What's On

Feature Exhibitions

Be Prepared: Guiding and Scouting in Oshawa

Opening late September 2023, Be Prepared tells the vibrant history of Guiding and Scouting and its legacy in Oshawa.

Archival photographs of units, camps, and local landmarks, uniforms through the years, private collections, and memories shared by the community bring the history of guiding and scouting to life.

Thank you to our exhibit sponsors:

From Ship to Shore: Exploring Oshawa's Relationship with Lake Ontario

Oshawa has a unique maritime perspective that often goes unnoticed and underappreciated. For centuries, the waterways of Lake Scugog, Oshawa Creek, and Lake Ontario have provided Indigenous Peoples and settlers with a natural navigation system and the backdrop for the commercial, agricultural, and residential development that would later become the city of Oshawa. From Ship to Shore: Looking at Oshawa's Relationship with Lake Ontario celebrates the city's port history, the marine industry, and contributes to an overall sense of pride in being part of a port city.

Oshawa’s waterfront has more than two centuries of stories to tell, from hunting and fishing, ship building, trade, railways, steamboats, pleasure crafts and ocean-going vessels. The waterfront and specifically the Oshawa Harbour have played an important role in the settling of our area, and continues that function as a vital element of the City's growth and economic development today.

Visit From Ship to Shore's Digital Exhibit via Digital Museums Canada

Visit the Digital ExhibitVisit the Digital Exhibit

From Ship to Shore is developed with an investment by Digital Museums Canada.

A Carrying Place

A Carrying Place is on display in Robinson House. This immersive exhibit connects our community with their past, embraces the present Indigenous community, and builds towards a spirit of reconciliation and partnership.

A Carrying Place showcases objects recovered from the Grandview and MacLeod archeological sites and interprets the culture of the ancestral Wendat that lived in this area from 1380 – 1450 CE, and it examines the arrival and impact of European immigrants. This exhibition looks at the Indigenous community today, featuring displays from partner organizations, including the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nations, the Oshawa and Durham Region Métis Council, and the Durham District School Board.

Feature Events

Apr

April 6 - Oshawa Museum at Purple Woods

Look for Oshawa Museum staff at the annual Purple Woods Maple Syrup Festival, hosted by Central Lake Ontario Conservation Area. We will be in Heritage Hall sharing information about the Scugog Carrying Place Trail.

April 7 - Show & Share: Paper Items

1-3pm, Drop-in, Guy House

April 13-14 - Gatsby Garden Hat Workshop

Step back into the 1920s with our two-day summer hat workshop, perfect for any 1920s soiree!

Two days, 9am-3:30pm; RSVP Required: https://GatsbyGardenHat.eventbrite.ca

April 16– Speaker Series, in partnership with Oshawa Libraries

Dr. Natasha Dixon-Henry: “I Will Use My Freedom Well”: Emancipation Day and the Practice of Black Freedom in Canada

6pm, McLaughlin Library Auditorium

April 28 - Tea & Talk, featuring the Durham Storytellers: Earth Day

1pm, RSVP required - https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/tea-talk-with-the-durham-storytellers-earth-day-tickets-869134373307

May

May 4 - Doors Open Oshawa

12-4pm - Henry House is open for tours, and Guy House is also open, with a pop-up exhibit about Oshawa's centennial

May 4 - Walking Tour: Union Cemetery, 1920s Oshawa

2pm - This is offered as a free Jane's Walk, but donations to the museum will be kindly accepted

Meet at King Street Gates (760 King St. W.)

May 21 – Speaker Series, in partnership with Oshawa Libraries

Annual Meeting, Oshawa Historical Society

Nicole Adams, Local History Librarian, Oshawa Public Libraries: Oshawa Nursing School

6pm, McLaughlin Library Auditorium

For up-to-date information about the Annual Meeting, please visit the OHS Website: https://oshawahistoricalsociety.org/

Jun

June 8 - Walking Tour: Downtown Oshawa History

2pm - $5/person, pay at the door or register in advance (RSVP link to be updated)

Meet at McLaughlin Branch of OPL (65 Bagot Street)

June 9 - Museum Show & Tell: Theme TBD

12-4pm, Drop-in, Guy House

June 23 - Tea & Talk - 1920s ArteFACTs

1pm, RSVP required - check back for info to RSVP

Friday mornings - Yoga in the Garden

Drop in 9am-10am

Jul

July 1 - Canada Day at the Lake

Check back for more info

2-6pm

July 13 - Walking Tour: Lakeview Park History

2pm - $5/person, pay at the door or register in advance (RSVP link to be updated)

Meet at Guy House

July 14 - Grandpa Henry's Picnic

12:30-2:30pm - Check back for more info

July 20 - Music in the Gardens with the Oshawa Civic Band

1:30pm, Henry House Gardens - Bring your own lawn chair!

