What's behind the sweet suite door: Archives Open House

The Archives serve the offices of the archdiocese on a daily basis but many employees at the Catholic Pastoral Centre have no idea of what lurks behind the Archives suite door.  So we decided to invite everyone to come and see for themselves during an informal open house last Friday:

Our open house promised three things:

• Treasures: samples of the most interesting, eye-catching or generally awe-inspiring documents and artifacts in our holdings

• Trivia: a contest ballot that visitors could complete while wandering around the archives 

• Treats: we made some edibles based on records in our holdings

ARCAT Director Marc Lerman (left) discusses vestments.

Bling is always a hit with visitors!
In addition to pectoral crosses and episcopal rings, there was also a benemerenti and a Companion to the Order of Canada medal on display.

In our reading room were documents such as papal bulls, the decree erecting the See of Toronto and items from the most recent papal conclave.
We loaded microfilm of an old baptismal register to be deciphered for a trivia question.

Examples of different types of black and white photos and their storage.

Examples of textual records, such as a broadsheet of The Toronto Mirror (1856), a ticker tape telegraph, greeting cards, and a note signed by Prime Minister John A. MacDonald

Visitors were encouraged to explore one of our climate controlled storerooms.  The newest addition is this wall-mounted grid that allows us to hang framed items, including archbishops' portraits, our old archdiocesan coat of arms and a limited edition crucifixion relief by Salvador Dali.

The trivia questions.  Happy to report we some very intrepid trivia hounds and three winners.

On their way out, we invited guests to help themselves to some records-inspired treats.
We made "French Kisses" (coconut and almond meringues) that were listed under Ornamented Confectionery in this 1884 banquet menu (only because we thought "Arches of Buffalo Tongues" was slightly over the top).
We also made a Cinnamon Loaf cake from the 1976 Centennial Recipe Book from St. Patrick's Parish, Schomberg.

In addition, we tried to familiarize our colleagues with some of the work we do by setting up a conservation station, a processing station, and a photography table.

Our conservation "lab" displayed various preservation tools and materials (right) as well as a humidification chamber (centre).  We have been using the chamber to soften brittle, rolled architectural drawings, so they can be flattened and stored flat (left).

At the processing station we demonstrated how contemporary records that are transferred to us are appraised, arranged, described and rehoused.
The photography table in the background is for shooting items for the Sacred Objects Exchange.

We are happy to report that the open house was a sweet suite outreach success. Our colleagues were engaged and it was fantastic opportunity for us to show off the archives!