Basic Folklore and Oral History Interviewing Course

Monday Nights
7pm-9pm
January 9th - January 30th, 2017

Calling all budding folklorists and armchair historians! This workshop is open to anyone with an interest in local history, culture and folklore, and who wishes to learn more about safeguarding our cultural heritage through the medium of oral histories.

The course will give a background on conducting research interviews in the field. It will provide an overview of the methodology and explore the practical matters of creating, designing, and executing effective oral history research projects, project planning, interview questions, ethical issues, and recording equipment.

Over the four week course, participants will conduct an interview, prepare archival metadata, and work collaboratively to create a finished oral history project.

The workshop will be taught by folklorist Dale Jarvis, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. He has been working for the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador since 1996, and holds a BSc in Anthropology/Archaeology from Trent University, and a MA in Folklore from Memorial University.

Participants will need to bring their own laptop/tablet, all other materials provided. If you have your own digital recording device (tablet, iPhone, mp3 recorder, etc) you are encouraged to bring it, but it is not required.

Workshop fee: $100 (preregistration required, limited to 10 participants)
Location: Newman Building, 1 Springdale Street, St. John’s
Online registration here

For more information, contact Dale Jarvis at 709-739-1892 x2, or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca

#CollectiveMemories Roadtrip to St. Lawrence

Terra Barrett and Kelly Drover with the material to be digitized!

Last Thursday Dale, Kelly and I took a drive down the Burin Peninsula to meet with the St. Lawrence Historical Advisory Committee. When we arrived on Thursday afternoon we stopped in to their office in the town hall where we sorted through the material they needed digitized. We ended up taking 20 VHS, 21 CDs and DVDs, 4 cassettes, 4 Kodak slide carousels filled with slides and a small box of assorted slides. This material will be digitized over the next little while and will certainly keep Kelly busy. After this successful visit we drove to Burin in order to take a couple of photos of the designated buildings in the community. We also stopped in to the Heritage Café for a delicious supper.

Public meeting on oral history projects.

In the evening we met with community members in the St. Lawrence Public Library in order to discuss how to do an oral history project. Dale gave an introduction to oral history interviewing including how to focus the interview, reasons to conduct an informal “pre-interview” and the sort of questions to ask. We also ran through the basics of consent forms and how to process the material once you collect it. This included an explanation of tape logs and suggestions of ways to use the material such as booklets, audio clips, etc.

ThérèseSlaney and Dale Jarvis.

Reviewing Herb Slaney's plans.

The following morning we had an interview with Thérèse Slaney about growing up in St. Pierre, her move to St. Lawrence and marriage to Herb Slaney, a description of the first autopsy performed in the community and its importance to miners, an explanation of how the tradition of Mardi Gras started in St. Lawrence, and her husband Herb’s work engineering the cross and grotto in the community. Thérèse was a wonderful woman to chat with and described delicious French foods over a cup a tea in her kitchen.

St. Lawrence's grotto.

The cross in St. Cecilia Roman Catholic Cemetery.

After our interview with Therese we had a look at the community’s grotto and cross engineered by Herb Slaney and visited a couple of graveyards. Our last stop on the drive back to St. John’s was to the community of Petite Forte to photograph another designated building and take a look at the beautiful harbour. All in all a very successful trip to the Burin Peninsula!

Petite Forte

~Terra Barrett

Workshop on how to document old buildings! Nov 3rd and 5th.

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and Youth Heritage NL are co-organizing a workshop in field-recording for heritage buildings. The workshop will be lead by preservationist Emily Wolf and will cover field measurement (including US HABS standards), recording techniques, and documentary photography.

The workshop will take place in two sessions, from 7-9:30pm on Thursday, November 3, and from 11am-4pm on Saturday, November 5. The evening “classroom” session will take place at the Newman Building, 1 Springdale St., St. John’s. Techniques covered in the evening session will be practiced on-site during the afternoon session at the Squires Barn and Carriage House Registered Heritage Structure (part of MUN Botanical Garden on Mount Scio Road, St. John’s).

