A meeting
to establish the Wolfville Historical Society was first held in August,
1941 at the home of Mrs. Charles Wright. Rosamund DeWolfe Archibald
and others were concerned about the proposed demolition of the historic
Thomas Andrew Strange DeWolf house, built in 1817, on the northeast corner
of Main Street and Gaspereau Avenue. The house, in addition to its
connection with one of the Town's founding families, contained a room displaying
the beautiful pictorial wallpaper said to have been given to Judge Elisha
DeWolf by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, as a wedding gift for his son, Thomas
Andrew Strange DeWolf.
Through
the efforts of the members (among them Mayor W.K. Fraser, president;
Rosamund Archibald, secretary; photographer Edson Graham, vice-president;
professor J.I. Mosher, treasurer; with the Reverend C.H. Johnson,
Dr. Ronald S. Longley, Miss D.A. West, and Wolfville Acadian editor H.P.
Davidson) the DeWolf House was saved for six years, and operated as a town
museum with Mrs. May (Prat) Starr acting as curator. Members
and friends from near and far loaned artifacts for summer exhibits, and
donated portraits, textiles, furniture and books which still form the nucleus
of the museum collection.
When
the Wolfville Fruit Company required the land on which the DeWolf
house stood, it offered the house to the Society on the condition that
it be moved off the site. This proved to be too expensive and the
Society, with the help of the Nova Scotia government, procured the Randall
House instead. The Wolfville Historical Society was incorporated
in 1947 and opened the new museum two years later.
Former
presidents of the Wolfville Historical Society have made significant contributions
to the museum and the community. A yearly history prize is awarded
to a graduating student of the Horton District High School in memory of
Doctor Watson Kirkconnell, President of Acadia University. The Society's
memorial foundation, instigated by Robbins Elliott, has compiled a handsome
memorial book commemorating outstanding citizens of the town.
The Rev. James D. Davison edited the first town history," Mud Creek" and
produced "What Mean these Stones" a record of the old burying ground
at the foot of Highland Avenue. Several other members of the Society
write and publish regularly on historical topics.
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