by Michael Rikley Lancaster
In preparing the current Remembrance Day exhibit, “Almonte Mills at War,” volunteers and staff at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum combed the recently digitized files of the Almonte Gazette for material. They were thrilled to find an article about the Rosamond Honor Roll—an artifact mentioned by many but never seen by museum staff.
According to the article from the August 17, 1917 issue of the Gazette, the company prepared a list of all the employees who had enlisted, together with the branch of service in which they served and those who had lost their lives. Two copies of the Roll were made: one to hang in the President’s office, the other to hang in the mill. The article states that the roll is “a beautiful piece of workmanship and in after years will be looked upon by many with deep interest … some with thankfulness …, some with sadness…, and all with pride.” Fortunately, the article reproduces the names listed on the Roll, but where are the two original framed documents? We would love to see these originals.
If you have any information about the current location of the Rosamond Woolen Company’s Roll of Honor, please contact Michael Rikley-Lancaster at 613 256-3754, Ext. 7 or at curator@mvtm.ca.
