Memories of Quidi Vidi

The past few weeks in Quidi Vidi have been spent gearing up for the bulk of the project to come. I’ve been working out of the Quidi Vidi Village Plantation for two weeks now and next week, finally, the interviewing process begins!

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the project, the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, in partnership with The City of St. John’s, is reaching out to the residents of Quidi Vidi Village to help preserve the memories and heritage of this unique community. Many of the families who live in Quidi Vidi have been here for hundreds of years and others have only moved here in recent years. Each person will have experienced Quidi Vidi differently, but the one thing that binds them together is place itself - all of their memories will be tied to this little fishing village. My hope with this project is to see which locations in The Village have memories tied to them, which spots have names not depicted on modern maps, and, most important, how the people of The Village feel about their community.  

Most of what I’ve done so far is planning work so that the main part of the project goes smoothly, things like making contact with locals, setting up my office, taking preliminary pictures of The Village, reading history, and beginning to plot out buildings. All of these things will make the interviewing and recording process easier.

So far, the people that I’ve met in the village have been generous with their time and their knowledge. People like Craig Walsh, who owns a home and a fishing stage in The Village, John O’Brien, who has lived in Quidi Vidi his entire life, and “adopted Newfoundlander,” Peg Magnone, who once owned an antique store in Mallard Cottage but now resides in The Village. This project will be successful because of the people in The Village and their willingness to participate in recording their history and culture with my help.

Check back next week to see how my first week of interviews went!

-Joelle

Red Bay Basque Whaling Station named Canada’s 17th World Heritage site

The news that The Red Bay Basque Whaling Station in Newfoundland and Labrador has been inscribed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage List was welcomed warmly today by the Honourable Peter Kent, Canada’s Environment Minister and Minister responsible for Parks Canada. The decision to inscribe the site on UNESCO’s prestigious list was made by the World Heritage Committee at its annual meeting, held in Cambodia.

“In declaring The Red Bay Basque Whaling Station a cultural place of outstanding universal value, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has afforded Red Bay the highest recognition for a protected heritage place in the world,” said Minister Kent. “This international designation indicates that the site’s cultural characteristics are so exceptional they deserve to be protected for the benefit of all humanity. The Government of Canada is delighted that the Red Bay Basque Whaling Station now becomes Canada’s 17th UNESCO World Heritage site.”

Including its buffer zone, The Red Bay Basque Whaling Station World Heritage site takes in some 600 hectares of terrestrial and submerged resources, and properties managed by individuals, its municipality and other levels of government. Visitor opportunities at Red Bay National Historic Site, managed by Parks Canada, will continue to set the stage for experiencing what is the largest and most complete example of early industrial-scale whaling in the world.

Newfoundland and Labrador boasts numerous sites of important cultural significance, and Red Bay is certainly one of our province’s greatest treasures,” said the Honourable Terry French, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. “We are honoured that this important part of our history will be protected and preserved under this heritage designation and now takes its rightful place among the other world-renowned sites.”

“This recognition from UNESCO is a major community achievement. I am thrilled for our Town and for the many partners who have worked on this project over the years,” said Wanita Stone, Mayor of the Town of Red Bay. I am very proud of all of our residents. We are ready and eager to share this cultural history with the world.”

Documenting and celebrating the voices of seniors

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador administers the province’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Strategy, working to safeguard traditional culture. The ICH Strategy provides opportunities for community members to come together to share their ideas, experiences and traditional knowledge. Through sharing knowledge, it hopes to open up intergenerational and intercultural conversations about shared values and experiences.

The provincial ICH strategy recognizes, as a guiding principle, that the inclusion of multiple voices, including those of seniors, is important in all work relating to Intangible Cultural Heritage. ICH is kept alive and is relevant to a culture when it is regularly practised, and learned within communities and between generations. In many instances, elders in our communities are the bearers of much of our traditions and customs.

The ICH office has been working closely with Memorial University’s Digital Archives Initiative to store and showcase a number of oral history collections, many of which feature the voices of seniors. Collections are organized thematically or by community. Over the past year, a number of new community collections have been created, notably for Registered Heritage Districts in both Heart’s Content and Bay Roberts. These specific collections focus heavily on the reminiscences of seniors in those communities.

ICH thematic collections cover a number of topics, ranging from calendar customs such as mummering, to craft traditions like rug hooking. Almost all the collections include the voices of seniors, but there are a few collections of note which are particularly excellent examples of the documentation of the voices of elders. Some of these collections include:

The Newfoundland and Labrador Fishery -116 audio interviews
The daily work of the fishery had a profound impact on the culture and history of Newfoundland and Labrador. The particular method of curing fish in Newfoundland (and Atlantic Canada)--soaking in brine and sun- drying on stretches of coastline--led to the development of specific architectural forms, language, and many different aspects of occupational folklore. This collection showcases the history, hard work, and lifestyle of many Newfoundland fishing families.

