May 17, 2002 Dionne Quint Museum Open for 2002

The Quints with their NHL hockey sweaters- now on display at the museum. Photo from Dionne Quints Museum Collection, with expressed permission of Annette & Cecile Dionne.

On May 28, 1934 one of the most remarkable events in the last century took place when five identical girls were born in Corbeil east of Callander on what is now highway 94. With the combined birth weight of 13lbs 5 oz they were the only known quintuplets to have lived. An estimated three million people came to see them in the “Quintland” complex in the middle of the Depression providing a tremendous boost to the local economy. Like many celebrities today their life has been followed by millions in newspaper and magazine articles, several books, movies, and a television mini series based on their life. One permanent repository of artifacts of their life is the Dionne Quints Museum at Highways 11 and 17 at Seymour St. in North Bay. The museum opens for the 2002 season tomorrow.

Sharon Clark-Berard, the museum Director for the past fifteen years, reports that some necessary structural repairs have been completed and that they are ready for the thousands of visitors that come each year. The fight for “Justice not Charity” which gave the Quints a just settlement from the provincial government, a new book on their life, and Yvonne’s death in June last year have kept their lives in the news. The Quints visited North Bay in May of 1988 and raised money for the museum and a local treatment centre. 

The Museum is in the original Quint home, and that of six siblings, born prior to the Quints birth, and their father Oliva and Mother Elzire. When the Quints were born and the house was reorganized, the family, three nurses, and various helpers where in the home until other accommodations could be arranged.

Dr. Dafoe

Dr. Dafoe, who arrived after the midwives had delivered  two of the Quints, visited regularly and went on to become part of folklore as the prototypical country doctor traveling and lecturing across America. His office and home from 1914 until his death in 1943 is now part of the Callander Bay Heritage Museum. The Museum has many Dafoe and Quints artifacts in its large local collection. The Ontario  Heritage Foundation recently designated  the house part of the Museum as  “Dr. Dafoe House” and as a heritage site. The Callander Museum and the Quints Museum work closely together and many visitors visit both locations. The Museum in Callander has a special event “When Hollywood Came to Callander” scheduled for the 2003 season. 

Louise de Kirilene

Louise de Kirilene (Lawrence), who was featured here last week, was the head nurse in the quints house during their first year. Pierre Berton in his book “The Dionne Years” says that Louise was a companion to widower Dr. Dafoe for several years and that he had proposed to her on one occasion. In her book on the Quints she praised him extensively, but later found that he changed as he was more in the spotlight.

The Dionne Quints house in Corbeil. Photo from Dionne Quints Museum Collection.

History of the Museum

After the Quints moved to their newly constructed nursery the Quints brother Daniel bought the house where he briefly ran the first floor as a museum. He later sold it to John Kennedy who later sold it to entrepreneur Stan Guignard who in the 1960s moved it to a field next to the Pinewood Motor hotel. He collected some excellent Quints artifacts and ran it as a private museum until the mid 1980s when it was sold to North Bay.

The City of North Bay

A fund raising venture raised enough money to purchase the museum for North Bay and the building was moved to the new North Bay Chamber of Commerce Tourist Information Centre site in 1985.

Gift Shop

As a part of the information centre and the museum there is a gift shop with many Quints postcards, photos, books, etc. including the candid and powerful book “the Dionnes” by Ellie Tesher, “a tale of humanity and courage, of family feuding and solidarity, and the long and often painful road to justice.” It provides a more in depth understanding  of the complex issues in the Quints lives.

Quint Hockey sweaters

Sharon Clark-Bernard recently showed me a fascinating new acquisition, five NHL hockey sweaters made for the Quints when they where quite young (see photo). The sweaters along with various other items came from the collection of Quints nurse Yvonne Leroux who went on to have her own radio program in New York City. She became the “darling of the lecture circuit” and married the exclusive Quint photographer Fred Davis who she met at the Quint house. 

The Dionne Quint home as the Dionne Quints Museum in North Bay. Photo from the Dionne Quints Museum web site.

The Museum has recently completed the digitization of the hundreds of photographs in their collection protecting the originals and making them more accessible.

The Museum is open seven days a week in season from 9 to 4 and 9-7 in July and August. The Gift shop is open year round. Their web site is www.northbaychamber.com/quints.html