Rom ReCollects

ROM ReCollects
Royal Ontario Museum launches crowd-sourcing project to create a unique
online record of visitors’ treasured memories   

(Toronto, Ontario – December 12, 2013)  The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) looks back at 100 years of educating, entertaining, and engaging generations of visitors with a unique on-line crowd-sourcing project, ROM ReCollects.  The public is being encouraged to submit their memories, important moments and reflections of their time at the Museum, leading up to the ROM`s Centennial celebrations starting March 19, 2014.

“Over the years, people have told us that the ROM has played significant roles in their lives,” said Janet Carding, ROM Director and CEO. “So we’ve invited our audience— our most valued partner — to help chronicle the Museum’s history.  By participating in this unique project, our visitors have the opportunity to tell the story of the ROM as it moves into the next century.”

The ROM is asking visitors, past and present, to share their fondest memories, funniest stories and most poignant moments through video, photographs, illustrations and stories in an innovative timeline which reflects the Museum’s past. As well as contributing their own memories, visitors can read and add to other submissions of favourite experiences – from ROM staff, visitors, and notable Torontonians. Visitors can access stories at www.rom.on.ca/romrecollects and navigate the content in a number of ways - by era, as image, text or video, or by theme, including Behind the Scenes; Clubs, Camps, Programs & Parties; Controversies; Myths & Legends; Visiting; and Working & Volunteering.  

Among the submissions to date, is the story from ROM employee Frank Petersen about how a family heirloom he brought in was identified by a curator as “dating back nearly 5,000 years.” And fashion journalist Jeanne Beker recalls her childhood at the Museum: “One of my favourite things to do was to go to the ROM on a Saturday afternoon and gaze at the (invisible) knight in shining armour. That suit conjured up such romantic visions for me!”

The ROM ReCollects website launched in October 2013 and will continue as part of the Museum’s Centennial celebrations through to March 2015.

For further information about contributing your own story to ROM ReCollects, contact Julia Matthews, ROM ReCollects Editor at juliama@rom.on.ca

About ROM 100

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) launches an exciting year of Centennial events and activities on March 19, 2014. While celebrating the Museum’s history, collections, curatorial expertise, and research contributions, the Centennial is also an opportunity to highlight the unique ways in which the ROM connects visitors to their world and each other.

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