Press Releases

Amgueddfa Cymru — National Museum Wales launches appeal for memories

Over a century ago, when money was tight in the quarrying areas of north Wales, many families moved to the United States to look for a better life in the Granville area of Upstate New York. Did members of your family leave Wales? If so, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales would like to hear from you.

This year, we will be ‘twinning’ with Slate Valley Museum in Granville, a museum that is already working closely with the National Slate Museum, Llanberis. We will be organizing events here in Wales and in the United States to celebrate the twinning of the museums.

Both Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales and Slate Valley Museum are launching an appeal to learn more about those who left Wales to look for a better life across the ocean.

Here in Wales, we’ll be gathering the memories of the families who stayed at home. We’ll be looking at whether they’re still in touch with their American families. Slate Valley Museum will be running a similar appeal, and who knows – we may even be able to reunite families who’ve lost touch for generations.

Dafydd Roberts, Keeper at Llanberis’s National Slate Museum, has played an active role in the work with Slate Valley Museum:

“We already have an excellent relationship with the slate museum in Upstate New York, therefore it made sense for us to further formalise this relationship.

“We will be organizing a number of promotional activities in the near future, to raise the profile of both organizations and the twinning itself. However, over the coming months we will be looking at developing the relationship, sharing good practice, and looking at whether staff can spend time at Slate Valley Museum to look at the way they work.”

Mary Lou Willits, Director at Slate Valley Museum, added:

“We are looking forward to developing the relationship we already have with Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. The opportunity to share good practice and to discuss developments with a museum like the National Slate Museum, whose subject matter is so similar to ours, is invaluable. We will also be supporting the appeal here in Granville, and will be promoting our partnership with our friends in Wales.

If you have any memories about family members who left Wales for the quarrying areas of America, or if you’d like to be part of our activities, contact Cadi Iolen, Curator on (01286) 873714 or e-mail cadi.iolen@museumwales.ac.uk

This campaign is part of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales’s international work, which is currently concentrating on North America. Last year, we launched our latest book on the national Impressionist and Post-impressionist collections, Colour and Light, in New York, and the collection will be travelling around North America during 2008/09.

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales is the new name for the National Museums & Galleries of Wales, which operates seven national museums across Wales. These are National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans: National History Museum, National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon, Big Pit: National Coal Museum, Blaenafon, National Wool Museum, Dre-fach Felindre, National Slate Museum, Llanberis and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea — longlisted for this year’s Gulbenkian Prize.

Entry to all the museums is free, thanks to the support of the Welsh Assembly Government.

Notes to Editors

For more details on this press release, contact:

Julie Williams, Promotions Officer, National Slate Museum, (01286) 870 630; julie.williams@museumwales.ac.uk

Gwenllïan Carr, Head of Press and Public Relations, Amgueddfa Cymru — National Museum Wales, 07974 205 849; Gwenllïan.carr@museumwales.ac.uk