The 8th Hussars Museum has been selected as a recipient of the 2017 New Brunswick Day Merit Award, which is designed to provide the opportunity for the community to honour our unsung heroes and recognize achievements in six different fields of endeavor: Arts and Culture, business ,community leadership, environment, sport, recreation, active living and volunteer service.
We were chosen to receive the New Brunswick Day Merit Award for Arts and Culture, for the preservation and display of the military regiment and and connections to the community.On behalf of the Town of Sussex and Members of the Council we were invited to attend the New Brunswick Day Ceremony today for the 2017 New Brunswick Celebrations at O'Connel Park. On this special occasion , we, the Members of the 8th Hussars Museum are very honored and proud to have received the Merit Award for Arts and Culture.
We were chosen to receive the New Brunswick Day Merit Award for Arts and Culture, for the preservation and display of the military regiment and and connections to the community.On behalf of the Town of Sussex and Members of the Council we were invited to attend the New Brunswick Day Ceremony today for the 2017 New Brunswick Celebrations at O'Connel Park. On this special occasion , we, the Members of the 8th Hussars Museum are very honored and proud to have received the Merit Award for Arts and Culture.
The 8th Hussars Museum was founded in 2004 under a Memorandum of Understanding between the Town of Sussex and the Association of the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise’s) Inc. The opening of the museum was held in support of the 100th Anniversary of the Town of Sussex. The museum functions both as a museum with 3645 artefacts nationally registered and as an archive with documents dating back to 1793 and over 14,063 historical photographs scanned and saved.
The source of many of the museums numerous artefacts is the 8th Canadian Hussars (PL) regiment which is one of Canada’s oldest continually serving cavalry/armoured regiments, having been established in Kings County in 1848. The museum also has a mandate to preserve and share the history of Camp Sussex, one of the first permanent military camps established in Canada after Confederation. By focusing on these two roles, it allows the museum to provide a venue to share the rich military heritage of the southern part of the province and the many local military personnel who have volunteered to fight for peace and freedom and often paid the Supreme Sacrifice.
The museum has actively engaged with numerous partners across Canada and Internationally to better improve the quality of our displays. All artefacts received by the museum are accessioned and uploaded to the Canadian Heritage Information Network for national access, and all archive materials are registered and uploaded to the Council of Archives of New Brunswick database. Due to their efforts in digital preservation the museum was asked in 2015/2016 by CHIN to volunteer as a trial archive to develop a nationally accepted standard for digital preservation of photographs for small museums. This very successful trial resulted in the development of a national preservation policy and plan that was provided to all small museums in Canada. Other programs of note include the development of “The Story of Camp Sussex, A Century of Service to Canada” which is available nationally on the CHIN Virtual Museum and our support to the Faces to Graves project currently underway in the Netherlands which is attempting to put a face to every soldier’s head stone in that countries Canadian War Graves. This program came about due to the museums efforts in supporting the Twinning of Towns between Sussex and Tynarloo NL celebrating the anniversary of the end of WW II and the subsequent presentation of a gold medal to the Regiment in 1952.
The 8th Hussars Museum is operated by museum committee of 10 volunteer members and an additional six volunteers assist in planning, development and construction of new displays.
The museum has actively engaged with numerous partners across Canada and Internationally to better improve the quality of our displays. All artefacts received by the museum are accessioned and uploaded to the Canadian Heritage Information Network for national access, and all archive materials are registered and uploaded to the Council of Archives of New Brunswick database. Due to their efforts in digital preservation the museum was asked in 2015/2016 by CHIN to volunteer as a trial archive to develop a nationally accepted standard for digital preservation of photographs for small museums. This very successful trial resulted in the development of a national preservation policy and plan that was provided to all small museums in Canada. Other programs of note include the development of “The Story of Camp Sussex, A Century of Service to Canada” which is available nationally on the CHIN Virtual Museum and our support to the Faces to Graves project currently underway in the Netherlands which is attempting to put a face to every soldier’s head stone in that countries Canadian War Graves. This program came about due to the museums efforts in supporting the Twinning of Towns between Sussex and Tynarloo NL celebrating the anniversary of the end of WW II and the subsequent presentation of a gold medal to the Regiment in 1952.
The 8th Hussars Museum is operated by museum committee of 10 volunteer members and an additional six volunteers assist in planning, development and construction of new displays.