According to the World Federation of Friends of Museums (WFFM) the first Friends association was the Vorarlberger Landesmuseumverein of Austria, set up in 1857. There was a tendency for the early organizations to be for the elite; their members were art collectors and wealthy benefactors who achieved prestige from their affiliation with museums.
After the Second World War, though, two new trends emerged. First, the general attitude towards museums changed with greater opportunities in education and with the formation of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and UNESCO. Then, there was a marked social change as women stepped outside the household and into the workforce. The time was ripe for the formation of autonomous and diverse volunteer groups that could actively aid museums and their curators. The movement grew, initially in Europe and then in North America.
Canadians followed suit and formed many Friends groups themselves. The Women’s Committee of the Art Gallery of Ontario, the group from which CFFM’s Founding President Diana Goad emerged, was formed in 1945 and is one earliest Canadian Friends groups.
As these groups of friends became more capable, some of the more outward-looking members began thinking about the international museum community and they created the World Federation of Friends of Museums in 1972 at the First International Congress of Friends of Museums in Barcelona, Spain. Canadians were amongst these international friends.
Since its formation, the Canadian Federation of Friends of Museums is proud to be under the patronage of the Governor General of Canada. We also continue to participate in WFFM events and attend their annual congresses.
Over the years, CFFM has made great strides. We first published our newsletter, Au Courant, in 1982. We now release it electronically between three and four times a year. We held our first Carol Sprachman Memorial Lecture in 2000, named in honour of a devoted museum volunteer who was our former President and National Director. This lecture series features a keynote by a leading voice in Canadian culture and heritage. In 2009, with the Canadian Museum Association, we established the Museum Volunteer Award, celebrating the work of an individual or a group of museum volunteers. In 2017, we celebrated our 40th Anniversary. We founded our own Young Friends Council that encourages youth participation in museums and that partners with our members to organize events for young people. In 2019, Montreal hosted the World Federation of Friends of Museums general assembly, in which the CFFM organized various museum and heritage activities.
Today, we continue to produce new resources for museum volunteers and we continue to support our members.