The volume of historical material makes hiring a part-time curator an idea whose time has come, says the Wellesley Township Heritage and Historical Society. The group wants to spend the money at the Heritage Room, located in the old school on Henry Street in Wellesley Village.
“We have started to receive all kinds of extra artifacts being donated to the room, and we need to start to document those and organize them,” said Ron Hackett, the organization’s chair.
Council this week approved putting up to $285 per month for the next six months towards the hiring of a curator, with the money to come from the Koehler estate fund, which was left to the township for historical society purposes.
In 2007, the township received a bequest from Jack Koehler, a Kitchener man whose great-grandparents had settled in Wellesley Township. The township received an initial payment of $340,000, and then another $15,000 when the estate was settled.
The new curator would work only two days per month, five hours per day at a rate of $19 per hour. Training for the new employee would be facilitated by Derek Cooke and Lian Goodall, the curators who originally organized the Heritage Room but are not able to continue working there as they are planning to move, explained Hackett.
The responsibilities of the curator may include cataloguing new acquisitions and donations to the collection, ensuring the proper storage of photographs and archival objects takes place, cleaning and preventative maintenance of the collection, developing and installing new exhibits and other duties as assigned.
The position will be advertised on the Township of Wellesley’s website and qualified applicants who submit proposals will be interviewed at a later date.
