

Rules of order were thrown out as several attendees clamoured to second Scott’s motion.  Here’s a sampling:

 “ I have worked with Bill almost as long as he has been here, when I was a Director and more recently as Chair of the Finance Committee.  I came to rely on Bill’s work, and trust on the information and advice he has brought to the Board and the committee.  It has been a pleasure working with him over the years.

I second the motion, with my confidence and thanks”  Arthur Lovell

“I probably work the closest with Bill, about 14 years if anyone is counting.  For me Bill represents one of those un-sung heroes, who work quietly but effectively behind-the-scenes, on things that are important and - let’s face it, nobody’s  idea of interesting or fun - and seeking no recognition or praise.

Bill, I second the motion, with my thanks for your patience, guidance and commitment”   Jane Battersby, Administrative Assistant

“In 1990, Marion O’Donnell & I became really active in Parkwood’s rejuvenation.  Along with Bill, we formed a sort of dynamic trio – a restructuring task force to push forward the new future for Parkwood.  It was somewhat daunting and a bit radical and we relied heavily on Bill’s financial good sense to help guide the changes.  Bill was also far more involved in events and doings than he ever hoped or wished to be.  His thanks are truly well-earned.

I second the motion, with the knowledge of Bill’s many skills and broader contributions to Parkwood’s success.” Patricia O’Neill, Past President

Parkwood has not stood still, nor has the world.  During my term as President I saw increased demand on our accounting requirements.  But, Bill remained unflappable and slow to complain about new reporting requirements and regulations, fundraising and grants, new budget lines and inter-fund complications.  It was a pleasure working with him and, with a shared hospital background we even commiserated a little about our health care system

I too second the motion, with sincere thanks and admiration.”

Sharon Swain, Past President

“I get the prize for working with Bill the longest, and I might just have the best perspective on just how valuable his service has been to Parkwood.   He has been a constant resource during various ups and downs, a great source of knowledge and a sounding board too, a man of integrity and solid values, and an exemplary volunteer.  For so long, there was just no question about who would be doing what Bill was doing, next week, next month or next year.  That’s an amazing comfort level for me, with a perpetually under-resourced organization, and it represents a rare & outstanding volunteer contribution.

I second the motion with my personal thanks and knowledge that Parkwood and I have been spoiled!”  Brian Malcolm

Needless to say, the motion passed – with hands raised in the affirmative and then in applause (followed by a standing ovation!

Thank you Bill!

Come Sail Away- Yachting & the McLaughlins

As most of you are aware, one of the many gems in the Parkwood Archives collection is the family home movies. These home movies catch a glimpse of the McLaughlin Family at home and abroad, a snippet of time, at parties or relaxing and sharing each others’ company.

A favoured home movie to watch is the family out on their yacht at the Belleville Yacht Races throughout the 1920s. This shows groups of people lounging on the deck, soaking up the sunlight, and sporting the latest yachting fashions of the “beautiful people” decade, the roaring twenties, with its wealth and luxury.

Tonights' Parkwood 2012 Benefit Gala, Come Sail Away, is celebrating Sam McLaughlin’s love of boating. He is quoted, “when in 1924 I decided to "ease off" I found there were many avenues of new interest. From my bicycling days I had loved speed - competitive speed. When I grew up I became the proud possessor of a fast motor boat - fast for those days, because it would speed from the Oshawa waterfront to the Royal Canadian Yacht Club in Toronto in an hour and a half. Late in 1925 I commissioned an R-class yacht to be built in an attempt to bring the international Richardson Cup, emblematic of the championship of the Great Lakes in that class, to the Royal Canadian Yacht Club of which I was a member. She was designed by Bingley Benson, built at Oakville, and named after my youngest daughter, Eleanor.” The Eleanor did go on to win the Richardson Cup, in 1926, for Sam McLaughlin.

