A Little Bit About the Erland Lee Museum

The Erland Lee Museum in Stoney Creek has had a tumultuous few years. At the end of 2010, the governing body of Women’s Institute members decided to close down the museum, with very little public notice, citing financial and structural problems. There was no official plan to do anything about it, until a dedicated group of volunteers came together and demanded action. They called themselves the Friends of the Lee, and with community support they have spent the last 2 years tirelessly working to get approvals, get funding, and get things done so the museum can once again be opened to the public.

This museum is in a fabulous location on Ridge Road; designated a National Historic Site, it was where very first Women’s Institute was created (yes, it started in Canada before going over to the UK!) The museum is housed in the Gothic Revival home of the Lee family, overlooking the entire south shore of Lake Ontario from the Niagara Escarpment. Inside the home is set up to reflect the 1890’s time period when the WI originally was thought up at the Lee’s dining room table.

Due to the dedication of these volunteers, many of which are in their golden years of life, the Erland Lee Museum re-opened this past May. I’ll be helping out by teaching volunteers what I learned during my 4 summers as an interpreter at the site, and I'm super excited that the museum doors are open again.