6 August 2009
Revelstoke Railway Museum Welcomes New Executive Director Jennifer Dunkerson
New Revelstoke Railway Museum Executive Director Jennifer
Dunkerson
started on 4 Aug 2009.
Revelstoke British Columbia - New Revelstoke
Railway Museum Executive Director Jennifer Dunkerson arrived for her first day on the job on 4 Aug 2009, landing in the
middle of preparations for 2009 Railway Days (15-23 Aug 2009).
Dunkerson is from Brantford, Ontario. She did her undergraduate work at McMaster University, completing a degree in Honours History.
She then went on to compete a master's degree in Public History at the University of Waterloo.
After graduating, her first job as a curator was at the Erland Lee Museum Home in Stoney Creek, Ontario.
Her next stop was at the Fieldcote Memorial Park & Museum. The cultural heritage centre in Ancaster, Ontario, preserves and
exhibits local history, promotes fine arts, and has a series of landscaped gardens and walking trails.
Her most recent work was with the Canadian Industrial Heritage Centre in Brantford, where she served as executive director. Not yet
open, the centre is an ongoing project that plans to establish a centre that commemorates Brantford, Ontario's role as an industrial
powerhouse around the turn of the 20th Century.
Her work exploring Brantford's connection to the history of Western Canada, as well family connections, contributed to the decision to
apply for the position at the Revelstoke Railway Museum. Her grandfather was a line foreman with the Canadian National Railway. Her
father is a model railroad enthusiast, and his involvement in the activity cultivated Dunkerson's interest in railways from an early
age.
Jennifer has moved to Revelstoke with husband Joe, and daughters Alice, 8, and Adelaide, 2.
The Times Review asked Dunkerson a few questions about what attracted her to the position, her impressions, and her plans.
RTR: What interested you in the position?
Dunkerson: Basically, the main thing that interested me is the fact that this railway museum is both a local story as
well as a national story when it comes to the history of the railway. Having come from an organization that focused on a national
story as well, I was attracted to the establishment of the railway museum, the sense of community support that is here for the museum,
and has been since the beginning. [That] attracted me to it as a museum professional. As well though, there is the fact that they are
representing the story of CPR and how it brought the country together as a whole. If I can reiterate, the balance of both the local
and the national story is what really attracted me off the top.
RTR: Looking back at your past professional experiences, what are you most excited or interested in bringing to this
position in Revelstoke?
Dunkerson: I think, probably the main thing would be my working experience in various communities, community museums,
working with volunteers, working with a network of other heritage organizations, and so on. I feel that... my bringing that experience
to Revelstoke will help enhance what the Railway Museum is already doing and is all about. I have a strength in that area. I believe
that I will be able to help the museum continue to work with that and develop it, and I'm really looking forward to that aspect of it.
I am very much a people person and, to me, one of the priorities of museum work is to be able to work with the people in the
community, the volunteers, the other staff, and other neighbouring museums and heritage organizations.
RTR: What's your first impression of the Revelstoke Railway Museum?
Dunkerson: The museum is a tremendous example of a well-thought-out, well-planned facility.
It's not only beautiful in its architectural framework and set up and the way it was done to represent railway history - not just
through the artifacts - but through the whole structure and layout itself, to the way it has been arranged, the way the exhibits are
designed, and the traffic flow through the facility. It's a very, very, well-designed facility that way. And the way it
had been organized, again, community-based. It was quite impressive, from my background, to see the way this place is
organized around its board of directors, volunteers, staff, and community. It's really quite a good example of a well-run
museum facility.
Aaron Orlando.
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