Want to know what kind of gems are stored in the collection and rarely get to be displayed? Now is your chance to find out as the Langley Centennial Museum’s new exhibit take a look back at the history of the museum’s collection.
The museum, located in historic Fort Langley, is one of the oldest community museums in the province. Its collection was originally established through the efforts of the Native Sons of B.C.
After purchasing the last remaining Hudson’s Bay Company fort building, the storehouse, from the pioneer Mavis family, the Native Sons collected artifacts from the Langley area that related to its pre-contact and post-contact history and exhibited them there.
Part of this early assortment of artifacts became the basis for the museum’s collection when it opened in 1958. The remaining items stayed at the Fort Langley National Historic Site.
While early collecting reflected the community’s HBC and pioneering past, it also gathered the exotic. Much like a trip around the world visiting a museum allowed people to view things they might not have otherwise had the opportunity to see.
Later, the collection grew to include more artifacts that were examples of pioneer life, but often the age and look of the item was more relevant than the actual connection to Langley’s history.
In later decades, gaps in the collection were filled — sometime for exhibit purposes — and the collection continued to grow in local relevance.
What is collected today reflects the community’s history and the present.
The public is invited to come by to see some of the interesting, unique, and beautiful items the Langley Centennial Museum has collected over the last 57 years. Highlights include beautifully embroidered silk Chinese jackets dating from the Qing dynasty, family Bibles that belonged to some of Langley’s earliest pioneering families, collections of art, including contemporary pieces in the collection by Suzanne Northcott and Phyllis Atkins, highlights from the photograph collection, N’laka’pamux baskets dating from the late 19th century, and beautifully illustrated pages noting Langley Prairie and Fort Langley’s May Queens from the 1930s.
Admission is, as always, by voluntary donation. Contact the museum a 604-532-3536 for more details.
