The Humboldt and District Museum and Gallery celebrated Archive Week by shining a spotlight on five local churches.
The museum celebrated the exhibit on Feb. 8 with their Archive Week open house. St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church, St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the Living Word Church, and the Westminister United Church are currently on display on the third floor of the museum.
Museum supervisor Jean Price says that archive week is a chance for the museum to display their many archive items that are too fragile to consistently have on display.
This is the second partnership that the museum has had with the faith communities of Humboldt with the Humboldt Churches Open Doors Day in 2016.
While that event focused on the buildings, says Price, this year they wanted to tell the stories of the Humboldt churches and the people.
The project gave the faith communities “the opportunity to identify what they themselves want to share.”
Fr. Joseph Salihu with St. Augustine says we have a connection to people who are no longer part of the community.
“A project like this gives us the ability to remember that we are part of a group of people that have gone before us.”
Their historic role as contributors to the community are important for people to remember, says Rev. Matteo Carboni with St. Andrew’s.
Some of Humboldt’s churches have been around for over 100 years and new immigrants at the turn of the century relied heavily on their faith communities for comfort in times of isolation and difficult times.
“It brought with them a sense of home, and allowed them to adapt to a new situation and a difficult situation to living on the prairies,” says Carboni.
Putting the exhibit together has also allowed the faith communities to build that relationship with the Museum as well as each other, he says.
“For us, that’s why it was important is we get to work with some of our partners in the community, build new relationships, and also explore our own paths.”
It is so beautiful to see all the churches working together, says Salihu.
“It gives us a sense of togetherness,” says Salihu as well as giving the churches a place in the public space, something they are losing as time goes on.
“The church may not be as visible but it is still a part of the public square and public conversation.”
Archive Week ran Feb. 6-10 with assistance from Saskatchewan Lotteries and Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists.
A lot of the photos involved in the exhibit are contemporary photos that the museum staff will work on digitizing. If anyone has historical pictures or documents that they would like to contribute to the museum, please call Price at (306) 682-5226.
