The Bytown Museum’s search for a new director is coming to a close in the next few weeks, two months after the departure of Mike Steinhauer, director of the Centretown history centre for nearly three years.
Insisting the place is no longer a sleepy, seasonal backwater at the headlocks of the Rideau Canal, Steinhauer says he believes he firmly established the Bytown Museum as a relevant historical institution before leaving in August to take a job with the federal government.
News of Steinhauer’s departure came shortly after controversial comments by a museum employee regarding “In Flanders Field” poet Lt.-Col. John McCrae, whose poignant story from the First World War was part of an exhibition at the time.
The suggestion that McCrae had written the poem in a fit of grief over the death of a gay lover – former Lisgar Collegiate Institute student Alex Helmer – made headlines, but was never substantiated by historical research,
Steinhauer says.
“The timing of the incident was a bit unfortunate,” he adds
Just days after Steinhauer had formally resigned, Francesco Corsaro, director of development for the museum, commented in local media that McCrae wrote his most famous poem the day after Helmer was killed and buried in a Flanders field.
When historians could not confirm the sensational claim, the notion was dismissed as quickly as it was raised. Four days after the story surfaced, Steinhauer, in his final weeks at the museum, issued a public statement:
“It is not the role of the Bytown Museum to make claims related to the personal lives of historical figures,” he said. “We concur with all Canadians in lauding McCrae as a distinguished poet, army officer, and physician.”
The museum anticipates no lasting fallout from the McCrae comments, says Tom Caldwell, president of the board of directors.
“Mike handled the situation very well and it was put to bed very quickly,” he says. “Mike left the museum in very good shape.”
Expressing gratitude for his years at the helm of the museum, Steinhauer says the institution is a true gem.
Over three years, Steinhauer says he saw the museum go through an important period of growth. Now with a city-wide mandate, more year-round educational programs and exhibitions, and a focus on the past and present, he says the museum has been put on the map.
“Perhaps my greatest legacy is that I’ve shaken up, just ever so slightly, this once sleepy museum,” he adds.
The museum has a solid, strategic plan in place for the future, including a new exhibition, Dearly Departed, opening on Oct. 18, says Caldwell.
The museum is still interviewing candidates for the director’s job and is a few weeks away from an announcement, says Caldwell.
“I’m confident that the new director, along with the board, will build upon the accomplishments of the past few years and take the museum to the next level,” says Steinhauer.