#CollectiveMemories Monday - Levina Fraser of Isle aux Morts

Lavina Fraser on her 90th birthday in August 2016.

In October I had the opportunity to do an oral history interview by phone with Levina Fraser.  Levina, originally from Isle aux Morts, currently lives in Oromocto, NB but has vivid memories growing up in Newfoundland.  In this interview Levina remembers her childhood in Isle aux Morts - going to school, chores such as washing laundry, knitting, spinning and carding wool as well as the lack of electricity, indoor plumbing and cars.  Levina also describes with pride how her grandmother worked alongside midwives and doctors to deliver babies in the community.  If you want to learn about life in a small fishing community before confederation or hear the alphabet recited backwards give this interview a listen!

The recording can be found here on Memorial University's Digital Archives.

Levina Fraser age 20 at Mount Royal in Montreal, QC.

~Terra Barrett

#FoodwaysFriday - Name that meal!

Photo by Meghann Jack.

Last Thursday Dale, Kelly, and I drove to Marysvale for a series of oral history interviews as part of the Collective Memories project. The interviews took place at the Heritage House which functions as a museum and tea room during the summer. The community has received some funding to have the interviews fully transcribed and these first four interviews were sent to a transcription company in central Canada over the weekend.

We received the full transcripts this week and noticed something a little curious. During the interview with Patricia Whalen and Shirley Ryan, the pair discussed garden parties in the community. They were talking about a particular food which was eaten at the party as well as taken away. The transcribers in mainland Canada were unable to figure out what food was being discussed. Read the excerpt or listen to the clip below and let us know what food they were talking about!


Shirley: And when I first moved down here we had garden parties. I'd never seen a garden party, I mean we had fairs up in the mainland, but garden parties, oh my gosh … Oh it was marvellous.

Dale: So what would happen at a garden party?

Shirley: They'd have little boats for the children and they spin wheels for numbers and they had boats and … Oh it was grand … In the churchyard … Either that or in the hall … On the hall. It was great, oh my gosh. And they had a big meal. [Unintelligible 00:32:12] plates, everybody would go in the hall and sit down and pay for their [unintelligible 00:32:17] plate and have it … Either that or takeout.

Patricia: Take it home.

Shirley: Either one.


Name that meal!
~Terra Barrett

Mount Pearl Memory Mug Up - Monday, February 13th

Mount Pearl Public Library

Share Your Stories at the Memory Mug Up!

Which of your memories would you like to preserve for future generations? What are your dearest childhood memories? What advice would you give your 18-year-old self? If you have answers to these questions, you are invited to attend the Memory Mug Up!

The Memory Mug Up is an informal story sharing session for seniors, where people gather, have a cup of tea, and share memories. The Heritage Foundation of NL will be hosting three Memory Mug Up events for seniors this February, in Mount Pearl, Portugal-Cove St. Philip’s, and St. John’s

The goal of the program is to help participants share and preserve their stories. Whatever story is important to you, whether it a personal story, a story about a family member, or a story about your community, the Memory Mug Up program can help you to preserve and share it.

The event is free! You bring a memory of growing up, we’ll supply the tea and biscuits, and we will all have a chat. Following the sessions, those who are interested can set up a time to have their stories recorded and archived by one of our story collectors.

Mount Pearl Memory Mug Up
Monday, February 13th, 10:30 am
Mount Pearl Public Library
65 Olympic Drive, Mount Pearl

The Memory Mug Ups are part of the Collective Memories Project, an oral history initiative which invites seniors to record their stories and memories for archiving and sharing. It is a project of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL), the Provincial Advisory Council on Aging and Seniors, the Interdepartmental Working Group on Aging and Seniors, and is funded through the Department of Seniors Wellness and Social Development.

For more information on how you or your community organization can get involved, email Dale Jarvis at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or call (709) 739-1892 x2.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep066 The Writer of Riverhead

Dale Jarvis and Patrick Collins, photo by Kelly Drover.

Patrick Collins, born and raised in Riverhead, Harbour Grace, is a retired educator who taught in various communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. He finished his teaching career in education as a Curriculum Program Specialist, working in Avalon Peninsula School Districts. He is also a writer of historical fiction and has published five literary works. Currently Patrick teaches at The Canadian Training institute, Bay Roberts.

We chatted with Patrick Collins about where his interest in history started, the 1871 murders of Jane Sear Geehan and Garnett Sears on the southside of Harbour Grace which Collins wrote about in his book Belonging, railway memories and his work as a station operator, writing historical fiction, and his next book What Lies Below.

• Check out Patrick's Facebook page here. 

Listen on the Digital Archive:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/722/rec/1

Registration open for the Heritage Tomorrow Forum 2017

Heritage Tomorrow

It’s hard to believe the “youth heritage” movement in Newfoundland and Labrador is nearing its third year of activity. Since the inaugural Youth Heritage Forum in 2015, a passionate group of heritage enthusiasts have kept the spirit alive, organizing a series of socials and workshops, and a second forum in 2016. This year we have no plans of stopping and are happy to announce a third annual get-together will be taking place this March 25th, 2017, starting at 10am.

This time around we have taken feedback from previous events and crafted a day just for our loyal and growing audience. We will be tightening the schedule, involving peer mentors in roundtable discussions, networking over lunch, and bringing back a highlight of last year’s forum – the Heritage Skills Competition (with new skills sure to challenge and amaze).

This year’s forum will again be targeted to heritage types aged 18-35, but knowing that many in that bracket do not consider themselves “young” and are well along in their careers, we have opted to begin a rebrand. Our upcoming event is dubbed the Heritage Tomorrow Forum, signifying that our attendees and even younger friends-of-heritage will be defining the sector in the years to come.

One other change this year is that there will be a small fee to attend. A flat price of $10 will ensure our activities are sustainable and lunch is delicious, while also ensuring we do not break students’ bank accounts. We will be holding the forum in the same location as previous years – The Lantern at 35 Barnes Rd., St. John’s.

If you would like to attend this year’s Heritage Tomorrow Forum, tickets are now available at www.hfnl.ca. If you have any questions, please get in touch by emailing heritagetomorrownl@gmail.com. A full schedule will be shared as the event draws nearer.

#Folklorephoto Collection of Tools in Charlie Pearcey's Twine Store. How Do You Display Your Collection?

A collection of tools from the 1900's to 1950's is displayed on shelves in Charlie Pearcey's Twine Store. The photograph was taken in 2006 by Rita Colavincenzo while visiting Mr. Pearcey and the Twine Store in The Battery in St. John's. The visit included the collection of many other photographs as well as an interview with Charlie Pearcey about the twine store, his family, and the area.

Are you a collector? How do you display your collection?

From Business and Birch Brooms, to Modernity and Mug Ups - Heritage News.

Main Street Windsor, 1944. Photo courtesy of Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society.

The January 2017 edition of the Heritage Update is a mixed bag, including articles on making the case for heritage as good business, an invite to our upcoming Memory Mug Up events for community elders, notes on drain sweepers and birch brooms,  digitizing the Admiralty House Oral History Collection from Mount Pearl, Modern architecture, and a notice of our booklet launch for the Merchants of Main Street project in Windsor on March 4th*.

***The launch previously scheduled in February has been rescheduled due to construction issues with the rental space.

Download the pdf here.

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Mug Ups with Martha MacDonald

This February, we'll be running some Memory Mug Up programs for seniors, as part of our Collective Memories project. The programs are designed to get seniors out and sharing stories, a type of community oral history sharing time, with a cup of tea and snack, of course!

Back in 2010, Dale Jarvis talked by phone with Dr. Martha MacDonald of the Labrador Institute about the Mug Up programs she had been running in Labrador communities. If you want to know more about how the programs work, and to get some tips and tricks for running your own version, make yourself a cup of tea, settle in, and listen in to their conversation here.

#FoodwaysFriday - Berries with Bridget Jacobs

Local blackberries - also called black crowberries, heathberry, earthberry, and curlew berry in some locations.

When we discuss foodways of Newfoundland and Labrador the first food that comes to mind is the codfish. Cod has played a major role in everything from the province’s economy to its culture. It is featured in many traditional dishes however it is not the only food tradition in the province. Seafood and fish, caribou, seal, sea birds, berries, root vegetables, and imported products such as molasses and tin milk all play a part in the province’s food traditions. In celebration of the diverse foods harvested, grown, cooked, and eaten in Newfoundland and Labrador we will be doing a #FoodwaysFriday feature on the ICH Blog.

This week we are featuring a series of photos and videos taken by Maureen Power with Bridget Jacobs of Joe Batt’s Arm. The collection features a number of local berries including blackberries, marshberries, tea berries, blackcurrants, goose berries, raspberries, partridgeberries, poison bush, blueberries, crackerberries, and blue herts. Maureen takes short video clips of Bridget showing her the location and type of berries. Bridget also gives little stories about the berries including the clip below where she describes how blackcurrant cured her niece when she was sick.

If you would like to see the full collection click here!

Share your stories and knowledge of food with the hashtag #FoodwaysFriday.

~Terra Barrett