Friday mornings - Yoga in the Garden

Drop in 9am-10am

Aug

August 5 - Drive Shed and Carriage Tours

For McLaughlin Day, take a look at our carriage collection, then take a tour of Henry House

12-4pm, Henry House

August 10 - Walking Tour: History of the Hollows

2pm - $5/person, pay at the door or register in advance (RSVP link to be updated)

Meet in front of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery (72 Queen Street)

Friday mornings - Yoga in the Garden

Drop in 9am-10am

Sep

September 14 - Walking Tour: Union Cemetery- First World War and Second World War, in partnership with Parkwood NHS and the Royal Canadian Legion

2pm - $5/person, pay at the door or register in advance (RSVP link to be updated)

September 17 – Speaker Series, in partnership with Oshawa Libraries

Sarah Ferencz, Archivist, Whitby Public Library: Highlights from the Whitby Archives collection

6pm, McLaughlin Library Auditorium

September 21-22 - Scenes from the Cemetery

2-4pm, Union Cemetery; tour times: 2pm, 2:20pm, 2:40pm, 3pm

Tickets required for admission;

September 29 - Orange Shirt Day

A Carrying Place open for free admission

12-4pm, Robinson House

Friday mornings - Yoga in the Garden

Drop in 9am-10am

Oct

October 5 - Walking Tour: Theme TBD

2pm - $5/person, pay at the door or register in advance (RSVP link to be updated)

October 15– Speaker Series, in partnership with Oshawa Libraries

Lorna Poplak: The Don

6pm, McLaughlin Library Auditorium

October 20 - Tea & Talk: Oshawa at 100

1pm, RSVP required - check back for info to RSVP

October 26- Halloween at the Harbour

6-8pm, Oshawa Museum

Nov

November 10 - Museum Show & Tell: Remembrance Day

12-4pm, Drop-in, Guy House

November 19– Speaker Series, in partnership with Oshawa Libraries

Oshawa Museum Staff: Book Launch: Oshawa's Unwritten Histories

6pm, McLaughlin Library Auditorium

Dec

December 7 - An Evening of Lamplight

6-8pm; $5/person (free for OHS members)

Get your tickets in advance:

Jan '24

January 16 – Speaker Series, in partnership with Oshawa Libraries

Adam Arko: Oshawa & Electric Railways

6pm, McLaughlin Library Auditorium

*A Special meeting of the Oshawa Historical Society membership will take immediately before the lecture. For more info, please see the Oshawa Historical Society website: https://oshawahistoricalsociety.org/2024/01/02/notice-special-meeting-of-the-membership/

January 21 - Postcards to the Front

1pm, Guy House

About the event:

Postcards to the Front (Canada / Канада) facilitates Canadians sending postcards with messages of support and encouragement to Defenders of Ukraine.

Helen Bajorek and Jean-Michel Komarnicki have invited Canadians to write postcards by holding information and postcard-writing sessions at Legion Halls, in schools, at other community venues, and even via Zoom with members of the Manitoba Women's Institute. Their workshop included postcard-writing where the students crafted messages in three languages: English, Polish and Ukrainian.

This workshop will have three parts, running approximately 90 minutes:

I. Introduction of the project, impacts of postcards at the front lines - 15-20 minutes

II. Introduction to the Ukrainian alphabet, along with some practice and provision of some helpful phrases translated for use in writing messages of support - 15 minutes

III. Postcard writing - 30-45 minutes

For more info: https://postcardstothefrontcanada.com/

Feb

February 19- Family Day at the OM: Be Prepared

Drop-in, 12-4pm

February 20 – Speaker Series, in partnership with Oshawa Libraries

Eric Sangwine: Mostly True: A Unique History of Oshawa in Art

6pm, McLaughlin Library Auditorium

February 25 - Tea & Talk: Be Prepared

We're bringing back our popular Tea & Talk Series, offering an afternoon visiting the exhibit, Be Prepared, held in honour of Thinking Day.

1pm, RSVP required - https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/tea-talk-be-prepared-tickets-818578890497

Mar

March 11-15 - March Break at the OM

The Oshawa Museum is gearing up for an OMazing week of fun in Lakeview Park!

From Monday to Friday, timed tours of the Robinson House and Henry House ($5 per person) are offered at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Drop-in activities are happening Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. in the Verna Conant Gallery at Guy House. Admission is $5 per person and includes a tour and activity. And don’t forget to visit the gift shop for all the best Oshawa Museum swag!

March 19– Speaker Series, in partnership with Oshawa Libraries

Nicole Adams, Local History Librarian, Oshawa Public Libraries: Oshawa’s Voices: Oral History Project Showcase

6pm, McLaughlin Library Auditorium

March 24 - Tea & Talk, featuring the Durham Storytellers: Building Bridges

1pm, RSVP required - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/840163701247

March 9, 14, 16, 23 - Oshawa Museum at Purple Woods

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Plan Your Visit

The Oshawa Museum is open year round for tours - learn more about how you can experience the Home to Oshawa's History!

