1
Portrait of Wilf and Elsie1948
Midland, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
2
"Wild Bill" Jurycirca 1950
London, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
3
Imagine a hypothetical week in the life of Wilf and Elsie. It is the spring of 1961. On Sunday they drive out to Lobo to visit Amos. Their concerns about his failing health are partially alleviated when they find him propped up in bed, drawinga sketch. The next morning they attend to correspondence in their office in the basement of Middlesex College, the new home of the Museum of Indian Archaeology and Pioneer Life; they are still unpacking some boxes after the move
there last fall from the Lawson Memorial Library. Wilf takes a break to add one of Amos' scale figures to the model Indian village up on the third floor of the building. Elsie remains at her desk, deeply engrossed in research on some minor
reference she has found pertaining to the Penetanguishene Naval Establishment. Wilf returns to the office to make some phone calls. That night they dine at their friend Angela Armitt's house. The next day they drive to Toronto for a
meeting of the Ontario Historical Society. Wednesday finds them back in the office. Elsie returns to her research while Wilf writes down some notes about his fieldwork in Quebec a few seasons ago in response to a request by the
Jesuits for clarification about what he found there. A bundle of envelopes arrives in the mail. One is a stack of newspaper clippings sent to them by a friend. Another is a copy of the Martyrs' Shrine Message with an item about Sainte-
Marie I. There is a request from a professor at an American university for them to send him copies of Museum Bulletins 1 through 12. There is a request for information from a potential student wishing to enrol in the Summer School of
Archaeology. After perusing these Wilf picks up the phone to contact someone about a speech he is to deliver to the Kiwanis Club next month. He then calls the Conservation Authority to discuss plans for opening day at Fanshawe
Pioneer VIllage. On Thursday morning they drive to the unveiling of an historical plaque in Simcoe County. Premier Frost is there as well, and after the ceremony they go out for dinner with him. They spend the night in Midland and on
Friday visit the Huron Indian Village to make sure it has survived the winter. Late in the afternoon they return to London and stop at the Museum to pick up the mail and some files in preparation for a busy weekend at home to tie up
loose ends prior to heading up to Huronia next week for the start of another field season.
4
A portrait of Wilfcirca 1946
Lobo Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
5
Portrait of Wilfcirca 1940
Lobo Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
6
Before locking up they pause to gaze at the walls of their office. Before them are the varied reminders of their life's work to date: maps of sites they had excavated, two of Amos' paintings, photographs of one or both of them with Pope Paul VI, the Governor General, Prime Minister Diefenbaker, Premier Leslie Frost, University President Sherwood Fox, archaeologist William J. Wintemberg and others; a bookcase full of reports and articles they had authored; another bookcase filled with scrapbooks of photographs and newspaper clippings, neatly arranged by year and project; a curio cabinet filled with relics and mementos, and on top of it a shelf containing an assortment of Amos' model figures; and on another wall there are photographs of some of their projects - Sainte-Marie I, Penetanguishene, the Burley site, Fort Willow, the schooner Tecumseh, the sillery site.7
A painting by Amosundated
Lobo Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
8
Wilf receiving Honorary degree, Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, University of MontrealMay 31, 1957
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
9
Wilf on the CNR train in MidlandJuly 14, 1952
Midland, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
10
There they are in their office, surrounded by gentle reminders of their own legacies. But there are still some blank spaces on the walls, to be filled with things not yet accomplished. There are still more sites to dig, more mysteries to solve, more stories to tell....11
A painting by Amosundated
Lobo Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
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