By Tom, Harmony and Jo
In this blog, are pleased to introduce you to our three summer students for 2023!
Tom

Hello! My name is Thomas Goyer, and I work as an Archival Assistant at the Museum of Lennox & Addington. I am very excited to have the opportunity to work in a new environment. My previous summer jobs have primarily been in the service industry, specifically in breweries and wineries, or as a freelance journalist. Working in an archive is a different pace than these other workplaces, but it is much more interesting.
I am not from Napanee, but I was born and raised down the road in Belleville. I have moved a lot in the last few years, having lived in Gravenhurst, Guelph, Belleville, and Kingston in just over two and a half years. This movement has been partly caused by my education. I attended Loyalist College in Belleville, where I received a diploma in journalism in 2020. I then went to the University of Guelph, where I completed a degree in Political Science in 2023. I am starting a master’s degree in Public Administration at Queen’s University this fall.
In May, I moved to Kingston and settled with my partner Leila, who also works in Napanee. Having grown up in Belleville and now living in Kingston, working in Napanee feels very close to home. In my personal time, I am an avid reader and love history, politics, and classic fiction. My enjoyment of history has made working at the archives a natural and enjoyable experience. It was my love of history that led me to apply to the archives.
Much of my work in the archives involves cataloging issues of the Napanee Beaver. The archives did not have a complete list of which issues of the Beaver they did or did not have. My task has been to go through the archives and develop this list. I have found the task interesting and rewarding, as it is fascinating to read news headlines from decades past.
I am unsure about where my career path will take me, but I believe that working in the archives will help me develop skills that will be beneficial for my future career. I will not rule out working in a museum in the future and I am looking forward to working here for the next few months.
Harmony

Hi! I’m Harmony and I am the Collection Assistant Summer Student at the Lennox and Addington Museum. A little about me: I am going into my second year at Queen’s University for my Bachelor of Arts Honors in Environmental Studies, I am a bookworm with a particular interest in historical fantasy and I am obsessed with the Star Wars and Marvel franchises. I have had a passion for history throughout my life and I have fallen into many rabbit holes while researching for projects at school (why write essays when I could find obscure information about the medieval times). In terms of particular periods of time I have had fixations on World War Two, the Opium Wars, and ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt. More recently though I have found an interest here in Lennox and Addington county.
As the Collection Assistant, I will be researching the large costume collection we have here at the museum. Since I started working here I have fallen in love with uncovering local history and sharing the stories of so many people through my project. To quickly highlight some interesting items, I have found a NDSS jacket owned by a local radio host, a cloak bought in Paris by a 1900s socialite and Canadian military uniforms ranging from the militia in the 1860s to the Navy in the 1960s. Long story short, I am very excited to see what the rest of the collection holds for me this summer and I will be sure to highlight some of my favorites, so keep an eye out for that!
Jo

Hello, my name is Jo! I am the summer Museum Assistant. You can meet me at the museum’s reception desk, or at Macpherson House, doing admission, tours, and some programming!
I first stepped foot in Napanee this April, and feel so lucky to have found this summer position to keep me here for longer. I am just a few months away from completing my bachelor’s degree in Honours History from McMaster University. Given how much I’m enjoying my job here with the museum, I feel very secure that I’m on the right educational path, which is something I haven’t been able to say until pretty recently.
All the staff members, including my fellow summer students, are incredibly welcoming, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic about their work! In this position, I get a taste of all the museum’s different departments: archives, programs, exhibits, collections, marketing, etc. It’s opened my eyes to how much effort and dedication goes into a place like this, and talking to museum visitors shows me how important the museum is as a community space. I am delighted to spend my summer here, learning lots about both museum work and the community of Napanee!