Come Sail Away  will offer this evenings guests an opportunity to see Parkwood and the history of this National Historic Site in a different light, celebrating a snippet of the family history, while raising funds to preserve the property as it approaches its centennial. The funds raised this year being applied to the Greenhouse Conservation Project. Like all things that age, living through a century of seasonal weather changes, hundreds of thousands of people in and out the doors; changes in technology and modes of thinking; the walls of Parkwood have marvellous stories to tell, when they speak, and Come Sail Away is an opportunity to tell one of those stories.

Bug Hunting in the Mansion (Museum Integrated Pest Management Programs)

Have you ever been on tour at Parkwood, or another museum, and noticed the insect traps? Or for that matter the mouse traps? It's all part of an Integrated Pest Management Program at your local heritage site and a large part of our preservation work. Our insect traps are pheromone based and yes, every couple of weeks, I look at them, and log what and whom I find in there ( glamorous, isn't it?) or on occasion I find an envelope containing some DEAD creature with several legs, with a note, "found in tub in Col. Sam's room, just in case you need to know. "
Book lice, cockroaches, moths, silverfish, the house spider...all sorts of creepy crawlies exist at Parkwood, and yes, the cause of many itchy sessions in my office, a major cause of concern with regards to the preservation matters of our significant collections. For example, the American cockroach feeds on leather and the lovely proteins it can find in all the leather Parkwood has to offer to sustain a single cockroach life. Leather top tables, leather upholstery, leather bindings in the pipe organ, leather book covers, etc. A variable feast for a tenacious roach!

This week I have been battling the carpet beetle. Treatments of boric acid along baseboards, rooms being closed to public tours, and staff, to ensure there is no beetle migration to other rooms, or our own homes; massive cleaning with HEPA vacuum filters; covert visits to darkened rooms to seek entry or nesting points; book collections being frozen in the "curatorial" freezer in the basement; etc. have been part of the Parkwood fight to ensure we rid ourselves of these pests, and prevent any further damage to the collections.  It is this sort of outbreak that has Parkwood revisit our museum practises and procedures when it comes to the estate and our role as stewards of such a magnificent site. 
The first question I receive is how did the beetles get into the mansion? For the most part, we will never know. I cannot blame a single source. Think about the foot traffic and if the beetle came in on someones shoes; a propped open window, although we enforce screens, if a window must be opened, there are times that a screen is not guaranteed; and lets face it, the doors open and close with frequency. The standard policy in the estate is no live flowers, although, from the curatorial perspective, I am torn, because the McLaughlins' had fresh, live florals in the house everyday, and accurate interpretation would want us to replicate (although current budgets dictate otherwise); there is the introduction of prop furniture and carpets for the film industry; there is food consumption in exhibit areas with regards to the weddings and rentals (completely ancillary business and a violation of museum standard practise, but 100% necessary to cover our costs). So, no easy answer.
Parkwood staff and volunteers continue with our regular days and duties, in between bug hunts and treatments.  Museum work is not all about research and pushing paper, curators often get to be amateur entomologists, although not by choice, nor fondness for several legged creatures.

Service Staff Reunion

Many of you are aware that we avidly seek out and record the oral histories of the former domestic staff of the McLaughlins. The collection of the oral histories; photographs of the staff from various years; and maintaining the relationships with these folks is integral to our interpretation program at the National Historic Site.

In the past, I have mentioned how fortunate I am to be able to call upon a few of the grandchildren to help elucidate fact from fiction in what we hear and read about Parkwood, and the same is true with the former staff. Opportunities, like this upcoming reunion, provide us with the chance to reunite, chat about old times, allow current staff to communicate exciting news about current projects, but most importantly, allow us to capture the memories of the very human moments of what it was like to work at Parkwood, know Sam and Adelaide McLaughlin, and what the atmosphere was like in the bustling estate.