This workshop will be useful for architects and enthusiasts, folklorists, historians, or anyone interested in hands-on research in built heritage. The cost for this workshop is $10 and space is limited to 15 participants. No experience is necessary. Volunteers are encouraged to bring a camera (or a cell phone camera) to practice their architectural photography.

Warm drinks and snacks will be provided but do dress appropriately. The workshop will be rescheduled if the weather is uncooperative.

For more information contact Youth Heritage NL at youthheritagenl@gmail.com or Michael at 709-739-1892 ext. 3.

Register on Eventbrite

Emily Wolf is a historic preservationist and lecturer in Boston Architectural College’s Master of Design Studies Program in Historic Preservation, teaching courses in architectural history and research and documentation. She formerly served as Architectural Historian/Assistant Survey Director at the Boston Landmarks Commission. A resident of St. John’s, she is a director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Historic Trust.

Workshop - Collecting Oral Histories around Anniversaries and Milestone events. Nov 9, Corner Brook.

“Collecting Oral Histories around Anniversaries and Milestone events: Digital collection methods of the stories and descriptions of artifacts in collections.”

Date: Wednesday, November 9, 2016; 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.
Location: Corner Brook, NL. Venue to be determined.

Collecting the oral history of an artifact is an important part of collections management. When people assemble at anniversaries and millstone event exhibitions opportunities to collect information on collections are created, and museums should be prepared to use these interactions with the public to collect and enhance collections records. The stories of veterans and people associated with artifacts should be properly recorded.

This workshop will provide information on the proper recording methods for oral history in museum settings. These histories will enable participants to enhance artifact records by recording stories on digital media. Participants will learn proper methods for digitizing audio and video recordings including the use of electronic devices, recording best practices and proper methods of digital storage. These recordings maybe used to enhance the display of artifacts.

Instructor for the Workshop: Dale Jarvis, Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador
Enrolment Limits: Maximum of 20
Registration fees: $85 for MANL members, $110 for non-members
Registration Deadline: November 1, 2016

To register, contact Museums Association of NL 

Lassy Wall, Crackie Road, and the Unmarked Graves – Stories from Spaniard’s Bay

Workshop participants.

On Wednesday August 24, 2016 Dale and I drove out to Spaniard’s Bay for a short #NLHeritage roadtrip for a People Places and Traditions workshop. The local heritage society invited us out to do a workshop with the community and engage local people with their heritage.

Discussing what to put on the cards for people, places, and traditions.

The People, Places, and Traditions is the first step for communities who want to map out what heritage means to local people. It is a way to get people thinking about the resources in the area. All the people who make the best toutons, build boats, farm strawberries, tell great stories, or have knowledge particular to the area. It makes people think about the places where they swim, berry pick, trout, and about the old names for neighbourhoods and trails, community gathering places, and historic buildings. People remember traditions around bonfire night, Santa Claus parades, hauling wood, mummering, fairies, and local festivals and events.

Brandon and Dale discussing the location of a local sliding hill.

Several great stories came out of last night’s discussion of community heritage including the story of the Lassy Wall. The Lassy Wall below the Holy Redeemer Church was built in 1830 as a retaining wall to shore up the hill from the main road. The people who built the wall were paid in molasses so the wall became known as the Lassy Wall.

The Lassy Wall in Spaniard's Bay.  Photo by Cathy Kleinwort, 2005.  Courtesy of the Town of Spaniard's Bay.

Another story about a place name was about Anthony’s Road which is locally known as Crackie Road. There were two stories about where the name came from. Several of the older community members said the road was called Crackie Road because the people that lived there were “saucy as crackies” while a younger summer student with the heritage society who lived on the street was told it was just because there were a lot of crackies or small saucy dogs on the street.

Plotting the cards on the map.

One story which was not well known in the community was about the unmarked graves on a marshy island in Shearstown Pond. The story that was told was of a family who died of a contagious disease and the people of the community were so worried about catching the disease that they buried the family on the island rather than in the community’s cemetery.

People, places. and traditions.

There were a number of important local characters mentioned such E.H. Vokey who was a teacher, local historian, writer, and photographer. Another woman put down her grandfather who would always bake molasses raisin bread just for her (without the raisins) and would be sure to heat up rocks to send her to bed with at night!

Reviewing the story about the Spaniard's Bay Riot in 1932.

Did you grown up in Spaniard’s Bay? If you have memories of other people, places, and traditions in the area let us know in the comments!

Traditions practiced at the Loyal Orange Lodge.

~Terra Barrett

#CollectiveMemories Roadtrip to Humber Valley - People, Places and Traditions

Discussing people, places, and traditions.

On Wednesday Dale and I headed back to Reidville, the community where we interviewed Clifford Reid, in order to do a second People, Places, and Traditions workshop. We ended up with a smaller crowd due to the size of the town.  This meant that the sixteen of us were able to sit around one big table and have a discussion about some of the town’s history and stories.

Writing on their index cards.

After discussing the people, places, and traditions in the community we handed out index cards for everyone to fill out. Everyone took a couple of cards and wrote out someone, some place, or some tradition which is important to the community. We then mapped the cards on the large map of the community.

The story of Dead Man's Woods.

What was great about this workshop was that the size of the group and the close-knit community meant it turned into a story telling session with people taking turns telling stories from their childhood. Russ Reid told many stories about Mr. Oxford and himself growing up and the trouble they would get into.  The stories ranged from antagonizing the bull in his pen to sneaking up to the lumber camps, there were stories about a child who fell into a well and survived, a woman who gave birth in a canoe on her way to Deer Lake, and almost everyone had a story about stealing apples or fruit from their neighbours’ yards.

Adding stories and memories to the map.

Impromptu story telling around the Reidville map.

Reidville is located on a river and the islands of the river were named as well as the beaches which served as swimming holes or trouting spots. One of the islands, named Grandmother’s Island, was where Mr. Oxford would collect the long grass which would be used in their psalm Sunday services in the school which doubled as a church.

Discussing the future of heritage in the Humber Valley region.

After the session in Reidville Dale and I headed to Deer Lake where we had quick supper, and a poke around the community and two of the local cemeteries before heading to the Grand Lake Centre of Economic Development for a meeting with the Humber Valley Heritage society. We met with four members of the heritage society to talk about the future of heritage in Humber Valley. These women were the people who invited us out to lead the workshops and do some interviews and they are interested in how they can use the information collected at workshops like these. The heritage society is interested in holding similar events around the Humber Valley region in order to work together to promote the heritage of the region. The first thing they plan to do is take the information located on the physical maps and store it digitally. The committee is very interested in using Google My Maps to make this material accessible to and also editable by community members. They want to create a map of the region in order to showcase the agricultural heritage of the region and increase the tourism to all the communities.

~Terra Barrett

Workshops and Interviews on the West Coast

Sandra Wheeler, Crystal Braye, Terra Barrett, and Dale Jarvis.

Dale and I are out on the west coast of the province as part of the Collective Memories Project. Tuesday afternoon after a breakfast with folklorists Crystal Braye and Sandra Wheeler we headed to Reidville in the Humber Valley. We met with another folklorist Amanda-Marie Hillyard who is from the community and set up an interview with Clifford Reid, a local history buff and a descendant of the original Reid’s of Reidville. Following the interview Clifford took us on a tour of the town pointing out how the land was originally parceled out, the location of the old tram system, and where people would the leave the community to paddle their canoes to Deer Lake.

Dale Jarvis and Clifford Reid.

Clifford described how the community was settled by his grandfather and his uncles in the 1930s following one uncle’s move to Junction’s Brook across the river from the land that became Reidville. Clifford’s uncles and his grandfather moved to the area in order to work as loggers and farmers. The main work in the area was at the lumber camps feeding logs into the river system bound for the mill in Corner Brook. Clifford described the 20 mile tramway system which ran from Reidville to the lumber camps near Adie’s Lake (locally spelled Aides and pronounced Eddys) where the Humber River starts. This tramway was built by Bowater in order to bring supplies to the logging camps.

Adies Lake Tramway about 1940. Courtesy of Bowater's Wood Department.

Clifford also added his own memories of growing up in the community such as the best spots for swimming and trouting, going to school in the small community, and riding the horses that ran wild in the community in the summers. He also mentioned that with no church or graveyard no one died the community! Listen to the clip below to hear a story Clifford told about some mystery snoring heard by his uncle and friends at a woods camp in the winter.

In the evening we headed to Pasadena for a People, Places, and Traditions workshop where there were over 30 people in attendance. We had the group separate into smaller groups and cluster around three tables. One focused on people, one on places, and one on traditions. Each group wrote their thoughts and memories on index cards which they then placed on large maps of the community. They connected their index cards with a ribbon to the location where the people discussed live/lived, the important places in the community, and where traditions took place.

Dale telling a story.

People.

There were business owners, principles, farmers, crafters, heritage society members, and active church members were placed on the map while parks, community centres, and the concrete rock were mapped out. The concrete bottom is where locals would go swimming and it got its name for a rock on the bottom of the pond which is flat almost like poured concrete. There were traditions such as heading to the dump to watch the bears play, trapping rabbits, and taking part in festivals such as the winter carnival, the strawberry festival, and the Santa Claus parade.

Mapping memories.

Reviewing the maps.

After the mapping a couple of community members shared stories and memories stirred up by the session and one gentleman told of how his mother and him were planting potatoes in the field where the community centre now lies and she gave him her wedding ring to wear while she planted. He put the ring on, watered the potatoes and when they finished planting the garden went for a swim at concrete rock. He came home after swimming only to find he had lost the ring. His mother told him to tell all the boys who went trouting if they came across a ring in the belly of a fish it was her wedding band. Unfortunately to this day the ring is still missing. If you ever come across a ring while trouting in the area be sure to call the local heritage society to ask about this story!

The story of the ring and the trout.

~Terra Barrett

People, Places, and Traditions Tea

Dale and I are out on the West Coast this week doing some interviews, workshops, and meetings in Corner Brook, Pasadena, Reidville, and Deer Lake.  We are hosting a couple of People, Places and Traditions Workshops and invite everyone in the area to come out and talk about your community.

Tonight we will be in Pasadena from 6:30-9:30pm at Pasadena Hall and tomorrow afternoon we will be in Reidville in the Community Hall from 1:30-4:30pm. Drop by, have a cup of tea, and share some memories of your community!

~Terra Barrett

Heart's Content Graveyard Mapping Workshop and Cemetery Clean Up

UPDATE 4 July 2024 - Heritage NL no longer recommends doing headstone rubbings - over time it can damage the stone. 

Guest blog post by Celeste Billung-Meyer a Folklore student working with the Heritage Foundation this summer:

Last Saturday (July 16 th , 2016), I attended the Graveyard Mapping Workshop and Clean Up in Heart’s Content. It was an event co-organized by the Heritage Foundation and Youth Heritage in order to help Heart’s Content get ready for their 150th anniversary of the first successful landing of a trans Atlantic cable.

We had a fantastic turn out! The majority of our volunteers gathered at the Heritage Foundation for 9 am, where we got on a bus and drove to Heart’s Content. When we arrived and met up with the rest of the volunteers, the weather looked dubious; however, much to our delight, within the hour the sun came out and the day ended up being gorgeous and warm!

Practising gravestone rubbing.

For the morning, the group was split between two activities. One group started cleaning up the cemetery and the other group went with Terra who led a workshop about grave rubbing. As it happened, there was no tracing paper to be bought anywhere in St. John’s during the days leading up to the workshop and so Terra resolved to use exam table paper (found in doctor’s offices) as a substitute.  However, the substitute paper combined with the windy morning (making it hard tape the paper tightly to the stone) lead to mixed grave rubbing results. Nonetheless, everyone came away with a working knowledge of the process and an solid understanding of the value of grave rubbing.

Cemetery cleanup.

Around noon, we were invited to a lunch provided by the Mizzen Heritage Society. Hotdogs for all! After lunch, we had the graveyard mapping workshop lead by Dale and Michael. While this type of mapping is quite a slow and painstaking process, it can be used by anyone with just a couple of tools that are cheap and easily accessible (two stakes, two tape measures, a plumb bob, graph paper, a large clip board, a geometry kit, a scale ruler and a pencil). After the demonstration, the group was split in two again and anyone who wanted to try the mapping first hand stayed with Michael and was given a chance to do so.

Dale and Sarah demonstrating how to map the graveyard.

Michael drawing out the map.

The rest of the group followed Dale on a walk around the cemetery and he explained the meaning behind the symbols on some of the graves!

Dale giving a tour of the cemetery symbols.

Once the tour ended, everyone came together to finish cleaning up the cemetery.

Photo of our wonderful volunteers and the progress of the graveyard!

We finished the day with a walk over to the Mizzen Heritage Society and then the newly renovated Heyfield Memorial United Church and Cemetery. Along the way, we learned a bit about the history of Heart’s Content, some of the ghost lore of the area and a bit about what the Heritage Foundation and Youth Heritage are up to in the next couple of months!

Learning about Heart's Content's history.

People Places and Traditions Workshop

As a part of the Culturalis Borealis Summer Institute, myself, Terra, Andrea and Dale hosted a People, Places and Traditions Workshop with a fantastic group of 7-12 teachers at the District Conference Center on Strawberry Marsh Road last Wednesday. I started work with Dale on July 4th as a Cultural Conservation intern with the Conservation Corps ECHO program, and over the Summer I’ll be helping to do research, conduct oral interviews, participate in and learn to conduct workshops like this one.

Andrea, Terra and Dale discussing the workshop

We met with the teachers participating in the Summer Institute to get them started thinking about how our intangible cultural heritage is reflected in the important people, places and traditions of our communities.

Ready to get started!

Equipped with two large-scale maps of Newfoundland (and one of Labrador!), some ribbon, craft glue, and pens, our participants were ready to get started on the workshop! We divided everyone up into three groups - one each for People, Places and Traditions. Our first group brainstormed about people with special cultural knowledge or skills in their communities. Rather than listing 'famous' figures or officials, we asked them to think about things a little closer to home. Who among your friends and family might have special localized knowledge or skills? who are some 'unofficial' but well-known tradition-bearers in your town?

Our workshop participants glued index cards with people, places and traditions on them to the maps.

One of our participants from St. John's wrote about Joe Planchet of Canary Cycles here in St. John’s, while another wrote about the schooner fishermen in Bay Roberts who brought back their stories about trips to Labrador. One participant from Cape St. Georges wrote about a favourite teacher with a wealth of historical knowledge about the area.

Once they finished writing their stories, the participants attached their cards to a map of Newfoundland (and one of Labrador!) and used ribbon to link each card to the right community.

Our Labrador team with their map

A closer look!

Traditional Bread and Jam making workshop in Pasadena, July 23, 2016

Strawberry jam, fresh made bread, and heritage: a perfect combination!

Our friends at the Pasadena Heritage Society are starting up a series of traditional skills workshops, and their first one is happening on July 23rd, as part of the the Humber Valley Strawberry Festival.

You'll learn how to make bread and strawberry jam from scratch! The workshop is only $5 and is open to all ages. For more information, and to register, contact pasadenaheritage@outlook.com

“Not every town has heritage buildings. Every town has heritage.” Notes from the road

I had a very quick trip to Deer Lake and back last Friday and Saturday. I had been invited by Carole Spicer to talk about heritage at the annual general meeting of the Grand Lake Centre of Economic Development. I was treated to their roast beef dinner and then talked about what heritage means to communities, demonstrating the links between our architectural heritage and our intangible cultural heritage, oral history, and folklore.

The audience was mostly made up of local volunteers, community workers, and councillors from the surrounding communities. One of the points I made was that while not every town has heritage buildings, every town has heritage of some kind that is worth safeguarding. Sometimes communities get focussed on heritage places or running a community museum to preserve artefacts that they forgot that local stories, skills, and knowledge are just as important.

They put me up at a local AirBNB, and then on Saturday morning we met back the Grand Lake Centre of Economic Development (a great spot to rent if you are looking for meeting space in the area) for a heritage workshop, with representation from Cormack, Reidville, Deer Lake and Pasadena. We talked about oral history, digitizing collections, and community mapping. I gave examples of what is happening with other communities across Newfoundland and Labrador, and talked about how communities can better engage local people and turn collected stories and oral histories into more participatory community events.

We had a great chat about identifying local heritage assets, war brides, cultural diversity, agricultural history, and jam making! Several topics seemed to generate the most discussion, including the need to work more on a regional heritage cluster or region, and the need for some community mapping to identify local heritage places and traditions.

So, I expect you will hear more about work in the Humber Valley area! I’m planning on heading back later this summer to run a train-the-trainer session on our “People, Places, and Traditions” workshop, so that a series of community mapping sessions can be carried out in communities in the valley. Stay tuned!

Want a heritage workshop for your community? Email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

Photo:
Back Row - Amanda-Marie Hillyard, Dale Jarvis, Carole Spicer, Winona White
Front Row - Glenda Garnier, Jean Young

#NLHeritage Road Trip

Heart's Content Graveyard

My name is Terra Barrett and I have worked with the Heritage Foundation for the last two summers. I am back again working with the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office on a new project called Collective Memories. Stay tuned for more information about this project in the coming weeks as I will be updated the blog with updates about the work of the ICH Office over the summer.

Dale, Andrea, and Michael in the graveyard

This past weekend Dale Jarvis, Andrea O’Brien, Michael Philpott, and I headed out of St. John’s for a heritage road trip with stops in Heart’s Content and New Perlican. Our first stop on Friday afternoon was the Heart’s Content graveyard where the community is looking to do some work. We had a look at the graves and the state of the grounds and discussed the possibilities of a clean up or workshop in the graveyard. After reviewing the graveyard we had a supper of hot turkey sandwiches, fish, chips, and milkshakes at Legge’s and headed on to New Perlican.

Community members at the People, Places, and Traditions workshop.

Important places in the community.

Mapping their heritage.

New Perlican’s heritage committee asked the Heritage Foundation to come out and help the committee prioritize their community heritage to do list. On Friday evening we hosted a People, Places, and Traditions workshop in order to get the people of the community thinking about the assets in their community. We had three tables set up with large maps of New Perlican and had each table focus on either the people, places, or tradition in the community.

People in the community.

Important traditions.

Reviewing the maps.

Everyone contributed ideas and wrote out their descriptions on recipe card which were then placed on the large maps. In the end we ended up with three community maps one with the important people in the community such as past lighthouse keepers and bread bakers, one with places like the sitting rock and local swimming holes, and one with traditional nicknames in the community and the tradition of using goats to haul wood from the woods. We placed these maps around the room and had a discussion of what had been identified.

Brainstorming.

Prioritizing.

Saturday we were back in New Perlican for a prioritizing session with the community's heritage committee. We whittled their wish list from twenty odd items to three major project to focus on over the next few years. After lunch we walked through the harbour in order to see where most of their work was focused. It was a productive weekend and I am looking forward to seeing where the committee takes their projects over the next few years.
~Terra

Walk to the New Perlican Harbour.

Do you want a People, Places, and Traditions Workshop in your community? Or want some advice on where to go next?  We’d love to help! Contact the Intangible Culture Heritage office of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador for more ideas or assistance.

ich@heritagefoundation.ca

1-888-739-1892

~Terra Barrett