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i Province lauds community historians By FRANCES L. DENNEV Record Women's Editor It’s taken 32 years, but Ontario government profes- sional historical researchers have finally recognized the efforts of the amateurs -â€" the hundreds of Women’s Institute community history curators. Wednesday, at the 3lst annu- al Ontario W1 Officers Confer- ence at the University of Waterloo, the organization was invited to form a working committee to work with the Heritage Administration branch of the ministry of culture and recreation. David Roberts, research co- ordinator with the branch, told the 600 conference delegates that he, as a professional historian, believes very stron- gly that the wt Needsmuir Community histories provide an excellent, if not the best, means for recording local his- tones. .Kflco-‘enep \ Wai‘erlooh Reco rci May 3, The WI effort, which began in 1947 at the urging of Lady Susan ’I‘weedsmuir, wife of novelist-historian John Buchan who was Canada’s govemor- general from 1935 to 1940. is one of the longest running historical projects in Ontario. It was in 1936 that Lady Tweedsmuir, herself a memâ€" ber and county president of the W1 in Oxfordshire, England, first recognized the need for preserving the history of , a nation. She especially believed that the history of each local community should be pre- served through comprehen- sive, factual collection of data. She was aware that there was a need to pass on one generation‘s knowledge and perspectives to the next, and because the community WI was an acknowledged steady- ing influence, she believed its members would be able to ISM? provide future historians with an accurate picture of rural life through its compilation of histories. The Federated WI of Ontario took up the project in 1947 to mark the 50m anniver- sary of the founding of the WI. Rubens. a native of West-g port, a small village north of Kingston, said he ‘found a 'I‘weedsrnuir history there, and while it was incomplete and somewhat inaccurate, it still stimulated his interest in be- coming a professional histori- an. After the Second World War, he said, there was stimulus to, preserve the past of commtu-ii- ties, and the more recent and rapid rise in “local historical root” is nothing new. It had its roots in WI preservation of community histories. He recalled that the W1 in Clinton lamented in 1950 the absence of first-hand infer-ma. Thirty-First Annual tion about that community, and its history â€" one of the. first publications of WI- gathered histories â€" it pointed out that its dates were copied from early data that may not necessarily have been accu-_ rate. In the past year, Roberts said, there has been “a tie mendous upsurge in work by historical societies. architec- tural conservationists, muse- ums, and genealogy groups," and among it the work by WI community history curators will become increasingly rec, ognized. The quality of-the W1 com- munity histories may vary greatly, he said, keeping in mind the difficulties inherent in obtaining information, in- terpreting it and assessing its value. He said he was in no sense advocating standards which would intimidate WI members who have a sincere interest in their communities’ unique his- tories, but he was pleased that the organization had produced in 1973 a manual for compiling Tweedsmuir histories. His proposal that the ‘WI form a working committee to work with the Heritage Ad- ministration branch, dealing solely with’the 'l‘weedsmuir histories, brought loud ap- plause from the conference delegates. The branch would assist the WI in defining standards of research among other things, he said. The provincial government “ has asststed the WI curators by nucrofilming material, and the Archives of Ontario now has 68 microfilm reels contain- ing several hundred local his- [Dries r,â€" OFFICERS’ CONFERENCE gfi'eheratfit Women’s Enetituiea of @niarin MAY 1, 2, and 3, 1979 AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO WATERLOO, ONTARIO THEME: “Each generation ‘r‘nakes its own accounling to its children . (Robert F. Kennedy) OFFICERS' CONFERENCE: A Provincial getâ€"together providing leadership and inspiration t0 specific Officers of our Organization (one per Branch, District, or Area) by discussion, pooling of suggestions, and informed speakers. BRANCH Tweedsmuir History Curators or Members~ai~iarge DISTRICT Tweedsmuir History Curators AREA Tweedsmuir History Curators