York professor helps create online exhibit for Sharon Temple

Sharon Temple
Above: A panorama of the Sharon Temple by Mark Fram

An online exhibit to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Sharon Temple will be launched by the Sharon Temple Museum Society on Saturday, Aug. 18, at 1pm. Albert Schrauwers, professor of anthropology in York’s Faculty of Arts, and Miriam McTiernan, archivist of Ontario, will officially launch the site, titled 175 Years of Hope: A Celebration of the Sharon Temple and the Children of Peace.

This online exhibition is co-produced by Schrauwers and the Archives of Ontario, and sponsored by the Canadian Museums Association. A commemorative book by Mark Fram, Rebuilding Hope: The Sharon Temple After 175 Years, is also being launched and will be on sale at the museum gift shop.

The exhibition and the commemorative book make public, for the first time, the significant role of the 19th-century religious sect Children of Peace in aiding the creation of the democratic framework for governance in Canada, and their role in creating Canada’s first farmers’ cooperative and shelter for the homeless.

Admission to the site of the Sharon Temple National Historic Site & Museum, 18974 Leslie Street, Sharon, Ont., is free for this special event on Saturday, Aug. 18.