Learning about the past...

The Middleville and District Museum is excited to launch its History in a Suitcase Program for local schools in Lanark County this fall. As students head back to school, teachers will be able to access the suitcases and bring them right into their classrooms and use the contents with their students. Materials for activities will be included and , of course, a little history!

Emily and Madeleine are getting ready to pack this vintage suitcase with materials to be borrowed by local teachers and students with items like postcards and weaving looms.

As students go back to school this fall, The Middleville and District Museum is eager to connect with classrooms around Lanark County. A project made possible with funding from Perth and District Community Foundation has been underway. Vintage suitcases are being packed with information and activities that reflect different themes. In one suitcase, the history of postal services in Lanark County at the turn of the century will be included along with letter writing activities and custom made Middleville and District Museum postage ‘stamps’. Students will learn about how mail delivery has changed over time and the way people communicated before e-mail. When students and teachers open the suitcase, they will discover the materials for writing and sending postcards. The postcards are made using the Museum’s photo collections inspired by the common practice of turning personal photos into postcards in the past. Another suitcase will include a class set of specially designed looms for weaving a bookmark. A supply of yarn is included to get these projects started. Students will learn weaving terms like warp and weft. This activity will lend itself well to teaching patterning while learning about how textiles were made in the early days of the County. The story of the Museum’s travelling barn loom will add some historical knowledge. Other suitcases will focus on topics like the General Store with a focus on measurement and money. Materials to practice the art of calligraphy will introduce students to cursive writing and how students completed their lessons in the one room schoolhouse. A case with environmental activities will provide an opportunity to learn about animal tracks and the historical relationship between humans and their surroundings and how they depended on the land for their everyday survival. 

collection of postage stamps

barn loom

Postal scales for weighing letters and small parcels.

weaving tools

​The suitcases will be available for teachers to sign out and have in their classrooms in the upcoming school year. A sign out system will soon be available on the Museum’s Educational Resources website page. The suitcases could also be available for home schooling programs. 

​The Middleville and District Museum is grateful for the support provided through funding from Perth and District Community Foundation for this project. The funding enabled the hiring of two students to prepare materials and compile activities. The project provides an opportunity for the Museum to connect with teachers and students throughout Lanark County.