The Ontario Historical Society is pleased to present the 2021-22 Dorothy Duncan Public History Award to The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum for their Millworkers’ Staircase and Riverwalk project. The Dorothy Duncan Public History Award is presented to an outstanding public history project delivered in Ontario.
The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, in partnership with the Municipality of Mississippi Mills Council, put considerable effort into planning, coordinating, and executing this complex project that incorporates public infrastructure, historical interpretation, and public art to enhance the municipal heritage landmark. Completed in August of 2021, the project includes twenty interpretive historic panels along Almonte’s scenic Riverwalk, as well as a new workers’ sidewalk and, for modern safety requirements, a steel staircase that pays homage to the historic route used by workers of the No.1 Rosamond Woolen Mill.
The project is inspiring and embodies the power of place we discuss so often in the public history field. To walk the route the workers trod 150 years ago on a daily basis the local citizens and visitors can gain a greater contextual understanding of what life was like for textile mill workers. Encountering the interpretation and thought-inspiring public art enables the viewers to have an experiential, emotional, and educational connection to the past.
It is inspiring to see such public-private partnership projects completed that further our historical knowledge for the good of all. The Honours and Awards Committee is proud to present the 2021-22 Dorothy Duncan Public History Award to the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum.
