BATTLEFORDS — The Fred Light Museum is the recent recipient of two Second World War quilts, among several returned to Canada after over 80 years, and will be holding a June 6 presentation on the history of Canadian women and their quilts as they were taken to the UK to aid in the civilian relief.
On June 6, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Battleford Legion Branch No. 9, Pam Robertson Rivet will present a tour through first-hand accounts of the war aimed to inspire new ideas about the preservation of history and educate about the history of these women and their wartime quilts.
"While the threat of WWII loomed in the 1930s, Canadian women mobilized and were ready to respond before war was declared," reads information from the museum.
"They set to work at a time when materials were scarce ... roads were scraped out of mud, and sewing machines were tough to pack up and carry to a sewing bee."
Now, three women, Anna Mansi, Jackie Maxwell and Maxine March, who uncovered this piece of history, have set out to rescue as many quilts as possible, and bring them into the public, distributing them to museums across Canada.
"I think we're very honoured to have them and then be able to put them on display, and for more stories to be told about the Second World War," Bernadette Leslie, the museum's manager, said as two quilts are set to be welcomed into the museum's collection.
"It will add to the museum (by showing) how Canadian women were willing to help in whatever way they could."
