QAHN was pleased to present the 2020 Marion Phelps Award to Mary Ducharme of the Hemmingford Archives.
Mary Ducharme has had a lengthy career both teaching and volunteering for various community groups, first in Nova Scotia and, since 2001, in Hemmingford. Among her volunteer accomplishments, she headed the Hemmingford Archives from 2005 to 2018 and was active in Heritage Hemmingford while it was operating. Despite currently dealing with health challenges, Mary continues to conduct research and write for the Hemmingford Archives. Mary has written profusely on heritage-related topics and prepared two books published by the Archives – Images of Hemmingford (2010) and Voices of Hemmingford (2015). One of Mary’s most important achievements was in leading the move of Hemmingford Archives to a larger, more modern location. This was attained through a great deal of active local fundraising and lobbying.
At a presentation of the Marion Phelps Award to Mary, held this past weekend at the Hemmingford Archives in the presence of a number of directors and volunteers, QAHN President Grant Myers told the recipient that “QAHN is delighted to be able to honour you for your remarkable and ongoing contributions to the archives and to the preservation of history and heritage in this part of Quebec. We could not think of a more worthy recipient for this award.”