Arresting images courtesy of the OPP (6 photos)

NEWS RELEASE

SAULT STE. MARIE MUSEUM

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Arresting Images - Mug shots from the OPP Museum

The Sault Ste. Marie Museum will present an exhibit from the OPP Museum, January 17 to March 24, 2012.

What is Arresting Images?

Arresting Images is an award-winning travelling exhibition from the OPP Museum in Barrie, Ontario, created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the OPP in 2009.

The exhibit features 100 mug shots (1886 - 1908) from The OPP Museum’s collection.

These images are reproduced and presented at their actual size so both the photographs on the front of the mug shot, and the descriptions of the suspect on the back, are displayed.

It includes the two earliest known mug shots (1886) in a public collection in Canada.

"It is quite interesting to see how early photography played a role in the apprehension of criminals at the time," commented curator Kim Forbes. "One tends to think of mug shots as being something relatively modern."

The exhibit documents a unique historic encounter between the police of the time (the Niagara Ontario Police – forebears to the present-day Ontario Provincial Police) and suspects and criminals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Arresting Images provides a unique perspective on the social history of Ontario in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the practices of early policing in Ontario.

Arresting Images shares with the public a rare collection of historical photographic portraits from The OPP Museum’s permanent collection.

The curatorial selection of the featured photographs was a lengthy, methodical process.

Each individual’s story was approached with care and within the context of historical inquiry.

The portraits selected for the exhibition represent a cross section of age, gender, ethnicity, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds of individuals featured in the historic collection.

About the Sault Ste. Marie Museum

The museum is a non-profit institution maintained by the Sault Ste. Marie and 49th Field Regiment R.C.A. Historical Society for the benefit of the citizens of Sault Ste. Marie and area, as well as visitors to the community.

The museum collects, preserves, studies and exhibits artifacts and archival materials that illustrate the history and development of Sault Ste. Marie and vicinity to foster an understanding of our local heritage and how it relates to provincial and national history.

The museum is located on the northwest corner of Queen and East streets and welcomes visitors year-round.

The museum is open:

Monday to Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., June 1 to September 30

Tuesday to Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., October 1 to May 31

For more information, contact the museum by phone at 759-7278 or by e-mail at [email protected]. 

The museum’s website

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Pictured: Rebecca Shanley