Often the very description of a bustling estate with parlour maids to and fro, and the laundry facilities going full throttle, while freshly washed linens hung on the long lost clothes line; the smells of polish; silver, leather or shoe, hanging in the air mixing with the tobacco of pipe, cigar, and cigarette smoke that enveloped the mansion elude us in our current "pristine and reverently quiet" museum setting and it is through these reunions that we catch a glimpse of the daily lives of the entire estate family. It was never documented in any archive in the Parkwood holdings about which stair creaked on the service steps, alerting the head housekeeper to a maid sneaking in after breaking curfew, or the cat that was rescued and kept "hidden" in the greenhouse with veterinarian bills being hidden amongst other household documents, hoping to escape Sam McLaughlin's keen eye during review; or the quiet generosity of a wealthy family and their private philanthropic offers towards their household staff . All of these stories come to light during the reunions, stories which help round out our interpretation programs, and often create the parallels, while on tour, with the lives of the general public visiting the Estate. We look forward to seeing everyone again on Sunday and I look forward to being able to share with our audience new stories about the life and times of Sam and Adelaide McLaughlin and the people who worked at Parkwood, while it was a family home.

Lord Jellicoe's 1931 Visit to Parkwood

As an early curatorial Christmas gift to our loyal followers, here is another Parkwood home movie uploaded.

I love watching these and they are a primary resource gem for the historian.
They provide a wonderful glimpse at the life of the McLaughlins, a snapshot of history, but more importantly I like to watch them frame by frame, looking past the action in the foreground and observing items in the background. For example, did you notice when reviewing the images, that the fanlights on each side of the front door had etched glass in 1931? or the grass mat with a series of rectangles lying beneath the screen door? I just noticed the mat today, as I was uploading to the web. Now I am on the hunt for a mat that looks the same, to place at the front door.

Lord Jellicoe was a famous WWI military hero, who, depending on the year, was in and out of favour. He held the Admiral of the Fleet title from 1920 to 1924, and was Governor General in New Zealand for a period in the 1920s.  According to an article that I was able to locate on the web this afternoon, thanks Montreal Gazette, Lord Jellicoe visited Oshawa in August 1931 as part of an official party at the provincial conference of the Royal Canadian Legion.

Montreal Gazette, May 26, 1931

He was in Ontario for the British Empire Service League meeting in Niagara, so a quick visit to Oshawa, and Parkwood would be the thing to do.

At the formal reception, on the grounds of Parkwood, notice the Sunroom has not been added to the south facade of the estate, and the line of marquette tents that dot the landscape, and the obligatory group photo, but I enjoyed the section that follows the reception, the official party in their military dress, having the young McLaughlin grandchildren posing in the official military hats, while chauffeurs wait to commence the departing drive through the gates onto Simcoe Street.

Parkwood Volunteer Outing 2011

For the past few years, Parkwood has recognised the work of our fantastic volunteers with an outing each December to other National Historic Sites in our part of Ontario. Yesterday we ventured to the Sharon Temple NHS and Leaskdale Manse NHS.

The intrepid volunteers negotiated the mud and drizzle to venture through the Sharon Temple site, awe struck by the architecture, investment and dedication of the folk who built the temple c.1825 in the middle of Upper Canada as their sign and commitment to a higher power.

At Leaskdale, the volunteers were engrossed in the story of Lucy Maud Montgomery and her successes as a Canadian author in the early part of the 20th century, having written 11 of her 15 books in the Leaskdale Manse, while also being the minister's wife, and executing her societal duties, along with raising two children, and leading many community programs/projects.

The volunteers of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario provided us with a delightful lunch, prior to us venturing through the church and the manse to view the work that the society has accomplished in just a short while and learning about LMM's endeavours, and life.

In reviewing some of the messages I received this morning from the volunteers on tour yesterday, you will see the impressions that Sharon Temple and the Manse received.

"Wow! What a day!! My head is swimming with facts!!! I've been googling both sites. There are lots of other dedicated volunteers who have made these venues so interesting."

"Both Sharon Temple and Leaskdale were very interesting, and our hosts were great. "

In any volunteer management program, one will hear about the 3 r's of volunteerism; recruitment, recognition and retention. It is the recognition that tends to be the hardest to achieve, and our little outing is one of the many things we try to do, to recognise our volunteers service, and the hours and talents they have committed to the museum, along with their enthusiasm and passion for Parkwood.

