North Peace Historical Society celebrating 60th anniversary

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – The North Peace Historical Society is celebrating its 60th anniversary with the presence of past executive members.

Past president Larry Evans and past curator Susan Birley will be at the celebration on Friday to share the organization’s rich history.

There will be cake and guided tours of the collection’s storage area after a presentation, or guests can choose to explore the Fort St. John North Peace Museum free of cost. 

Since opening in February of 1984, the present museum tells the tale of the North Peace through its exhibits, tours and events. 

The society, which operates the museum, was founded in September 1963. The group was formed in the home of Frank and Marguerite Davies, where they were joined by other citizens interested in the region’s history. 

The group decided to call themselves the North Peace Historical Society since they defined their history as being north of the Peace River. 

The organization has been responsible for the conservation and recollection of historical artifacts ever since, as well as creating awareness of the importance of remembering the past.

Current curator Heather Sjoblom thinks it’s unbelievable how far the society has come since its formation. 

“They’ve undergone many changes and different versions of the museum until this one was built in 1984. It just speaks to the dedication of the volunteers that make up the society,” said Sjoblom. 

Sjoblom emphasized the importance of the society’s volunteers and congratulated them on keeping the organization running for so long. 

The NPHS currently has about twenty-five volunteers who work on a monthly basis, but last year, the society had about ninety-eight volunteers who put in around 3,736 hours of work. 

The society also has members who are unable to physically volunteer due to their age. 

“I’ve been here since 2011, and honestly, this society is amazing. They’re great to work for, it’s part of the reason I’m still here. They’re fantastic volunteers, and they take on all sorts of amazing projects,” said Sjoblom, “They volunteer in the archives with our gift shop, events and fundraisers, they’re the ones who help restore historic buildings and do all the maintenance and groundskeeping around here. It’s an incredible organization, and I’m really honoured to work for them.”

The society and the museum have hit important milestones throughout the years that have solidified their presence as a great asset to the community. Most importantly, the transition from the Peace Island Park Museum to the Alaska Highway Museum in 1982 and the opening of the current museum in 1984.  

Many items found at the museum are valuable sources of information, and the organization’s mission is not only to preserve but to make history accessible to the public. For example, the NPHS has been collecting and scanning historical newspapers for about 50 years.

“We do a lot of programs for schools and for kids and families as well as adults and seniors. That allows us to share different parts of our history and connect with people. We’re such a transient community — it’s nice to be able to hook them in and get them to learn more about our history in different ways,” said Sjoblom

Past President Larry Evans says that the society has come a long way since its beginning. 

“We’ve come a long way from when I started. We’ve had more acquisitions into the museum. When we were smaller, we didn’t have room for them, but items kept showing up, and we started storing them in shipping containers or wherever we could. We’re leaps and bounds from where we were before,” said Evans.

Evans, winner of the Citizen of the Year Award in 1993 and president of the organization throughout the 90s, mentions that the biggest change between the society in the past and now is community engagement. 

“We have documentary nights, Halloween nights, kids nights, our cemetery tours, and that’s how we’re getting more into the public. But we’re also a lot more organized behind the scenes,” said Evans, “We didn’t have the wherewithal to do all this before because we didn’t have the room and we didn’t have the volunteers.”

Another important aspect behind the growth has been the important relationships with other organizations in the community. Evans says having displays at places like the airport and the hospital foundation helps to expand their message of conservation and learning.

“We preserve history, and there’s a lot of it as it goes along. It’s preserving our mandate, our mission. To preserve history for the younger generations. It’s important to show them because a lot of them don’t understand why we’re here or where we’ve been,” said Evans.

 “If you don’t know where you’ve been, you don’t know where you’re going.” 

The 60th-anniversary event will take place at 7 p.m. on September 22nd at North Peace Museum.

For more information, visit the NPHS website.