Final Week at Banting House

Las week was my final week as the graduate research assistant of Banting House National Historic Site of Canada, and I can’t believe how quickly the time has flown by.  I have had an amazing semester working here, and I have learned so much about Dr. Banting that I wouldn’t have had the chance to discover elsewhere.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have been able to work closely with many of the collections we have here at Banting House.  I have finished cataloguing the collections in the Seneshen Gallery, displaying the Banting House’s journey to becoming a National Historic Site of Canada.  It’s amazing to trace the process of being designated, and I loved getting to look at all the amazing objects in the gallery, particularly the guestbook from the Queen Mother’s visit in 1989.

I am also excited about creating a new scavenger hunt for the museum.  Finding accessible ways to engage children in history is something that is very important to me, and I hope it helps to keep children going through the museum interested in Banting’s life and work, and I hope it can help to spark an enduring interest in history.

Thursday was Volunteer Appreciation Day, and I encourage everyone to also give a thank you to them!  Banting House would not function without the time, dedication, and enthusiasm of all our volunteers, and I am so happy to have worked with all of them.   I will also be continuing to volunteer here in the coming semester, so I am excited to join the team!  I have really loved sharing the inner workings of Banting House through this blog, and I hope to continue to do so in the new year!

I want to leave off on one of my favourite parts of Banting House, which is actually at the very end of the tour.  As you exit the museum, you’re encouraged to place where you’re from on a world map.  This is such a good way of showcasing the reach of Frederick Banting’s influence and the effects of insulin and diabetes research.

While this region of Canada and the United States clearly attracts the most visitors, it is heartening to see people from nearly every continent represented on the map.  Even in the one semester I’ve spent here I’ve had the opportunity to meet people all over the world, and it is a testament to the influence of insulin and Banting’s work.

This post was written by Heather Hepburn, Graduate Research Assistant at Banting House National Historic Site of Canada,  and Public History student at the University of Western Ontario.