Chair

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the QEMA community for your partnership, support, and donations over the past year and a half. With the generosity of our membership, local residents and sponsors, and Friends of QEMA, Quinte Educational Museum and Archives continues to develop and meet the needs of our growing community, in keeping with our mission statement as outlined in the letters patent April 1978. Now with the restoration of our century-old Victoria Schoolhouse complete, and with a substantial Outreach program in place to support the Ontario Curriculum, in addition to public accessibility to the Schoolhouse, we are focusing on the Archives and Museum component of our mission statement. To this end, we are completing our database to include all pictures, documents, and books in order to make retrieval fast and accurate. The archives are a valuable source of primary documents relating to the development of early education in Prince Edward County within the context of the overall provincial directives as outlined by the Ministry of Education. Please visit our Archives this summer while we have full-time summer staff to assist you.

In addition to the considerable focus on the time period of the one-room schoolhouses 1800-1966, we are also wanting to collect data on the last 50 years. With the closing of the North Marysburgh Central School last year and the closing of the South Marysburgh Central School this year, we are reminded time is of the essence to ensure we are creating a living history that reflects the changes in societal needs of this century. The community of the South Marysburgh Central School has initiated the collection of data to document a history of that educational community 1960-2010. In partnership with QEMA, they are intending to collect documents, pictures, and memories that will tell the story of education 1800-1960 as well.

I am pleased to report that The Saga of the One-Room Schoolhouse will be in book stores this summer. QEMA's second publication written and illustrated by the Late Nellie Montgomery, Helen Tompkins, and me, considers the development of education in Ontario and Ameliasburgh Township, outlining the roles of all the stakeholders in education, and the first-hand accounts and memories of those people who remember education in Ontario in its early stages of development.

The costs associated with publication are large and for this reason I appeal to all people interested in preserving history in print for future generations, to help us with publication costs. All such donations, if earmarked publication, will be set aside for this purpose and a receipt for income taxes issued. In addition, we have the history of North Marysburgh in the first stages of completion.

Finally, I continue to thank Board members and volunteers who willingly and tirelessly contribute considerable volunteers hours of expertise to the mission of QEMA.

Dan Rainey

QEMA President 2006-2010

QEMA Historian 2003-2010