This exhibition grew from a partnership with University of Guelph Library staff and students in the History and Art History Departments at the University of Guelph to provide an experiential learning opportunity. Archival & Special Collections staff and faculty from the Art History Department guided the students in interpreting original primary resource materials from the Clan Leslie and Scottish Studies Collections in Archival & Special Collections and in curating the exhibition. It was originally launched as a physical exhibit in 10 cases in McLaughlin Library at the University of Guelph in August 2016 in honor of the Clan Leslies, the featured clan of the Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games in Fergus Ontario.
The process of creating this exhibition has led us to many fascinating discoveries about the contributions of the Clan Leslie in literature, politics, religion, the domestic arts, and sciences in Scotland and beyond. These achievements can be viewed in the #? sections of this digital exhibit.
The University of Guelph is the official repository for the Clan Leslie Collection. We are grateful to the following individuals, who have donated materials to this collection over the years: Margaret Aitken (Acton, Ont) Donald W. Leslie (Abbeville, S. C.), Thomas G. Leslie, KSG (Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, UK), Gary A Leslie (Lexington, KY), Harold and Val Leslie (Didsbury, Alb), Robert Leslie (Acton, Ont), William Leslie, Sandy Eliza McDaniel (Evanston, Il), Diane L. Sadler (Pasadena, MD), James Barrie Leslie, (Gordon, New South Wales, Aus) and David Leslie White (Ft Worth, TX).
This exhibit was curatated by:
University of Guelph Library Staff
Janna Avon, Co-op Librarian from the University of British Columbia
Melissa McAfee, Special Collections Librarian
Ashley Shifflett McBrayne, Library Associate
Judy Wanner, Associate Librarian (retired)
University of Guelph Students
Jennifer Oldham, BA student, Psychology
Desiree Scholtz, BA student, History & Art History
Marian Toledo, PhD student in Scottish History