Charlotte Murray breathes history.
“Everywhere that I’ve ever traveled worldwide, I’ve always gone to somewhere that was historically significant,” she said, citing journeys to the pyramids of Egypt, the Forbidden City in China, Nepal and India. “I love history and culture.”
Murray is the newest manager/curator for the Agassiz-Harrison Museum, having taken the place of former curator Lindsay Foreman.
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The Agassiz-Harrison Museum marks Murray’s fourth museum. She previously served as executive director and curator at the Boundary Museum and Interpretive Centre in Grand Forks, the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel and Cranbrook History Centre and executive director at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site in Richmond.
“It’s a lovely little country museum with a lot of history,” Murray said of her new Agassiz-Harrison workplace.
Murray was faced with a unique situation beginning her work in late May, when the world was getting deeper entrenched in the pandemic, but she expressed confidence in the museum’s board of directors, her own experience as well as the help of volunteers to adapt and thrive. Murray said the museum has by necessity had to change their layout due to COVID-19, but she has plans for later in the year, too.
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“We have plans to, hopefully over the winter, completely change the gallery space so that there will be interpretive information on display cases and there will be First Nations and Indigenous people displays,” she said. “And then what I’d like to do is a chronology, so we’ll start with geology and paleontology and make our way through time. In time, all of this will change.”
Murray added she hopes the museum will be able to host more events going forward.
“We have plans to change things up and have more events, and we’re always looking for volunteers,” she said. “We’ve got some really great community partners here.”
Until Thanksgiving, the museum hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week. Physical distancing and other COVID-19 related rules are in place; the museum includes an outdoor display as well in the event that visitors don’t feel comfortable indoors due to the pandemic.
For more information on events and volunteer opportunities, contact the museum at 604-796-3545 or email agassizharrisonmuseum@shawbiz.ca.