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Programming at the OM

Featured Education Programs

The Oshawa Museum is proud to offer educators a number of programs and workshops, available for elementary and secondary levels, and we can work with teachers in offering these programs to best meet your needs.

Elementary - Meet the Museum

Students gain insight into the various roles that contribute to a museum’s functioning and the special rules we use. The museum tour includes exploring the different homes and engaging in a fun craft activity inspired by the Victorian era.

Teachers can enhance their learning experience by scheduling the Visitor Experience Coordinator to visit their classroom with 3 to 4 Education Kits to create different stations.

You can choose from various Education Kits, including ‘School Days,’ ‘Around the House,’ ‘Bonnets and Breeches,’ and ‘Toys and Games.’ Obtain a complete list by contacting the Visitor Experience Coordinator.

Elementary - Day in the Life...

Compare the roles and challenges of being a Victorian Child to those of a modern day child through a number of hands-on activities, which include candle or butter-making, planting, and washing laundry (Spring/Summer). Classes tour through Henry House and learn about the Henry family and how the Henry children would have spent their time over 150 years ago!

Later, the students will use educational items from the museum’s School Days kit to gain a unique perspective on schooling in Oshawa during the 1900s. Finally, teachers can choose between demonstrations on candle-making or butter-making to complete the program.

Secondary - Intro to Primary Sources

In this workshop, students learn the different between primary and secondary sources, they learn to think critically about what can be learned from these sources, and they learn about difficulties they can present to researchers. Students are given examples of primary sources from the archival collection of the Oshawa Museum and they go through a worksheet, helping them use the skills they learned about.

Secondary - First World War

Using a collection of letters written by a young man from Oshawa, we will learn about the experiences of those on the front lines during WWI from 4 very different sources. The talk will follow along with William Garrow Jr., the author of the letters, Albert Pankhurst, a young Black soldier, Victoria Donevan, a Nursing Sister and George Finigan, a young man conscripted to fight. After hearing about these experiences and how the fit into the larger picture of the First World War, the students will be tasked with writing their own letter home from the front.

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Download the Oshawa Museum Education Brochure

Oshawa Museum Education Catalogue.pdf

Groups and the Oshawa Museum

Special group tours (special interest groups, retirement residences, Guides/Scouts, etc.) must be booked in advance so we can best meet the needs of your group and offer you the best experience possible. We cannot accommodate drop-in tours for special groups and/or groups of 10 or more.

To book, contact Jill Passmore: 905-436-7624 x 106 or email

programming@oshawamuseum.org.

Guiding & Scouting Leaders!

Have you ever wondered what being in Guiding or Scouting was like thirty years ago? What about fifty or seventy years ago? Bring your groups to the Oshawa Museum to find out! Our latest exhibit, Be Prepared, explores the history of Oshawa's Guiding and Scouting movements. Featuring uniforms, badges, oral histories, video and memorabilia, Be Prepared allows adult visitors to reminisce and children to compare differences and similarities over the years.

A visit to the Oshawa Museum with your troop consists of a tour of Henry House, the Victorian home, Robinson House, where Be Prepared is on display, and activities in Guy House. The Oshawa Museum has developed three activities that correspond to the exhibit.

Generous sponsorship from the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority and Ontario Power Generation has allowed us to offer these tours for free for a limited time. Tours can be scheduled for the day and time you regularly meet - Oshawa Museum staff will work with you to ensure your visit will be a memorable one!

Call Jill at the Oshawa Museum to book your tour (905-436-7624 x 106) or email for more info!

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Teachers

We offer a number of workshops suitable for elementary and secondary classes, and they can be offered virutally or in-person. These include Critical Thinking Using Objects, Working with Primary Sources and a World War I Timeline.

Curriculum based local history programs are also available, and most are adaptable to any grade level, from JK to Grade 12.

Email to learn more about how you can incorporate local history into your classroom.

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Download the Oshawa Museum Education Brochure

Oshawa Museum Education Catalogue.pdf

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Leaders

The Oshawa Museum offers badge based experiences for all levels of Guiding and Scouting. We do the work for you, the kids do the learning for themselves.

We have different program options available - to learn more, view our Guiding and Scouting Brochure:

View the Guiding / Scouting BrochureView the Guiding / Scouting Brochure

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Lectures

The Oshawa Museum has developed over fifty lectures that pertain to various aspects of Oshawa's immense cultural history. Lectures are $50 each, plus mileage if your facility is located outside of Oshawa. Lectures are approximately one hour long and are often accompanied by associated artefacts. An experienced staff member of the Oshawa Museum delivers each lecture.

OM Presentation List.pdf