The Chilliwack Museum and Historical Society is a registered non-profit society that operates the Chilliwack Museum and Archives located in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada.
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History
The community of Chilliwack first considered developing a museum in 1956, as a project to celebrate the town's centennial year, 1958. Residents whose ancestors were pioneers in the area, including Judge Allan Guinet, Oliver Wells, Earl McLeod, Mary Hickman, E.H. Patriquin, took the lead.
The first museum in Chilliwack opened in March 1958 by the trustees of the Chilliwack Historical Society, and was housed in a room provided by Chilliwack city council in the police building on Nowell Street North.
In 1960 the museum was moved to a room in the local library. In 1971 another centennial celebration led to the museum moving into Evergreen Hall; it was renamed the Wells Centennial Museum.
In 1981 the Society was granted use of the former City Hall building on Spadina Avenue. The museum exhibits and administrative operations began to operate out of the new site, while the archives and collections continued to be based out of Evergreen Hall. The archives were expanded in 2011 to Evergreen Hall which doubled the amount of storage space for the archive and object collections.
In 2013 the archives received a donation of about 400,000 photographs and negatives taken between 1948 and 2006 by a local photographic business. The museum also provided bus tours during the Chilliwack High School reunion.
In 2014 the museum provided resources for and helped to develop a local history effort, the Chilliwack Poppy Project. That year the museum grounds were the site of an anti-abortion protest, which spilled over to the nearby Cenotaph.
Regular activities
The museum delivers heritage and cultural school programs, operates an archives, performs research services, publishes community history books, contributes and consults on culture and heritage projects, acquires and cares for thousands of artifacts, develop exhibitions, performs outreach activities and makes heritage, history and culture accessible to the community.
Operation
In 2014 the Museum and Historical Society board of trustees is responsible for the operation of the museum and archives. The museum's director oversees the work of four full-time and one part-time staff members as well as about 20 museum and archives volunteers. The Society is a member of the BC Museums Association and the Canadian Museums Association, and receives funding from the federal, provincial and municipal governments.