This outing provides an opportunity for us to see how other sites operate, get to know the staff and volunteers of our sister sites, but most importantly understand the marvellous historic gems we have within our province, often gems we don't know about, or wouldn't be on our radar to visit. Both the Sharon Temple and Leaskdale have been on the must visit lists of many of the volunteers, but until yesterday, had never made it to Uxbridge or Sharon (aka East Gwilliambury) to see the sites.

So when you are at Parkwood and receive the tour, see someone weeding, have tea, enjoy a program or event, shop in the giftshop or get asked to take a survey, marvel at the lovely polished silver, see the wet paint signs, these are likely our Parkwood Museum Volunteers. Volunteers who we cannot thank enough for their service in our daily operations. 

In one of my messages this morning, in reflection of their recognition day yesterday, the following words struck me,

"When you visit other Historic sites, it certainly makes you appreciate what a treasure we have at Parkwood"

Museum and Technology Grant

Parkwood is thrilled to be working on a collections management project through the Museum and Technology grant that we were successful in receiving from the Ministry of Culture this year.

Collections Management, for those following that are not aware of this museum role, is essentially the record keeping of all the artefacts and archives at Parkwood,and in my opinion one of the most important stewardship role of a museum. These are the records that hold artefact information like its height, length, description, provenance, artist or make information along with its condition and the changes to its condition over the years, based environmental exposure, physical damages, etc. When conservation work is completed the conservation report and treatment plan,along with treatment photos are also included.

Until now, the Parkwood Collections Management program has been paper based in binders in my office, and several attempts at various "homemade" databases over the years.

This grant, which Parkwood is matching in dollar and staffing support, enables the staff and volunteers to use a database which will hold all of the information, along with photographs of each and every artefact. Every salt shaker, every fork, every handkerchief, every comb within the collection, eventually.
Amanda and Cesar having been working hard completing the data entry portion, along with photographing the collection, assisted by the volunteer work of Vivienne, Cindy and Linda.

What is the most exciting aspect of this project is that a quick push of a keyboard button I will have all the necessary info on a single artefact at my fingertips, including its photograph, something Parkwood has never had before. Cesar has undertaken the feat of photographing the collection, well beginning too, and this database will enable museum staff to upload images to our new website ( in the works) along with other museum-related sites and publications, like Artefacts Canada.




Sabot on the foot of the Drawing Room bureau-plat

 

One of the aspects of this new database is that we have been busy catergorising the collection in themes in order to create some exciting web and programming content. An example of this would be Louis XV furniture styles at Parkwood, but would delve beyond the beauty shots of this very identifiable furniture style. Using the archival collection, we may have purchase receipts, understanding the history and where the items in the Drawing Room were purchased from, and how the interior decorator chose certain pieces to complement the "look" that they were trying to achieve. The other "technical" aspect of the database will even allow us to focus our themes of items of interest for the researcher, to items as specific as the sabots (gilt shoes on the feet of furniture) on the Louis XV furniture collection.

Positioning Canada's Historic Gardens

Parkwood has embarked on a project to showcase Ontario’s historic gardens in 2012 – with the aim of promoting collaboration amongst these gardens and capitalizing on new tourism investment opportunities. 

Parkwood's Blooming Buddies
Garden Club hard at work

As far as we know it’s the first venture of its kind, and it’s creating both real excitement and splitting headaches for us.  We believe historic gardens are well-positioned to take advantage of new government investment in tourism and to capitalize on contemporary consumer trends for authentic experiences, gardening, food safety and culinary history, heirloom plants, etc.   We also want to encourage visitors, stakeholders and supporters to embrace heritage conservation as a green investment.

Through our work with the Ontario Garden Tourism Coalition and the National Historic Sites Alliance for Ontario, our project partners, we know that historic gardens fly way under the tourism radar and make too few appearances on “bucket lists”.  For many gardens, their stories often play second fiddle to the buildings or events that hog all the attention and they are seldom promoted for their own worth as historic and horticultural resources.



Historic Garden Workshop
March 2011



From a day-long workshop we hosted earlier this year for Ontario’s Historic Gardens, we learned that there was great enthusiasm for increased communications and collaboration amongst the garden operators and programmers, but that we lacked an agenda or organization to provide the rallying point. 

