Thanks to a $44,000 grant from the Library and Archives Canada, hundreds of years of historical documents from the Townships will be uploaded to a new online database that will be launched this spring.
The Eastern Townships Archive Portal will allow users to search people and places, and browse through historical materials online.
The Missisquoi Historical Society’s archives will be part of the new Eastern Townships online database. Photo: Screen capture from Missisquoi Historical Society website.
According to a CBC news report, “Five historical organizations from around the Townships are uploading portions of their collections, including historical societies in Lennoxville, Stanstead East, Brome, and Eaton Corner.”
Jody Robinson, an archivist at the Eastern Townships Resource Centre, is responsible for managing the project. She told the CBC, “In the end, we received the highest amount for this grant across the province of Quebec for this funding year — and I think we received the sixth highest amount Canada-wide out of 65 projects.”
The funding comes from Library and Archives Canada’s Documentary Heritage Communities Program that will provide $7.5 million in contributions over the next five years.
The Eastern Townships were originally part of these counties:
Arthabaska County
Brome County
Compton County
Drummond County
Frontenac County
Mégantic County
Missisquoi County
Richmond County
Stanstead County
Shefford County
Sherbrooke County
Wolfe County
English-speaking inhabitants remained a majority in the Townships until the 1870s.
Read more about this Eastern Townships database project in the CBC’s Eastern Townships historical archives go online for new database project.