Voices of Nurses -119 audio interviews
In the mid 1980s Marilyn Marsh interviewed a group of Newfoundland nurses who graduated between 1918 and 1949 and worked in a variety of nursing settings and locations in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) and in several cases internationally.The nurses' stories capture what life was like for women and nurses during that era. Women in the 1920s and 30s had few career options. Most chose to stay in their community, marry and have families. For those wishing to pursue a career, to travel or were adventuresome, nursing provided the greatest opportunities but for many also their greatest challenges. These interviews reveal their lived experiences and provide insight into who they were as women and nurses.

Boatbuilding - 63 audio interviews
This collection of audio recordings highlights the stories, knowledge and skills of Newfoundland boat-builders, several of whom who have passed away since the time of recording. For much of their history, the fishermen of Newfoundland and Labrador enjoyed a reputation for making fine boats. Using only hand tools and local timber, they built skiffs, punts or "rodneys", motor boats and schooners, and a variety of other small wooden boats. While the principle focus of these recordings center around the materials and methods used in the construction of inshore fishing vessels, often those being interviewed will provide personal narratives about their lives in early twentieth century Newfoundland and Labrador outports.

Photo: Wilson Hayward showing tourists the art of mending nets, 

at Ryan Premises National Historic Site of Canada. Photo courtesy Parks Canada.

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Quidi Vidi By's

I snapped this photo last week while out exploring Quidi Vidi Village for the Memories of Quidi Vidi project. I love everything about this photo - the rocky background, the handmade wooden eagle, the texture of the hung up nets, and, of course, the name of the boat. 

-Joelle

What's happening in the world of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Newfoundland and Labrador

In this month's edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador: the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is hiring a researcher to work on a project with the Department of Folklore to research wells, springs and traditional knowledge about water sources; Tolson Rendell of Heart's Content shears his sheep; marine engine enthusiasts are invited to a meeting about Newfoundland's iconic make and break engines; we start work on our folklore and oral history project in Quidi Vidi, St. John's; Nicole Penney returns from ICH workshops in South East Bight; designers are sought for the design of a helicopter memorial; and ICH Development Officer Dale Jarvis looks back on the past year of ICH policy work and programming at the HFNL office.

You can download the newsletter in PDF or other formats from:

https://archive.org/details/Ichupdate044small

Historic Plaque Program: LSPU Hall

For many years, the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador has been placing historic plaques on registered heritage structures throughout the province. Over the years, some of these plaques have gone missing, are out of date or have fallen into disrepair. Over the past year we have been identifying which structures need plaques. We recently received our first order of shiny new bronze plaques and the first one we gave out was to the LSPU Hall.

LSPU Hall staff posing with their brand new bronze plaque
 (L-R): Suzanne Mullett, Peter Rompkey and Katie Butler Major

Like many other buildings in downtown St. John's, the LSPU Hall currently stands on a site that has a history stretching back hundreds of years. In the case of this building, the use of the site traces back to 1789 when it was the location of the first Congregationalist Church in Newfoundland. Several of the structures built on the site were destroyed by fire over the decades. The current building was constructed between 1923 and 1926 after it was destroyed by fire in 1922.




-Nicole

The Summer Mummers

A typical day in the ICH office!

This past Monday, some of us at the Heritage Foundation took part in a television shoot for a CBC crew out of Quebec, doing a piece on Newfoundland.  You have to guess for yourselves who is who in the picture above.

Intangible Cultural Heritage: Digitization Workshop

Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador

9:00 – 4:00 Tuesday, 25 June 2013 

Location: MANL Offices; 

15 Hallett Crescent St. John’s, NL 

This workshop is part of our Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) series.  ICH is also known as “living heritage” and it encompasses many traditions, practices and customs.  These include the stories we tell, the family events we celebrate, the songs we sing, our healing traditions, the foods we eat and cultural practices.   There are many ways of documenting ICH that should be considered when safeguarding the living heritage of a group or community. Some documentation methods might include taking photographs of people, places, architecture, and cultural objects, such as tools and costumes. For audio, this means doing recorded interviews to collect stories, memories, songs, beliefs, and descriptions of how to make crafts or how to perform certain customs and traditions. You can also use video recorders to document cultural activities and performances, conduct interviews, or to show how a place looks and operates.

Existing collections of ICH held by museums and archives are likely in many formats, but quite often have not been digitized for proper storage or exhibition. This workshop aims to guide museums, individuals or organizations in digitizing their existing collections.  These skills will help museums to meet standards around safeguarding of ICH collections, making collections accessible to the public, and ensuring the long-term preservation of ICH material.  This is an elective course with MANL’s certificate in museum studies program.

