Legacy Lives On: Shawn Lamb given a posthumous BCHF Certificate of Appreciation
By Timothy Schafer Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The legacy and influence of Shawn Lamb in Nelson and the historical community lives on even after her passing two years ago.
The B.C. Historical Federation (BCHF) awarded Shawn Lamb (1938-2021) as a posthumous recipient of a Certificate of Appreciation, an award given for “exceptional service for a specific project or long service in the preservation of British Columbia’s history.”
The award was presented at the BCHF’s annual conference awards gala in Princeton on July 22, where family members were on hand to receive it.
In the BCHF release detailing the award, Lamb was described as “totally unselfish, talented, generous and caring.” The award comes for a lifetime of service to the museum sector and for her dedicated work to establish the Nelson Museum Archives and Gallery, formerly Touchstones Nelson Museum.
The award wasn’t Lamb’s first, having previously won Nelson’s Citizen of the Year in 1994 and the Freedom of the City in 2009.
“The first archivist and paid staff member of the Nelson Museum, Lamb worked with wholehearted spirit and was a prolific figure in Nelson,” wrote BCHF director Greg Nesteroff in a press release. “She worked tirelessly with the public, community groups and researchers to connect them to their family’s or Nelson’s past and was an active public historian, hosting Turn Back the Clock on Shaw TV, publishing books and regularly contributing to local newspapers.”
The historical collection and exhibition program was largely developed by Lamb, with the creation of the “A Visual Memoir: 25 Years at the Nelson Museum with Shawn Lamb” exhibition in 2009. That exhibit commemorated her 25 years with the museum and commemorated her retirement as well, with stories and materials pulled from her career.
Legacy
Her legacy lives on today through the Shawn Lamb Archives at the Nelson Museum Archives and Gallery, which were dedicated to her in 2006 and through the countless number of individuals she worked with and mentored during her career. Lamb passed away in 2021 at age 83.
Source: BCHF
