The Flin Flon Heritage Project has earned a reputation for preserving Flin Flon’s past. Now, the group plans to help out its future, starting an award and fund for the next generation of historians.
The online archive of Flin Flon and area history has teamed up with the Northern Neighbours Foundation, creating an endowment fund. That fund, named the Flin Flon Heritage Preservation Fund, will help finance an annual award to a local student - either from Creighton Community School or Hapnot Collegiate - with an interest in local history.
The fund was kicked off with a one-time donation by the Heritage Project, who sent in $18,000 to start the scholarship. The money will be invested and will allow for several years’ worth of awards for students, with interest accruing on the money keeping it sustainable over time.
The Heritage Project announced the move April 3, establishing the fund and award, which will bear the name of Project co-founder Doug Evans, officially being named the Doug Evans Heritage Project Award for the Preservation of Flin Flon and District History.
“We are proud to recognize Doug’s vision and passion for history, especially in the Flin Flon area, by establishing this scholarship in his name. Without his tireless dedication and work, this project would not exist,” said current Project president Phil Gies in an announcement made by the group.
“We hope to instill this passion in the current and next generation of students, teachers and historians.”
Winning students have to plan to attend post-secondary school focusing on history, archaeology, anthropology, library and information science, museum studies, education or a similar field.
Evans began his obsession with Flin Flon’s past in order to learn more about his father, former Flin Flon Mayor George Wellington Evans. While working on a book about his dad, Doug and a group of local historians including Don Peake and Gerry Clark began scanning and hosting historical documents online for free, for anyone to view.
More than 60,000 individual documents, ranging from photos, books, maps, correspondence and other items have been archived by the Heritage Project - many of the items are shared on the project’s website at flinflonheritageproject.com. Evans, Peake and Clark have each received the Lieutenant-Governor’s Historical Preservation and Promotion award in part for their work with the project.
“The mission of the Flin Flon Heritage Project is to collect, store, present and share the story of Flin Flon and its rich history in digital format for current and future generations of explorers, academics, students and historians,” reads the project’s announcement.
