Flin Flon Heritage Project Mission Statement
The mission of the Flin Flon Heritage Project is to collect, store, present and share the story of Flin Flon and its rich history in digital format for current and future generations of explorers, academics, students and historians.
Time and the vagaries of the mining business have scattered former residents of the community far and wide, but their bond with Flin Flon has never been broken, they consider themselves to be “Flin Flonners”. Present and former residents of that odd ‘smoke scoured city on the rocks’ who share a history and heritage that is one of their great treasures.
The photographs and papers that document this history are carefully preserved in the Archives of Flin Flon and in the private collections of ‘Flin Flonners’ scattered all over the globe. Almost all this material is ‘one of a kind’ and even with the most careful of guardianship, subject to loss. The dispersed nature of these collections means that it is extremely difficult for anyone interested in the heritage of Flon Flon to find and examine them.
Doug Evans realized that if an archive of good digital copies of all the historic material available were created it would provide a backup in case of the loss of any of this historic material. Since this material would be in digital form it would also be possible to create a website that would act like an index to the digital archive making the history of Flin Flon easily available to all.
The finding and preservation of our history is a community project that will require the efforts of many volunteers working at all levels. Every old photo album or collection of pictures and documents contributes to our collective memory and everyone is urged to help out. Every old picture no matter how damaged or worn contains a story, and that story is part of the history of our town. Much of this material is scattered now as people have retired and moved away but please make a determined effort to find these collections and albums, they are precious and one of kind.
The Flin Flon Heritage Project does not require the original pictures or documents, only digital copies. If you find anything related to Flin Flon, past or recent please contact flin.flon.archive.board@gmail.com for assistance in scanning or transmitting.
The Flin Flon Heritage Project is an undertaking of size and scope that could not be imagined by anyone except the community of Flin Flonners, many thanks are due to those who have contributed money and/or volunteer time to make it a reality.
To become a donor or a member please contact us at flin.flon.archive.board@gmail.com
Address to the Manitoba Legislature
On June 24, 2015, Clarence Petterson, the MLA for Flin Flon, addressed the Manitoba Legislature on the topic of the Flin Flon Heritage Project. We believe he has captured the spirit of the project very well.
Flin Flon Heritage Project
A small town’s pride often lies in its rich history. In Flin Flon we are lucky enough to have a group that has taken it upon themselves to preserve the heritage and history of our community. The Flin Flon Heritage Project is a non-profit organization that is run entirely by volunteers. This group is creating an online database of historical documents relating to Flin Flon.
These dedicated volunteers, who even supply their own equipment to keep operating costs low, have been running this project for the past three years. So far, the online database includes yearbooks for Hapnot Collegiate, issues of local magazines like The Northern Lights, newspapers, photographs of local people, books about Flin Flon and even a digitized version of the archives of Flin Flon, and they haven’t stopped there. The project is always growing in scope and adding new content.There are currently around 40 people involved as volunteers with the Flin Flon Heritage Project, and they are getting people from across North America involved. Documents about Flin Flon’s early history as a tiny village are coming in from places like California and Nova Scotia.
With this level of involvement from the community, it’s obvious that people think the Flin Flon Heritage Project is accomplishing important work. I completely agree.
This is a fantastic grassroots project that has adopted a democratic process towards writing history. Inviting everyone who has content relating to the history of Flin Flon to submit it means that everyone can participate in the stories. The volunteers have even started making house calls to bring scanning equipment to those who have mobility issues or who cannot bring their documents to the heritage project headquarters.
Without an understanding of our history, we cannot see where we are headed. Without a record of our past, we cannot look back and reflect on the mistakes we have made or the progress we have achieved.
Thank you to all the volunteers who have taken it upon themselves to create this wonderful resource. This is truly the work of engaged and caring citizens.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Clarence Pettersen, MLA Flin Flon