There were two outcomes from that event:  Parkwood began to compile an inventory of Ontario’s historic gardens and;  we secured grant funding to support a showcase event or week, around the historic themes and geographic links expected to emerge from the inventory.   Parkwood will have a starring role of course!

OK, a little too ambitious perhaps and the headaches should have been obvious, but we had to start somewhere.    Beyond the better-known historic gardens it has not been easy to identify likely sites, and then to coerce/cajole the owner or operator into providing useable information.  To be fair, most of us are highly overworked and highly resentful of filling out questionnaires.

On the other hand, the identification process has led to exploration of what constitutes an historic garden and who defines.  Where do cemeteries, forts, spiritual or cultural landscapes fit in?   Can we fairly present the evolution of garden practices in
Ontario - from aboriginal, through settlement and survival to the highly-designed gardens of the 20^th century wealthy?  

Did we mention that Will & Kate’s first royal visit to North America began at the historic gardens of Rideau Hall, the residence of Canada’s Governor General? 

The thematic possibilities look fantastic, but a bit overwhelming as we attempt to group and distil it all into sexy visitor offerings and travel itineraries.  We have definitely entered “What were we thinking?” territory, but stay tuned...

Artefact & Archival Donations to Parkwood

Parkwood does not solicit artefact or archival donations. However, once in a while there is a real gem among the several calls we receive in a week about a carriage found in a barn or a Parkwood Christmas card found at auction or even perhaps an early McLaughlin Canada Dry store front sign.
Many of the items in our secondary collection come from artefact & archival donations made by the general public and McLaughlin family members to Parkwood. These items are referenced as secondary collection items because they are not original to the house or are not items that actually belonged to the McLaughlin's who lived at Parkwood, but assist us in telling the story of Sam and Adelaide McLaughlin and the history of the estate.

Saying that, I should reference that in the 12 years I have been at Parkwood, an item has come home to the estate that is part of the primary collection and is designated as so, since it was returned by a family member who was bequeathed the item when Adelaide McLaughlin passed away.

This week we have had two marvellous donations to our secondary collection, each arriving under very different circumstances. Those of you that follow our blog know that we recently lost Philip Jackson, widower of Diana Phillips Jackson, grand-daughter of Sam and Adelaide. The Jackson estate bequeathed a gorgeous oil on canvas portrait of Eileen McLaughlin Phillips McEachern painted in 1929. Eileen is in her equestrian gear, one of her passions in life, and is a stunning example of society portraiture in the 20th century.

The second donation to the archives is a marvellous bit of fate. A woman named Frances C  from Swift Current called General Motors information line about a 1939 brochure she had been saving which referenced the Royal Visit and the custom made McLaughlin Buicks for the Royals to travel in while in Canada. The operator at General Motors Canada was quick enough to think of us, rather then just get rid of Frances (GM as a corporation is in the car business not history) and called the museum to see if we would like to chat with Frances about her fantastic keepsake, hidden away in one of her drawers.

We certainly did and the parcel arrived this morning with a fantastic reference to the Royal Tour, General Motors, McLaughlin Buick and Oshawa, Ontario. Already the brochure has captured the attention of our PhD student Amanda, and is something she will be able to use in her thesis and is something we will actively be working with in our WWII story with the Gr. 10 History students from Fr. Austin in Whitby.

Thank you to the operator who was quick to think of Parkwood. Thank you Frances C of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, for saving a wonderful piece of Canadian history!

Adelaide McLaughlin

Adelaide c.1949

When we discuss Adelaide McLaughlin, the image that ones mind conjures is like the photograph to the right. A grandmotherly figure, who was genteel, warm and full of class and decorum. Of course, Mrs. McLaughlin was all those things, but there is another side to her, one that many people do not think about while on tour or while participating in our programs.

Like everyone, Adelaide was once young. A farm girl who grew up in Brougham, Ontario, she went to Normal School in Ottawa and became a teacher. Her first, and last teaching placement was at Sinclair School in Whitby and the only known remaining photo Parkwood has of those days is the one attached below, courtesy of the Whitby Archives.
The photo, dated June 11, 1896, is of Miss Adelaide Mowbray's class.

