The Award of Honour recognizes an individual or institution for outstanding contributions and the demonstration of a high level of achievement in the areas of research, education or preservation as they relate to the human or natural history of Prince Edward Island.
The late Ruby E. Cousins certainly meets and exceeds this award’s high bar of achievement. In her time among us, Ruby made invaluable contributions to the research and preservation of Island history and heritage.
A gifted teacher and a widely respected historian, Ruby devoted many years of her life to helping people across the Island compile the histories of their communities.
She helped to write community histories for Lot 16, Park Corner, and French River. Ruby also spent many years on the board of the Keir Memorial Museum, where she helped to create and implement its hugely popular “Malpeque Talks” summer series.
She assisted a great many people with history and genealogy projects and was always ready to help her friends and anyone else who had an interest in local history. It was said she personified the schoolteacher in retirement who, willingly and with a smile, organized many events for the sake of historical education and the public good.
Ruby was constantly working to secure funding for seniors, or for the Keir Memorial Museum where she made sure that preservation was carried out according to principles she learned through the many courses she took from the Community Museums Association of Prince Edward Island.
Her accomplishments include launching local history on to the internet, through the Town of Kensington’s KenNet. It was there that Ruby taught seniors to scan images, search land records and work as a team to preserve local history and the genealogies of families across Prince and Queens counties.
Ruby knew the landscape of PEI and her breadth of knowledge extended from the Southwest Lot 16 of her childhood to Park Corner in her married and working life. She was always in the mix if a history project came within her wide orbit which included the PEI Scottish Settlers Historical Society, the Women’s Institute and the Kensington Seniors.
Ruby was also an active participant in the work of the Community Museums Association of PEI.