Times are a changin’ for folk museum

Armidale Folk Museum is changing its opening hours from this Monday to encourage more lunchtime visitors.

The new hours, 11am to 2pm seven days a week, will make it easier for people to drop into the museum during their lunch break or stop by while shopping in the mall.

The museum, on the corner of Rusden Street and Faulkner Street, has been operating since 1933 to enable residents and visitors to connect with the region’s history. 

In addition to its permanent collection, the museum is currently exhibiting memorabilia from local events surrounding the signing of the Armistice ending World War I on 11 November 1918. Photographs of local peace parades and jubilation sit alongside clothing that shows how the Great War changed fashion.

The exhibition continues until 3 February 2019, with a short break from 24 December to  2 January while the museum closes for the Christmas Period.

Council provided full sponsorship for the museum when it first opened and now runs the facility as part of its cultural activities.

“The museum closed during World War II, so the building could be used for more pressing purposes,” Interim Museum Team Leader Hayley Ward said.

“When peace was restored, the museum was revived largely through the personal enthusiasm of the late Eric Dunlop, Senior Lecturer in History and Social Science at the Armidale Teachers’ College.

“It was officially reopened in the old Literary Institute building in October 1958 by the then Minister for Education, Mr D. H. Drummond.”

The displays have since been extended due to the generosity of local residents who have donated historically significant objects, Ms Ward said.

Published on 11 Dec 2018