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Erland Lee (Museum) Home

Owned and maintained by the Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario

The Erland Lee (Musuem) Home would like to announce we are the benefactors of the 2024 Canada Summer Jobs grant.

From June 25th until the end of August Aubrey Whittaker will be assisting at the museum as an Assistant Museum Curator.

Here are some words from Aubrey herself

Hello everyone and thank you for having me at the FWIO and the Erland Lee (Museum) Home! My name is Aubrey Whittaker and I am excited to be working with you and learning more about the Lee family and their connections to shaping Canadian history. I completed a Bachelor of Science in archaeology and anthropology at the University of Toronto at Victoria College. My time as an undergraduate in Toronto was filled with hands-on learning exploring human history, a varsity fencing gold medal, scuba lessons, and some very uncoordinated swing dancing classes. Continuing my journey into studying the health and wellness of human skeletons took me overseas to York, England for a master's degree. I finished a Master of Science in funerary archaeology in 2022, focusing on historical health, blunt force trauma, and unusual burial preparation and treatment from the Viking Age Northern Europe. While in England I embarked on many adventures including almost getting stranded on the island of Lindisfarne and becoming a Guinness World Record participant for the largest gathering of (humans dressed as) vampires in the world at Whitby Abbey.

Intending to continue my education for a PhD in Canada, I want to expand on an overlooked section of historical individuals; the enslaved and low social status people of the Medieval Viking era. My archaeological field experience had me traveling globally and exploring different facets of human existence, from the oldest location of wine-making in the world at an 8,000-year-old settlement in the country of Georgia, to a Victorian-era prison in Ireland and discovering ancient human origins in the Crawl of Humankind in South Africa. My previous experience in the field focused on the excavation, examination, and preparation of archaeological materials while at the Erland Lee (Museum) Home, I am excited to continue the artifact's life journey at their final destination in collections and museum settings.

The goal of the Assistant Curator position at FWIO/Erland Lee Museum

My goal for my time at the FWIO/Erland Lee (Museum) Home is to continue practicing research and development skills, behind-the-science experiences of museum collections, resume building, continuing teaching experience, and having reliable references. My prevailing plan is to start applications for PhD programs for the upcoming application period in the fall. My end career goal is to be a professor of archaeology. My time at the Erland Lee (Museum) Home will help to gain as much experience as possible in educational teaching, public speaking, and presentation skills as well as practical job experience in metadata creation, database generating, and research skills. I am excited to work with the materials behind the scenes in a collection and preservation setting. From my previous work experiences management has either moved to other positions and is unreachable or has not responded when new employers are checking references. Continuing to build a reference database for both career and academic purposes is a goal.

The Erland Lee (Museum) Home is a National Historic Site of Canada. The museum recounts the history of the Lee family, who built and lived in the home from 1808 until 1970; of the Stoney Creek community; and of the Women's Institute, which was founded in the home's dining room on February 25, 1897. Named Edgemont by the Lee family, the Lee home is a beautiful example of an 1870's carpenter gothic revival architecture, situated on the Niagara Escarpment.

The Museum is open for walk-in tours on Fridays and Saturdays from 11:00 am - 4:00pm, or any day by appointment.

The museum grounds are open for public use from April through November each year.