Collections Function
One of the primary functions of any museum is to collect. It is the objective of the Antigonish Heritage Museum to add artefacts and archival materials that will reflect our community, its people, its history, to more clearly tell our stories.
Many factors are considered when evaluating items being added to the Museum’s collection.
- Provenance – Chronology and history of the object
- Associations with significant event, individual, business, community, organization
- Condition of the item; Storage and Care needs
- Size of the item –Weight and dimensions
- Displayabiility; Uniqueness; Age
It is recommended that persons wishing to donate items to the Antigonish Heritage Museum, they should inform our Acquisitions Committee of their plans. For whatever reason, some items may not be ideal for our needs; we may be able to direct your gift to another organization. Inquire about the availability of Tax receipts.
NovaMuse
The material culture collections of the Antigonish Heritage Museum are varied ; artifact descriptions can be accessed through the NOVAMUSE database. As a work in progress we strive to add, improve and update records on a continuing basis. Use the search bar and add the search term “Antigonish” to your query to search specifically for items in our collections. https://www.novamuse.ca/
Resource Library
Our resource library contains published and unpublished books and manuscripts including school, church, and community histories, biographies and much more. There are photographs, school registers, maps, newspapers, cemetery inscriptions. many reference materials and finding aids.
Of special interest is a survey of older buildings within the Town and County of Antigonish which documents homes and buildings constructed pre 1914. The inventory includes a photo, description of architectural elements; historical commentary and references to previous owners.
MemoryNS
The Antigonish Heritage Museum houses a wide ranging mix of archival materials; fonds descriptions are being prepared for MemoryNS. A more complete record of these descriptions is available at the Antigonish Heritage Museum. A very small sampling of items within the collection can be found on-line through the Council of Nova Scotia Archives Community Albums project. A link is found here https://novascotia.ca/archives/communityalbums/ Archival descriptions can be found on MemoryNS https://memoryns.ca/
Nova Scotia Archives Community Albums
Antigonish Heritage Museum on the Council of Nova Scotia Community Albums page. Click on the “Virtual Exhibit” to the right of the photo. https://novascotia.ca/archives/communityalbums/Antigonish/