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Community Group 2024 recap - The Marsh Collection Society

Writer's picture: Special to the RTTSpecial to the RTT
A new window vinyl was installed at the Marsh Collection Society’s office at 80 Richmond St. in 2024.
A new window vinyl was installed at the Marsh Collection Society’s office at 80 Richmond St. in 2024.

At the Marsh Collection Society, we strive to preserve our community heritage by actively sharing and raising awareness of the town of Amherstburg’s significant history. 


Since our founding in 1983, we have been able to grow and make an impact. This has been possible through donations of physical artifacts and ephemera from personal collections, generous monetary donations from patrons, and volunteers who have contributed their valuable time and knowledge. We thank the Amherstburg community for their continued support. 


This past year saw some important anniversaries at the Marsh Collection Society. Oct. 12 marked 30 years since our local history centre first opened at its original location at 235 Dalhousie St. We are named after the Marsh family: parents Arthur and Bessie, and their children John and Helen. The Marshes owned and operated The Amherstburg Echo newspaper, and had the foresight to begin a local history collection, which now forms the heart of our repository. Nov. 20 marked the 150th Anniversary of publication of the first issue of The Amherstburg Echo, which continues to be one of the most important sources of information about the history of the town. 


Our major exhibits for 2024 were “Boats in the ‘Burg: A River Town History,” and a display of the works of local artist Benjamin Lapierre (1866-1911). We participated in community events including the Amherstburg Art Crawl and Windsor-Essex Jane’s Walk Festival. 


New programs including the Heritage Passport and monthly trivia nights were launched. 


Our continued partnership with the River Town Times allows us to share images from the collection in the biweekly “Memories of Yesterday” feature, and the newly formed Amherstburg Living magazine publishes a monthly article highlighting a select theme from the town’s history. 


We have many plans for 2025. We are working towards making the collection available online to improve public access. Scanning and photographing the collection takes up a large portion of our time, and we have volunteers and students to thank for their assistance with this initiative. 


We are focusing on offering workshops and developing a walking tour program. Our 2025 exhibit will feature Brunner Mond Canada Ltd., later known as Allied Chemical and General Chemical, an industry that has left a lasting impact on the town. We continue to conduct oral history interviews, to preserve personal recollections of living and working in Amherstburg. 


What would you like to see from the Marsh Collection Society in 2025?


—Submitted by Meg Reiner from the Marsh Collection Society

Community Group 2024 recap - The Marsh Collection Society

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