Marion Beyea — Founders Award:
A founder is a person who establishes an institution that is meant to last for a long time. Marion Beyea has been a founder in the heritage preservation community in countless ways. Her committed and enthusiastic work within the archival community began before she had even graduated from the University of New Brunswick in 1967. She worked for the New Brunswick Museum Archives and the UNB Archives as a student, which helped her to later gain employment at the Archives of Ontario, working in their Private Manuscripts department. In 1973 she was a member of the Archives Section of the Canadian Historical Association, where she co-edited a newsletter for archivists. Then in 1976, she became the Archivist of General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada. After a few years there she decided to return home to lead New Brunswick’s Archives and Records Management program. As Provincial Archivist and Director of the Provincial Archives, she was committed to preserving Loyalist history and strengthening New Brunswick’s archival system to be the best that it could be, which has been a consistent theme throughout her career. She is well respected for her dependability and dedication to whatever she takes on.
During her extensive career with the Archives, her devotion to her work led to the creation of many community outreach programs, as well as the formation of the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) and the Canadian Council of Archives (CCA). She and a committee of two others worked to unite archivists all over Canada to develop the ACA, where she served as Vice President and President, chaired multiple committees, and was made a Founding Fellow in 2006. She chaired a committee of archivists from all over the country who developed a framework and obtained funding for the CCA, where she then served as Founding Chair. She was also New Brunswick’s representative on the Historical Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, and a member of the Steering Committee of the Section of Professional Associations, and Chair of the Committee on Best Practice and Standards of the International Council of Archives. Among her other great contributions, she served on the Board of Governors of the National Trust from 2005 to 2011. Her tireless work ethic was inspiring to her colleagues and her leadership capabilities led each committee she joined to achieve great success.
Over the last 40 years, Marion has gained an irrefutable reputation for being fully invested and focused on her goals. Thanks to her influence, the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick has one of the best collections of genealogical material in the entire country and it is freely available online. She oversaw extensive renovations to the Provincial Archives building that included the addition of a state-of-the-art- repository. Throughout her years at the Archives, she built a large, far-reaching network of people interested in history and the preservation of the built environment. When it became evident that New Brunswick was losing many of their built heritage sites and that local Heritage Trusts were struggling, Marion called together activists that she knew had a desire to see heritage buildings protected and created the provincial Built Heritage Committee.
Marion first joined the board of Association Museums New Brunswick in 1979 and served as Second Vice-President. Her passion for Heritage brought her back to serve on the AMNB Board in 2013, and she became AMNB’s First Vice President in 2015. During our Annual Meeting in 2015, the provincial Built Heritage Committee amalgamated with AMNB to form Association Heritage New Brunswick, a transformation that Marion was instrumental in facilitating. Marion has been an integral part of our association for many years and was AHNB’s President in 2018 and 2019. Even in her retirement, Marion’s enthusiasm and conviction have not waned. She is currently Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Fredericton Heritage Trust and Co-Chair of AHNB’s Built Heritage Committee. Her incredible contributions to the archival and heritage preservation communities make her a textbook candidate for AHNB’s Founder’s Award.
Anita Boudreau – Quarter Century Award:
Anita Boudreau is presented with the Quarter Century Award for her uninterrupted commitment to the Memramcook Historical Society, of which she has been a Board member since 1994, and her volunteer work in her community. She served on the Board of Directors of MHS as vice-president, secretary, and treasurer before taking on her current position as president, which she has had since 2011. The Memramcook Museum benefits greatly from her efforts, as she is the one to write the descriptions for their acquisitions and to display them. She also organizes the many photos that are given to her by locals from the area. These photos capture many pivotal moments and events in their history, and the collection is very important to the area’s cultural heritage. She has also taken it upon herself to photograph each house in the village and note their ownership history, which creates a solid foundation to make built heritage and genealogical research accessible in Memramcook. On the subject of genealogy, Anita has made a great effort to preserve and organize all death notices from the village and to compile a list of those buried in the three nearby cemeteries. Her dedication to research and creating resources so that others may have easy access to this information is admirable and inspiring.
Sylvain Lanteigne – Award of Merit