Adelaide McLaughlin third from left

Many know the McLaughlin courtship story; Sam McLaughlin was out for a Sunday bike ride, attended church service with relatives and spied the future Mrs. McLaughlin singing in the church choir. Three chaperoned buggy rides later, the two were engaged and eventually married on February 2, 1898. There are no wedding photos of Sam and Adelaide's wedding, but the earliest portrait we have of Mrs. McLaughlin is the one to the right.

Adelaide c.1898

Five daughters, the McLaughlin Buick, and the McLaughlin Chevrolet later, Adelaide McLaughlin was entertaining statesmen and the aristocracy at Parkwood, shortly followed by the creation of General Motors and the who's who of business that started to come through the doors of her home.

Edwardian Adelaide

Mrs.McLaughlin became society hostess, philanthropist and community activist in her own right, and has some wonderful stories of her own. Stories that Parkwood will be sharing from time to time on this blog.

The first myth to dis-spell is the myth of teatotaller Adelaide.

There is a McLaughlin Family story about Sam and Adelaide returning to

Oshawa after a holiday in France in the early 1920s when they had been gifted with a crate of wine from a vineyard owner. While heading into New York harbour, the McLaughlins' realised that that due to prohibition being in full effect in the United States, they would not be able to travel through the country with their wine. Mrs. McLaughlin cleverly rolled each bottle of wine in her corsets, and under garments before packing her luggage, smuggling the "contraband" over the  border and home to the Parkwood wine cellar.

We also have some wonderful oral histories from the former servants' about Mrs. McLaughlin carrying trays of lemonade out to the gardens on those hot & humid days in August to provide the staff with a short, cool reprieve from the heat, or the collection of pickled bean recipes that she was famous for making and delivering to family and friends in the community.

1948 The McLaughlin's 50th Wedding Anniversary

Finally, Sam's nickname for Adelaide was Always Late Mowbray, a play on her name Adelaide Louise Mowbray, but he admitted that it was one of his pet peeves about his spouse, since she always seemed to keep him waiting when they were trying to get ready for an evening out.

Discovering Ada McKenzie

I had no idea who Ada McKenzie was. The name popped up in the Parkwood Secretary's Journal 1935 on September 13."Mrs McLaughlin permanent at Francois, then fitting at Ada McKenzie, then Home and School publication meeting".

So in this day and age, I googled Ada McKenzie,Toronto,women's wear.

Turns out that Adelaide was being fitted at a store for women's athletic wear, a store owned and named after Canadian golf darling, Ada McKenzie. I was shocked and ashamed that as a Canadian woman and historian I have never heard of Ada. According to the Library and Archives Canada website,
"At a time when female athletes were few and far between, Ada Mackenzie was looked on as a pioneer. Her achievements are even more remarkable taking into account the general attitude regarding the role of women in society in the first half of the 20th century. If the men's domain was the public sphere, then the women's was definitely the private sphere. If women worked outside the home, it was often while "waiting" for marriage or as a continuation of their maternal role. At that time, it was very difficult for women to promote their skills in a world still strongly dominated by men. That Ada Mackenzie succeeded in asserting herself outside these traditional spheres of activity was an accomplishment in itself and bears witness to her strength of character; that she accomplished this in the sports world was even more remarkable. As she herself said: "I started golfing when women were supposed to know more about a cook stove than a niblick".

Ada went on to win a variety of golf tournaments and titles in her life.

Furthermore, in my research on this new find, this remarkable woman, I learned that Ada inspired by what was going on in Great Britain, and in order to assist young girls and women to play golf, opened the Ladies' Golf and Tennis Club of Toronto in 1924. DING!! DING!! DING!! The brain bells sound and I start rummaging through the archives looking for the golfing images of the McLaughlins, particularly Adelaide, and daughters.

