Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development
May 29, 2015
The following is being distributed at the request of The Rooms Corporation:
The Rooms Announces an Extraordinary Legacy Donation from Centennial Leader Individual, Elinor Gill Ratcliffe
The Rooms announced today that local philanthropist, Elinor Gill Ratcliffe, has given an additional $1 million to The Rooms towards the Where Once They Stood We Stand Capital Campaign for the First World War commemoration. Ms. Gill Ratcliffe will name the gallery to contain the First World War exhibition The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery. Today’s gift brings her total contribution to $3.25 million.
"It is the dream of all cultural organizations to have the support of a donor as generous and thoughtful as Elinor Gill Ratcliffe. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery would not have been possible without her vision and unwavering support.”
- Dean Brinton, CEO of The Rooms
While the campaign was still in its development stage, Ms. Gill Ratcliffe stepped forward with $250,000 to assist The Rooms in its preliminary planning. During the launch of The Rooms Capital Campaign in November 2013, she announced an additional donation of $2 million toward the creation of a permanent exhibition that would commemorate Newfoundland and Labrador’s participation in the First World War.
“As we approach the 100th anniversary of the battle of Beaumont-Hamel, it’s our turn now. This is our generation’s memorial. Elinor has given the people of this province a legacy; Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will be able to cherish this gallery for years to come.”
- Tom Foran, Chair of The Rooms Corporation
The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery will open on July 1, 2016.
QUICK FACTS
- Local philanthropist, Elinor Gill Ratcliffe, has given an additional $1 million to The Rooms towards the Where Once They Stood We Stand Capital Campaign for the First World War commemoration, bringing her total contribution to $3.25 million.
- Ms. Gill Ratcliffe will name the gallery to contain the First World War exhibition The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery.
- The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery will open on July 1, 2016.
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Media contacts:
|
Vanessa McBay The Rooms vanessamcbay@therooms.ca 709-757-8070 |
BACKGROUNDER
Additional Company Information
With her $3.25 million donation, Elinor Gill Ratcliffe is a considered a Centennial Leader Individual, or a lead individual contributor, to the Where Once They Stood We Stand Capital Campaign to commemorate the First World War and the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel.
The 5,600 square-foot Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery space will house the exhibition the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel and the Trail of the Caribou: Newfoundlanders and Labradorians at War and at Home 1914-1949.
The exhibition will document the effects of the First World War on Newfoundland and Labrador and will focus on those who fought, the families and communities left behind, and on the politics, economy and future of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery will include personal stories and first-hand accounts alongside archival documents and artifacts bringing to life the stories of the First World War and its ripple effect on life in Newfoundland and Labrador through to Confederation in 1949. The exhibition will open on July 1, 2016, the one 100th anniversary of the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel.
A catalogue, First World War website, and endowment for First World War public school programs will accompany the exhibition. In addition, a travelling exhibition, Newfoundland and the Somme, to be created in partnership with the Canadian War Museum, will visit communities across Newfoundland and Labrador from 2016 onwards.
2015 05 29 11:25 a.m.