Instructor: Dale Jarvis, Intangible Cultural Heritage Officer, and Lisa Wilson, Heritage Districts Officer; Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador
Enrolment Limits: Maximum of 15

Registration fees:  $70 for MANL members,   $95 for non-members

Registration Deadline: June 18, 2013

Space is limited!!  Reserve your seat early!!!

Financial assistance for transportation costs is available for MANL members: please contact the MANL office for more information. You may also visit www.museums.ca to find out more about the Canadian Museums Association Travel Bursary. For further information, please contact the MANL:

manl@nf.aibn.com ¨  Ph 709-722-9034 ¨  Fax: 709-722-9035

Cancellations received less than 5 days in advance are not eligible for refunds.

Participants who do not attend remain responsible for full payment.

Reunited Photographs: Tennis on the Avenue

It is a well-known fact that there was once a tennis court behind the Bay Roberts cable station. This court was built and maintained by the Western Union in order to provide some leisure and entertainment to their staff. Below are two photographs of people waiting to play tennis, and each came to us from different sources. When we put them together, it was a surprise for us to see that they were almost identical, but not quite --  you can see that one was taken just after the other. It's likely that they had the same photographer, believed to be Mr. Robert Mercer, former cable employee and avenue resident. We wonder how the two photographs got separated but are happy to reunite them. Can you spot the differences? And which do you think was taken first?

Photograph provided by V. Williams (London, Ontario), whose husband Brian was raised on Cable Avenue.

Photograph provided by the Bay Roberts Historical Society Inc., part of their larger cable-related collection.

If you know anything about these photographs, like the names of people in the tennis line, or if there are any more images in the series, I'd love to hear from you: lisa@heritagefoundation.ca.

-Lisa

Job Posting: Traditional Water Sources Survey Fieldworker

Traditional Water Sources Survey Fieldworker

Memorial’s Department of Folklore and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador are hiring a researcher to work on their “Traditional Knowledge of Springs and Wells in the St. John's Area” project. The project is designed to map locational information and to collect oral histories about wells, springs and natural water sources within the St. John's Area. It will research the location and associated knowledge of springs, wells, water diviners, spouts, wishing wells, rag wells, traditional knowledge about water purity and cleanliness, techniques to prevent fouling of water sources, and traditional values around drinking water. This research will focus on three main concepts related to water sources and traditional management of those resources: geospatial knowledge about the resource; knowledge about use and management of the resources; and local values about those resources.

The applicant must have excellent oral and written communication skills; be curious, outgoing and willing to talk to property owners and local informants; have experience in conducting folklore or oral history interviews; and have training (preferably at the graduate level) in Folklore, Archaeology, Cultural Geography, History or another related field. Valid driver’s licence and use of automobile, and previous experience with a heritage organization is an asset. Someone willing to get wet and dirty is a bonus!

Work will be based out of the offices of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John’s, and will begin as soon as possible after the closing date for applications, running approximately through July to October 2013.

Please send cv and cover letter to:

Philip Hiscock, Department of Folklore
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St John’s NL A1B 3X8

or by email to philip@mun.ca

Applications should be submitted before Friday 21 June 2013.

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Riding the Rails

This is a picture of my great grandmother, Ethel Peddle (nee Ivany), taken circa 1927-1933. Her father was a roadmaster with the Newfoundland Railway and she would ride the rails with him from time to time. Originally from Bloomfield, Bonavista Bay, Ethel loved the opportunity to go clothes shopping in Clarenville or St. John's on these trips. This snap was taken in Clarenville when my great grandmother was in her late teens to early twenties.

-Nicole

Bay Roberts Oral History Clips

In 1913, the Western Union Telegraph Company began constructing the homes on this street to accommodate their cable staff. So, this year marks the 100th birthday of Cable Avenue in Bay Roberts. To help mark this anniversary, I've been collecting oral histories with current and former residents of the street, as well as former employees of the Western Union. As we've mentioned before, some of this research will be up for temporary exhibition at the Road to Yesterday Museum. It will not only explore the cable operations of Western Union, but the architectural and family history of the street as well. Our display will be ready for viewing sometime this month and we'll keep you posted with dates for the official opening party that will take place later in the summer. In the meantime, please take a listen to a few audio clips from our collection.

Eileen Starr, former resident of Cable Avenue and daughter of Western Union employee Fred Starr, tells the story of when their family home burned down on the avenue in 1960.

Bart Kennedy, former employee of Western Union, explains how the cable station operated.

To browse a larger collection of audio clips, please visit our youtube channel.   There are some great stories up that we are eager to share.


-Lisa