From the Parkwood Archives is a May 1935, Mayfair magazine photo of Eileen McLaughlin with Ada McKenzie, in stripes. So a quick call is made to the Ladies' Golf and Tennis Club of Toronto to see if they have an active archives, and the beginning of my email relationship with Joan, a volunteer archivist at the club who is scouring membership records for me on the McLaughlin women. So far, we can find information from the 1950s and nothing earlier, however, my feelings are, there is something more to the story and we will uncover it one day.

In the meantime, I was pleased to learn that the McLaughlin women supported Ada's business ventures by purchasing their athletic clothes at her store, a venture she began in 1930, closing its doors in 1959.

Please listen to a CBC archives recording from 1949 about Ada's golf course
http://archives.cbc.ca/sports/golf/clips/11697/

Tree Planting with Jim Flaherty and Landscape Ontario

Last week Federal Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty, planted a Canadian Sugar Maple tree near the gazebo in the cutting garden area of the Estate. This tree planting commemorates the inaugural National Tree Day September 21, a new program initiated by the federal government in conjunction with 2011 being identified as the Year of the Forest by the United Nations. The sugar maple is the first planting of the new shade garden in development for this area.

The tree planting coincided with the Landscape Ontario Board of Directors meeting that was held over two days at Parkwood. This meeting included house and garden tours where the Dunington-Grubb gardens were a highlight to this group, who recognise the importance and legacy of the husband and wife landscape design team in terms of early Canadian horticultural heritage.

As landscape designers, the Dunington-Grubbs established a practice that soon became highly successful, especially after founding a much needed nursery to provide ornamental plant material at Sheridan, Ontario, a nursery most Canadians would recognise today as Sheridan Nurseries.
Howard Burlington Grubb was born in York, England, in 1881. He obtained his B.S.A. from the Cornell School of Landscape Architecture before returning to England in 1908 to work for T.H. Mawson as an apprentice. He married another successful young landscape architect, Lorrie Alfreda Dunington, whose name he adopted.  Lorrie Alfreda Dunington-Grubb was born in 1877 in England, she attended Swanley College of Horticulture in Surrey and had founded her own private practice before her marriage in 1911. Drawn to landscape architecture by her love of floral design, she published in both English and Canadian journals and was a founding member of the Canadian Society for Landscape Architects (CSLA) in 1934 and its president in 1944.

Parkwood is fortunate to have some of the last remaining residential work of the Dunington-Grubbs at the site, specifically the Italian Garden & the Sunken Garden area.




While out on the grounds with the members of Landscape Ontario, I mentioned the McLaughlin home movies we have of the property and its evolution and I saw their eyes sparkle. Well folks, watch this space and I will be uploading various aspects of our home movies over the next while.

Consumed by paper in the archives...behind the scenes museum work

Over the last few months, we have been very lucky to have a team of volunteers; Amanda, Ashley and Nicole, working with some of the archival materials, updating collection records and in some cases continuing the accession process of items into our archival systems. The group will continue through the autumn,while other volunteers, Vivienne and Cesar, begin the digitization process of entering the records & photographs for each artefact into our new database, thanks to a grant, Museum and Technology Fund, we were successful in obtaining from the Ministry of Culture. This truly is the behind the scenes museum work that occurs at Parkwood and makes up most of my registrar duties as Curator.

Anyone who has ever visited my office has seen the paper, photographs, blueprints, etc. that often consume my desk. In recent months, due to the HVAC retrofit work that had the closet spaces in my office filled with workmen, I moved the overwhelming amounts of paper to the art gallery space (currently off the tour route), and the volunteers are continuing to use this space for their work area(s).  

This little group of diligent historians work, at their own pace, cataloguing, doing condition reports/evaluations on the items, pH testing of the paper, encapsulating when necessary, and setting aside those pieces requiring additional TLC from me. Often I hear little raps on my office door, or receive excited text messages with photos attached when something is discovered and I love that this group is enthusiastic about the collection and can see the future interpretive material in their discoveries.

I am also discovering great little finds of Canadian history as we rummage (with white gloved hands) through the paper, being introduced to characters  I have never heard of and uncovering new gems of information each day. Parkwood will be sharing these little finds over the next few weeks via our blog and I hope you find them as interesting as we do.