To promote the history of Oxford County in South-Western Ontario
This guest post is provided by Oxford County Library.
Please join Oxford County Library on Saturday, April 24, 2021 as they celebrate Oxford Local History Day through social media. Connect with them on their Facebook page to view presentations from the Oxford Historical Society, Oxford County Library, Oxford County Archives, Zorra Heritage Committee, Ingersoll History Book Launch and many other organizations.
Join Oxford County Archivist Liz Dommasch and Archives Technician Megan Lockhart for an evening with the Archives. Liz and Megan will be discussing the variety of programs and services the Archives offers to their patrons and community members.
The Oxford County Archives is the official repository for archival records created by, for and about Oxford County including municipal and community records from community organizations, businesses, personal archival collections, schools, churches, and more. The Archives offers a variety of research services and has a reference library available for patrons who are looking for family history information or information on the general history of Oxford County. Staff at the Archives also provide basic conservation services and have developed a variety of educational and public programs which allows members of the Oxford County community to learn about local heritage and culture, and engage with archival collections.
The Oxford County Archives’ website contains a number of online exhibits about local history, educational resources for teachers, students, and families, as well as fun interactive activity pages and online puzzles: www.oxfordcounty.ca/archives. Learn more about what the Archives is and what they do with guest speakers Liz and Megan.
Join the Oxford Historical Society and the Oxford County Archives for a Zoom meeting on Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 6:30pm.
The Zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81906248857
For all Zoom meetings use this ID#: 81906248857, no password is required.
The Zoom link will open approximately 10 minutes before the start time of a meeting
Join Oxford County Archivist Liz Dommasch and Archives Technician Megan Lockhart for an evening with the Archives. Liz and Megan will be discussing the variety of programs and services the Archives offers to their patrons and community members.
The Oxford County Archives is the official repository for archival records created by, for and about Oxford County including municipal and community records from community organizations, businesses, personal archival collections, schools, churches, and more. The Archives offers a variety of research services and has a reference library available for patrons who are looking for family history information or information on the general history of Oxford County. Staff at the Archives also provide basic conservation services and have developed a variety of educational and public programs which allows members of the Oxford County community to learn about local heritage and culture, and engage with archival collections.
The Oxford County Archives’ website contains a number of online exhibits about local history, educational resources for teachers, students, and families, as well as fun interactive activity pages and online puzzles: www.oxfordcounty.ca/archives. Learn more about what the Archives is and what they do with guest speakers Liz and Megan.
Join the Oxford Historical Society and the Oxford County Archives for a Zoom meeting on Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 6:30pm.
The Zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81906248857
For all Zoom meetings use this ID#: 81906248857, no password is required.
The Zoom link will open approximately 10 minutes before the start time of a meeting
Dear Members,
As President of the Oxford Historical Society, I would like to introduce the Executive Board for 2021:
These are the same people who served in 2020 with the same vacancy in the Vice President’s position. We do encourage members to nominate someone who would be willing to serve on the Board.
While 2020 was a difficult year due to Covid-19, we are hoping for a better 2021.
Since we are unable to hold in person meetings at this time, your board is working towards offering presenters via Zoom. We hope to have the first of many public meetings in March.
Even though the Society had to scale back operations, we were able to respond to numerous research questions, produce 4 Pattullo Press newsletters, and keep in touch with our members through our blog. We will continue to do so during 2021.
In 2021 we hope to publish a new book and possibly republish an old favourite! In keeping with the modern times, we are looking at offering some of our publications as eBooks.
It was decided that over the next few years we will look at digitizing our collection and allocate the holdings to other appropriate organizations, with the goal of eliminating the Resource Centre. This decision was based on several factors – not enough volunteers to staff the centre, the expense of maintaining the centre (in excess of $6000.00 annually between rent and insurance), and there are now other organizations better suited to maintaining an archival collection like the Woodstock Museum, NHS and the Oxford County Archives.
Even without the Resource Centre the Society will still participate in events like the Spirit of Christmas Tour of Homes, publish member’s works, organize speaking events, publish the Pattullo Press, respond to inquiries and perform many other functions as we do now.
The Society is continuing to research grant and funding opportunities. In the past we have received grants from the City of Woodstock, the Federal government, and Oxford Community Foundation.
We will keep you informed. Do keep in touch with us and other Historical Society members.
Kathie Richards
The Oxford Historical Society would like to thank the Canadian Heritage Museum Assistance Grant Program for the generous grant that we received. This grant will be used in maintaining our Resource Centre, which is home to a large number of documents and records relating to Oxford County.
Along with the Canadian Heritage Grant the Society also receives grants from other organizations like Oxford Community Foundation and the City of Woodstock. These grants enable us to publish books, bring in guest speakers, hold special events like the Christmas Tour of Homes, and take part in many activities throughout the year.
The Society throughout the year works with many different organizations to bring about various events and publications. The Pattullo Press newsletter is published with the Woodstock Museum, NHS, as were the books Quizzical History and Defined Under Pressure. Together with the WERC centre we offer a Person’s Day celebration, an event held in mid-October to honour women being recognized as Persons and therefore could sit in Canada’s Senate. Tours and teas with the Woodstock Public Library and Château la Motte.
There are many more examples of how the Society and other local organizations have worked together to bring events and share local history with the residents of Oxford County. In honour of these associations a new page was added to our website: Community Partners & Sponsors page!