Our Mission
Located in the historic Gaol built in 1863, the Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives (KLMA) shares and preserves fascinating stories and unique regional artifacts and records.
The Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives dates to 1957, when a group of citizens began collecting, preserving, and sharing the heritage of Lindsay and the surrounding townships under the name of Victoria County Historical Society (VCHS). Following the closure of the County Gaol in 2003, the then VCHS began redeveloping the unique space into a museum—the fourth home of the VCHS since its inception. The old gaol's doors reopened in 2011 as a museum dedicated to sharing community histories.
The Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives is a charitable non-profit organization dedicated to increasing community awareness and appreciation of local heritage. It seeks to inspire and engage with the public through cultural exhibits, events, and partnerships within its community. Through its outreach initiatives, KLMA features, celebrates, preserves, and shares local stories and how they connect to Canada's history. Come in and explore Lindsay and Kawartha Lakes’ history today!
Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives has completed its 2024-2028 Strategic Plan, which can be viewed here. We look forward to working with our community and partners on completing our goals and moving forward.
Learn about our building
Meet Our Team
Barbara Doyle
Managing Director
Barbara is the Managing Director of the KLMA. Barbara began as a volunteer in 2016 before joining the board in 2018, and began managing the building and staff full-time in 2019. Barbara has an education background in Legal Admin and Museum Studies through the Ontario Museum Association.
Barbara grew up in Lindsay and is very involved in local community organizations. She is the co-founder of the Kawartha Lakes Health Coalition, a member of the Cultural Centre Task Force, and an active political and community advocate. She is mom to Mikell, Grace and Drew, and a grandmother to Ivy, Lily Rose and David. She has a dog named Pepper and a cat named Mouse.
Zac Miller
Archivist
Zac joined the Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives in 2018 as a Director on the board, moving into the Archivist role in 2020. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Information from University of Toronto’s iSchool. Zac has helped shape KLMA’s archival acquisitions to reflect the entirety of Kawartha Lakes and the people and communities within.
Jenna Locke
Digitization Project Lead
Jenna has joined our team for the year to a digitize a large portion of our newspaper collection. She has a Master's degree in Museum and Heritage Studies from the University of Sydney, in Sydney, Australia and completed her Bachelor of Arts at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jenna studied Anthropology and Classical history, with a particular focus on archaeology and funerary studies. Jenna has worked at various museums in Australia and Ontario, doing mostly artefact or storage relocation projects before starting at KLMA. Her favourite artefacts in our collection are the hair wreaths and Victorian-style children's toy carriage.
Har-Leigh Arsenault
Digitization Project Assistant
Har-Leigh has been the Collections Assistant for the Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives since May 2021. She was originally introduced to the organization through a short-term archival digitization contract in November 2020. Har-Leigh has recently moved into the Project Assistant role, which focuses on the digitization and online exhibit curation of the work of photographer Alan Capon. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Forensic Psychology from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Har-Leigh is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of material culture, and is excited to continue with the organization.
Laika Dadoun
Education Programmer
Laika joined the KLMA as our Educational Programmer in the spring of 2023. Having received her BFA from Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, she holds a minor in Museum and Curatorial Studies; alongside certificates in Arts Administration and Visual Material Culture Studies. Laika has been working in the collections department of Museums and Galleries since 2017, and has volunteered extensively in community programming initiatives relating to accessibility and diversity education. She has a cat named Latka, who likes to eat Matzah.
Meet Our Board
Kris Miethner
President
Kris has an educational background in Social Anthropology and Archaeology. In the late 90s and early 2000s, she spent several years working for the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority's Heritage Resources division's archaeology unit, where she assisted with field and lab work, and was an archaeological field school instructor. She currently works full-time as a web application developer, but has maintained an interest in history, archaeology, and genealogical research.
Jeremy Rausch
Treasurer
Jeremy joined the KLMA board in October 2021 and currently holds the position of treasurer. Jeremy has lived in Lindsay since 1998, and is a Sergeant with the Lindsay Police Department. He has been on the force since 2008.
Sara Walker-Howe
Secretary
Sara Walker-Howe is an armchair historian who was born and raised in Lindsay. She's looking forward to the publication of her book, Historical Citizens of Kawartha Lakes, which includes the biographies of 21 fascinating individuals. She researches and writes about local writers, both current and historical, at www.kawarthalakeswriters.com.
Clarence Keenan
Vice-President
Clarence is the Vice President of the Kawartha Lakes Museum and Archives board. He is a lifelong resident of Lindsay, and is from a very large local family. He grew up in "Punkin Hollow", the original site of Purdy Mills. Clarence retired after 35 years service with the local school board as a plant operation manager, and worked as a cell guard for the local police for 7 years.
Leslie McCartney
Director
Leslie has been a board member of KLMA since October 2021. She is a cultural anthropologist specializing in oral history and has worked in the Canadian subarctic, Alaska, England and Ireland. She is the curator of the Oral History Collection at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and has extensive experience with archives and museums.
Kane Patterson
Director
Kane is a recent addition to the KLMA board, but is a long time volunteer and employee of the organization. Kane began working for the museum in 2016 as a summer student and has since completed various contracts through the years. He is a recent graduate of the University of Ottawa, graduating with a joint honours in Political Science and History. Kane hopes to work alongside his fellow board members and offer up his education and experience to help guide the future of the Kawartha Lakes Museum and Archives.
We gratefully acknowledge support from:
