MANL Midday Museums- Heritage Mentorship Program Launch

Join the Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador on Tuesday, February 25, 2025 as they celebrate the first anniversary of Midday Museums and introduce the launch of their brand new Heritage Mentorship program!

In celebration of our first anniversary of Midday Museums, MANL is launching a brand-new resource designed for their members.

• Do you have questions on which funding applications would best suit your needs?

• Have you struggled to engage volunteers, particularly youth, with your organization?

• When you hire students every summer, are you comfortable with student payroll and other HR duties?

• Is your computer too old to install the software you need for your collections archiving?

MANL is here to help!

Please join the conversation on February 25 to hear about our heritage mentorship program and how it can help your organization. This initiative grew from our recent heritage conference, held at The Rooms this fall.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, there is no shortage of passionate, hard-working heritage employees and volunteers, with many years of experience, knowledge, skill and ingenuity. Our people are our best resource! It makes sense that we build on that expertise by sharing it with our peers in our communities throughout the province.

One aim of our Heritage Mentorship Program is to connect experienced professionals and volunteers with everyone in the heritage sector who need help, including emerging professionals, youth, students, and volunteers of all ages. Interested in engaging and mentoring youth within your organization? Juliet Lanphear, from Heritage NL will be joining us to announce an upcoming opportunity to bring together emerging professionals to network, become involved in the heritage sector, and share their insights into engaging youth in heritage.

So, please join MANL on Tuesday, February 25, 2025 at noon on Zoom. Registration is free and everyone is welcome to participate. To register, simply fill out THIS FORM by noon, NST on Monday, February 24. 

For more information and to register, please click here.

Instructor Spotlight: Susan Furneaux

Work and photo credit: https://www.instagram.com/marynterraart/
Created when they were a student in Susan Furneaux's class.

Susan Furneaux is a teacher, artist, craft consultant, and mentor. She specializes in natural dye and fibre techniques, learning, teaching, and exhibiting throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, nationally and internationally. Susan has won multiple awards for her embroidery, natural dye and innovative use of natural materials including the 2022 VANL CARFAC’s ‘Endurance Award’.

In 2022, Susan was a mentor with Heritage NL’s Mentor-Apprentice Program. Motivated by reciprocal knowledge exchange, capacity building and the preservation of traditional skills, Furneaux shared the craft of Bark Tanning. This is a traditional method used for tanning hides into leather, or colouring materials. Bark Tanning was listed as critically endangered on Heritage NL’s 2021 Craft at Risk List.

In March Susan will be teaching Beyond Basics: An Advanced Landscape Needle Felting Workshop!

With photos for inspiration, Susan Furneaux will guide participants through creating landscapes in needle felting. Topics will include colour theory, blending, background alternatives and embellishment. This workshop requires previous needle felting experience. Participants are required to bring photos for inspiration and any wool bits and pieces they may have in their stash.

When: March 5, 12:30-4:30pm NST
Where: Heritage NL's office located on the 2nd floor of the Newman Building, 1 Springdale Street

Register here for the workshop!

Stories from Chapel's Cove by Patrick Whelan

Excerpt about Harbour Main-Chapel Cove-Lakeview from the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, Volume 2.

Just before the holidays we had a visit to our office from Patrick Whelen of Chapel's Cove. He was interested in dropping off two stories about the community. The first story is a true ghost story he experienced as a boy. Here is his written stories in his words:

"My friend Harold and I were walking home from Avondale one summer's night circa 1960. The time was approximately midnight. The walk home would take us about an hour to complete after accompanying our girlfriends home. The night was very bright with a full moon shining above Hickey's Mountain on the calm water of Second Pond. From the edge of the road to the water was about ten or twelve meters. There were low bushes growing in the pond and along the side with grass closest to the road. So there were no big obstructions.
I said to my friend, "Look do you see that?"
We stopped, and shouted, "Hey, hey!" at the man who kept moving and did not respond. 
He was moving outside the bushes which were growing in the water. This pond has a deep muddy bottom. The silhouette showed that he had something resting on his shoulder and he was supporting the object in his hands. It looked like a rifle. His cap had the shape of a salt and pepper cap. Along the side of the road was crushed stone. We both picked up some and threw at the figure. Then we ran for about fifty feet or so before looking back. There was no one there. Also, when the person was moving outside the bushes, the water was not disturbed. The area where this event occurred was Lakeview. We were on our way home to Chapel's Cove."

Have you ever encountered a ghost near Lakeview? Let us know your experiences!


The next story is about the old cemetery in the community and how it was demolished. Below are the words Patrick wrote about his memories of the site:

"The old cemetery in Chapel’s Cove is located in the centre of the community. No burials took place after about 1900. A new cemetery was created on Chapel’s Cove ridge.

The old cemetery had small and very large aspen trees. The very large trees numbering about eight which lined the side of the road. In 1958 a hurricane topped the large trees across the road in front of the new school which we attended and watched the action. Some of the clearing crew used a large two man cross cut saw to junk up the large trees. Those trees were about 60 ft. high and approx. 30 in. diameter. Unfortunately, no one recorded the rings for age.

In 1959/60 Father Howard announced at Mass that the old Parish Hall would be torn down and a new one built. This old building served the Chapel's Cove residents as a church, school, and an entertainment hall. The location of the new hall was not yet to be decided. One Chapel’s Cove resident told Father Howard that he would give him the land to build a new hall.

Anyway one morning at Mass in Harbour Main Father Howard announced that he had permission from the bishop to build the new hall on the old cemetery approx. on the footprint of the old hall. Now the wheels are in motion the trees were all cleared and the old bldg was torn down by the local residents.

Next came the unbelievable, the excavation order to bulldoze the site, to a level property was indicated by Father Howard. Although the people of Chapel’s Cove were talking amongst themselves about this terrible atrocity, only one person, Dick Fewer, spoke openly about it. Since the R.C. Priest was the sole ruler of the community no one dared to question his motives.

A bulldozer from Holyrood was offloaded at the cemetery and began excavating. My school friends would look in awe as the bulldozer started to dig its blade into the ground and push whatever was in its path. He started to dig form Phil Whelan's property towards the river. This area was the location where Phil Whelan's two infant brothers were buried. Further over towards Murphy's fence were the remains of Dick Fewers' family. The land by Whelan's property was higher than the area towards the river, therefore he would cut off the high and fill in the low. As he was digging deeper we could see the skeleton remains and wooden boards from the coffins being pushed ahead of the dozer. The remains which were not pushed in front were crushed by the dozer going front and bak over the land. When any bones became visible we would collect and store them in a wooden container located near the site. During this excavation a dog was seen carrying a human bone in his mouth from the cemetery. 

Now that the site has been levelled off, the graves at the lower area of the cemetery are there to this present day which is October 2024. This cemetery had only two white headstones and one wooden cross surrounded by a white pailing fence. All the remains are buried inside the main entrance gate at St. Peter and Paul cemetery, Chapel's Cove. 

Unfortunately this is a sad but true story that the orders from one person could eradicate the first cemetery in Chapel's Cove."

Are there other older cemeteries that have been demolished? Let us know if you have one in your community!

Registration Open for Youth Heritage Forum

Heritage NL and our partners are excited to announce that the registration for the Youth Heritage Forum is now open. Interested participants can register on Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/youth-heritage-forum-tickets-1204966269549?aff=oddtdtcreator

The Youth Heritage Forum is a great opportunity for students and emerging professionals to network, attend professional development seminars and workshops, and share your thoughts on being a youth in heritage. Lunch is provided!

"Applying The Halperts’ Vision to Today," event with MUN Folklore

Please join us on Tuesday, February 11th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm in Gushue Hall DH 2002 (Junior Common Room) for a “Applying The Halperts’ Vision to Today,” a roundtable discussion featuring MUN Folklore Department graduates and/or faculty who worked with or were influenced by Dr. Herbert and Violetta Halpert, the founders of Memorial's Department of Folklore, and the Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).

Our panelists will discuss the Halpert's legacy in the province and beyond, reflecting on public folklore, community facing scholarship, and future applications.

Facilitated by Jillian Gould (Folklore, MUN), this event will feature Amanda Dargan (Education Director, City Lore, New York City); Michael Taft (Head of the Archive American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, retired); Crystal Braye (N.L. Public Folklorist, Octopus Consulting); Philip Hiscock (Folklore, MUN, retired); and Neil Rosenberg (Folklore, MUN, retired).

Light refreshments will be served.

Visitors may park in Lot 22 (Large lot by Business and Social Work. To cross Prince Philip, you may take the underpass from the north side of campus, by the Chapel, right to R Gushue Hall). https://www.mun.ca/cep/media/production/memorial/administrative/campus-enforcement-and- patrol/media-library/parking/Permitted-Lot-Map-2024.pdf

Heritage Funding Survey from the Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador

Our friends over at MANL invite you to fill out a short Heritage Funding Survey. They write,

We are gathering data about our heritage organizations so we can prepare to educate various levels of government and municipalities on the importance of the heritage sector and to advocate for a much-needed injection of funds into the CEDP program. To achieve this we need your help and that of every heritage organization in the province.

In order for our information to accurately reflect the work being performed by our heritage organizations and the value it brings to our province, we are asking everyone to please complete this short survey at your earliest convenience. Please feel free to forward this survey onto other heritage organizations within the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

We would also like to thank everyone who took the time to engage with the CBC NL Radio program The Signal with Adam Walsh last week. If you missed the program, you can listen to it on their website. Here is a link to the news story covered by CBC, which also contains a link to the radio program:   https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nl-heritage-sites-risk-funding-1.7431889

You can help them out by answering the Heritage Funding Survey right here.  

January 2025 edition of the Heritage Update

In the January 2025 edition of the Heritage Update:

• Heritage NL announces the return of the popular Youth Heritage Forum, happening March 22nd;
• we want your feedback for our Youth Engagement and Employment Survey;
• gearing up for the 20th Annual Heritage Places Poster Contest;
• launching the National Heritage Week 2025 Municipal Challenge;
• The NL Historic Trust's Southcott awards;
• ongoing research on the St. Joseph’s Chapel, Blackhead, One Room School and Church;
• the Celebrate 75 project is underway;
• Craft at Risk Mentor receives the Premier’s Medal for Heritage;
• A report on the Cemeteries as Community Heritage workshop in Heart's Content;
• and Flora and Folklore: a taste of Labrador Tea. 

Download the full newsletter at:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NGbVbHQRQkD1vwrj-MOzatFyBXpyHxhi/view?usp=sharing 

Flora and Folklore: Labrador Tea

Flora and Folklore: Labrador Tea

By Dale Gilbert Jarvis

Most local readers will know something about Labrador tea, the small evergreen shrub of the heath family Ericaceae. Formally known as Rhododendron groenlandicum, it grows in bogs and swamps, and on rough terrain, in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, northern Europe, the more northern sections of the United States, and of course, Labrador.  The Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador offers the following description of the shrub:

Labrador tea is an evergreen shrub, usually less than one metre in height. The new twigs are densely covered with brown hairs, while the older branches have a flaking bark. The leaves are thick and leathery, with the margins rolled under. The upper surface resembles dark green leather. The lower surface has a dense rusty felt of hairs when mature.

Over the years, Labrador tea has also been known as common Labrador tea, bog Labrador tea, bog tea, Hudson's Bay tea, James tea, St. James tea, Indian tea, wooly tea , wild rosemary, swamp rosemary, swamp tea, marsh cistus, moth herb or thé du labrador. 

Photo credit: Salicyna CC BY-SA 4.0, wikimedia

Labrador tea has been a popular Indigenous beverage in North America for centuries, and has also been used as a spice for meats. It has been used by settlers, traders, trappers and explorers. William Epps Cormack, the early nineteenth century inland explorer, found the shrub growing in many locations, and in 1822 he wrote, "on the skirts of the forest, and of the [marshes] are found ... Indian or Labrador tea.”

Some connoisseurs recommend collecting the leaves in the spring, before flowering, others in late fall. Some collectors prefer the flowers of the plant, claiming they make an even more pleasant beverage. Most agree that the tea should not be too concentrated, due to the poisonous content of the leaves, and that the tea should be steeped, never boiled. The leaves of the plant have been used in Germany to make beer more intoxicating. In Finland, Labrador tea is regarded as an aphrodisiac, and it is popularly used to flavour liqueurs.

In a 1957 study of the Indigenous peoples of the western arctic, ethnobotanist W. J Oswalt also noted the paranormal powers of Labrador tea. He wrote, "there are ceremonial uses for Labrador tea; one is to turn a stalk and throw it out the door if a child is ill or if you want to get rid of ghosts."

If you try it, let me know if it works. 

Sources

“Labrador Tea” in Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Limited, 1998.

Oswalt, WH: “A Western Eskimo Ethnobotany” in Anthropological Papers of the Univ. of Alaska (1957) v6 n1, pp16-36.

William Eppes Cormack: Narrative of a Journey Across the Island of Newfoundland in 1822, ed F.A. Bruton (London: Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd., 1928).

20th Annual Heritage Places Poster Contest

 20th Annual Heritage Places Poster Contest

It’s the 20th anniversary of Heritage NL’s annual Heritage Places Poster Contest. Each year we challenge students from grades K-12 to get creative – and each and every year we are thrilled with the results. Today’s young people will one day be the custodians of our province’s heritage places. And the popularity of our poster contest is proof positive that our heritage places are valued by Newfoundlanders and Labradorians of all ages.

The overall winning submission will be featured on our 2025 Heritage Day poster, which will be unveiled on Monday, February 17, 2025. 

The deadline for receiving entries has been extended to Friday, January 24, 2025. Find contest details here https://heritagenl.ca/programs/poster-contest/ 

Youth Engagement and Employment in Heritage Survey

In preparation for the upcoming 4th Youth Heritage Forum on March 22, 2025 at The Lantern, St. John’s, Heritage NL is asking for your input on youth engagement and employment in heritage.

Are you an emerging professional, student, or recent grad? Are you a museum or heritage group interested in employing youth? We want to hear from you about barriers to engaging youth in the heritage sector and what Heritage NL can do to help.

The survey is available through this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeP8kx7E5Q2jUC7MTBI3N_uA2937HIYs0uwZmEbyqzBwpwGbQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

"Are We Doing Enough to Preserve our Heritage?" on The Signal

Tune into The Signal on CBC NL Radio One at noon January the 14th for a special program, "Are We Doing Enough to Preserve our Heritage, including our historic buildings, landscapes, stories, etc.?". Host Adam Walsh has invited Luke Quinton from the Newfoundland and Labrador Historic Trust and Kate Pitcher from the Colony of Avalon to be guests on the show. 

Feel free to call in to share the work achieved every day by heritage staff and volunteers, as well as the many benefits heritage has to offer this province and its people. This is an opportunity to educate and advocate for our heritage. 

There are several methods to participate, including writing a short email, sending a text, and calling in by telephone: 

Telephone: 709-722-7111 

Toll Free: 1-800-563-8255 

Email: thesignal@cbc.ca 

Text: 709-327-8206 

Learn more about The Signal here: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-89-thesignal 

Charles Ollerhead and the Heart's Content Salvation Army Cemetery

Our last blog post on Charles Ollerhead and the Heart's Content Salvation Army cemetery inspired questions on who Charles Ollerhead was, and the history of this tiny, one-marker cemetery. More information was found in Connecting the Continents by Ted Rowe, an excerpt of which is available below.

Connecting the Continents by Ted Rowe.

Excerpt below was taken from: Rowe, Ted. Connecting the Continents. St. John’s: Breakwater Books Ltd.,

2009-04-21. Page 96-97, with the authors permission.

"The Salvation Army first appeared in Heart's Content in 1891, striking a chord with a young cable operator dedicated to the cause. Newcomers to Newfoundland, the Army brought a religious style especially appealing to those Methodists nostalgic for the lively, unrestrained prayer meetings of their earlier days. Carried on a wave of unabashed evangelical fervour, the Army swept through the outports and attained official standing as a religious denomination, which, among other things, allowed it to operate its own schools in a government-supported denominational education system. 

At first the congregation of St. Mary's, still mindful of the Wesley upsurge, did not know quite what to make of this new intrusion, but a congregational meeting in January 1892 found them ready to close ranks: 

Mr. Charlton asked who were members of the Church. Rev. Chairman stated that any persons who connected themselves with any other church or sect or enrolled themselves as members of S Army could not be members of the Church and pointed out that the Rector was not bound to bury a corpse simply because the friends of the deceased wished it. After some remarks by Messrs John Farnham, Gaden Rendell & others Mr. Charlton proposed, Mr. J. H. Moore seconded that persons joining any other church or enrolling as member of S Army be not allowed to use St. Mary's cemetery. Carried. 

Headstone of Charles Ollerhead, buried in the Salvation Army Cemetery
in Heart's Content. Photo courtesy of Ted Rowe.

No dithering as far as the Salvation Army was concerned. The Army's stalwart in Heart's Content was Charlie Ollerhead, a 20-year old Anglo employee whose father had broken away from the Church of England and married into the Methodist side of the Hopkins family. A bachelor with some spare time on his hands, Charlie Ollerhead became passionate in the cause. He volunteered as secretary of the Salvation Army in Newfoundland and spent his summer holidays helping out at headquarters in St. John's. His zeal is apparent in a small item penned for the Army's Canadian newspaper, The War Cry: 

One would think it an impossibility to have a public S.A. banquet in Heart's Content, the people seem to be so much opposed to us, but the Captain's faith ran high, and six of us took up our cross to beg (without a trial there's no denial), and the Lord opened the peo- ple's hearts and they helped us exceptionally well.  

We have no real barracks here, and we tried to get a hall, but failed to obtain one. We had with us Capt. Hoddinott and Bro. Howell, with his cornet and guitar, from Carbonear, also officers from Hant's Harbour and Scilly Cove. We had a nice crowd. The musical jubilee went with a swing. I believe everyone enjoyed themselves, and the unsaved had another chance to get ready to enter into the marriage supper of the Lamb, but none would accept the invitation...We realized the nice little sum of thirty dollars…

 

The Army held their first meetings in a fishing shed on the Rockwood plantation, nicknamed the "tar-pot," where they attracted a contingent of men from Scilly Cove. By 1893, the Scilly Cove people branched off with a corps of their own. In Heart's Content a new barracks was established near the Main Brook. 

Charlie Ollerhead's soldiership was cut short by ill health in 1896. In March, the station superintendent advised that he take a fortnight off and noted that he would be wise to "discontinue his more active operations in connection with the Salvation Army, public speaking, shouting, excitement and late hours not being good for him." Anglo's general manager in London ruled that his occupations outside combined with his duties were too much, and he would have to resign one or the other. Ollerhead worked on and off until June when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He died in November. Forewarned by the Church of England policy on burial space, the Army had secured land for a cemetery on the barrens just behind Rowe's Bank. Charlie Ollerhead was the first and only soldier laid to rest there. After his passing the Army failed to gain a firm footing in Heart's Content and departed for good in the 1930s. Today, their tiny cemetery with its single gravesite is the only reminder that they were ever there." 

Learn more about the history of Heart's Content in Connecting the Continents by Ted Rowe (2009).

Cemeteries as Community Heritage event in Heart's Content

Learn more about the cemeteries of Heart's Content database and more at the upcoming Cemeteries as Community Heritage event on November 21st. One cemetery included is the Heart's Content Salvation Army Cemetery, which only contains one headstone.

Headstone of Charles Ollerhead, buried in the Salvation Army Cemetery
in Heart's Content. Photo courtesy of Ted Rowe.

The headstone belongs to Charles Ollerhead, who died November 27th, 1896 at the age of 25. 

The inscription reads:

In Loving Memory of

Charles Ollerhead

who departed this life Novr 27th, 1896

Aged 25 years

He has crossed o'er the sea

He has reached the bright coast

He fell like a warrior

He died at his post

Learn more about the upcoming Cemeteries as Community Heritage event and register here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/1047957367697?aff=oddtdtcreator

Adaptive reuse of historic places - thinking about incubators, accelerators, makerspaces, and coworking spaces

Hobby Horse Making Workshop, 2011

Think of transforming your heritage building into something other than a museum? There are lots of examples of other kinds of models for Craft and Business Spaces.

Quidi Vidi Village Artisan Studios

The Quidi Vidi Village Artisans Studios is a project of the Anna Templeton Centre that was designed to accelerate the growth of new craft enterprises. Upstairs 10 Studios are rented by emerging craftspeople where they produce and sell their work in a supportive and encouraging environment. On the main floor community programming is offered in the public space and outreach programming supports home-based artisans.
https://www.qvvstudios.ca/


Genesis Coworking
Genesis Coworking is a St. John's-based coworking space, offering individuals and small teams from all sectors an inspiring place to work and collaborate
https://www.genesiscoworking.ca


St. John’s Farmer’s Market
Located in the former Metrobus depot on Freshwater Road since 2018, with space for vendors and room for customers to socialize with friends, eat tasty foods, buy local produce, and pick up local art.
https://sjfm.ca


Tobay History House
A repurposed historic building, and a good example of vibrant, local arts and heritage programming
https://www.historyhouse.ca/

Express Newark

Transforming a historic department store into an urban arts incubator

https://medium.com/@KSSarchitects/transforming-a-historic-department-store-into-an-urban-arts-incubator-e67549f14425  

See also

The differences between a business incubator, an accelerator, and a coworking space
https://www.officernd.com/blog/incubator-spaces/
https://canadiansmallbusinesswomen.ca/resources/community-hubs-co-working-spaces/

ART INCUBATORS AND MAKERSPACES: An Application In Benton Harbor, Michigan
https://reicenter.org/upload/documents/colearning/artsincubator2014_report.pdf

Six reasons to support an art incubator
https://freshmindmag.com/2024/09/10/art-incubators-how-theyre-helping-artists-thrive-in-the-business-world/

Heritage Update October 2024 - Craft at Risk, Stonework and Cemeteries; Paradise and Posters; and a Goblin for Hallowe'en

In this edition of the Heritage Update - coopering, spruce root basketry, and the making of Labrador black bottomed sealskin boots are all listed as being under threat in the 2024 Heritage NL Craft at Risk list; we look back at the legacy of Samuel Garrett, a skilled master stonemason (he who built the famous Four Sisters on Temperance Street); a note on our fall events, including a symposium this November in Heart's Content about how communities can take action to conserve historic cemeteries; a report on our Paradise People, Places, and Culture Workshop; the youth poster contest entry information; a peek at the new online exhibition - The Early Lebanese Community in Newfoundland; the experiences of the Lamaline Heritage Society at building a younger board of directors; and some thoughts on the Newfoundland placename, Goblin. 

Download the pdf here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MoQW7bQS5hu_LcFfPFkGYPO9dBLaSxff/view?usp=drive_link

CBC feature on Heritage NL's "Craft at Risk"

Heritage NL is excited to highlight a CBC feature with Krissy Holmes on the Craft at Risk exhibition currently on display at the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Heritage NL curated the exhibition which is running from October 4 to November 8, 2024. This exhibition showcases the work of several Mentor-Apprentice participants. Please check out the exhibition in person at the Craft Council Gallery which is open Wednesday-Sunday 12-5pm. For more info about the Craft Council including their location visit their website: https://www.craftcouncilnl.ca/contact

More information about Craft at Risk including our updated Craft at Risk List 2024 please visit is our website here: 

https://heritagenl.ca/programs/craft-at-risk/

Media Release: Updated List of Endangered Crafts Released for Newfoundland and Labrador

Sealskin boot making, traditional dyeing, and the building of Labrador kayaks have all been placed on an updated list of endangered crafts for Newfoundland and Labrador.

St. John’s, NL
For immediate release

The Heritage NL Craft at Risk List 2024 is designed to track changes in levels of local knowledge, and to plan for the future. Concerned about the loss of traditional know-how, Heritage NL has been working to document crafts at risk and to encourage the sharing of heritage skills.

The Heritage NL Craft at Risk List 2024 features 76 crafts, 16 of which are listed as critically endangered. These include things such as coopering, spruce root basketry, and making black bottomed sealskin boots. An additional 42 crafts are listed as endangered, while 15 crafts are listed as currently viable. Three crafts, including the recently listed hay barrack making, are listed as having become extinct in the last generation.

Heritage NL has partnered with the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador to showcase some of these crafts at risk in a new exhibition at the Craft Council Gallery on Water Street, St. John’s. This exhibition features the work of 18 participants of the Heritage NL Mentor-Apprentice Program. This program, coordinated and funded by Heritage NL, was a one-on-one immersion program to support the teaching of endangered crafts and skills from an established mentor to an apprentice craftsperson or tradesperson.

“The culture and heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador is so entwined with craft,” says Dr. Lisa Daly, chair of Heritage NL’s Board of Directors. “Through the fishery, built heritage, making clothing, and our foodways, we find the art and craft that has taken things from functional to beautiful. I hope that we can continue such partnerships to preserve and share the intangible cultural heritage that makes this place so uniquely home for us, whether our ancestors have spent generations here, or we are new to the province.”

“Heritage NL hopes to continue to work so that future generations can continue to learn the crafts that shape our identity,” Daly adds.

The Craft at Risk exhibition runs until November 8th, 2024 at the Craft Council Gallery (155 Water Street) which is open to the public from Wednesday to Saturday 12-5pm.

Find the Heritage NL Craft at Risk List 2024 at www.heritagecraft.ca

###

For more information or to arrange an interview contact:

Dale Jarvis, Executive Director
Heritage NL
dale @ heritagenl . ca
709-739-1892 x1
www.heritagecraft.ca

Save Our Historic Cemeteries! Come learn about how your community can take action.

Come learn about how your community can take action to conserve historic cemeteries in this free symposium with speakers from Heritage NL, MUN Folklore, and Trinity Historical Society.

Cemeteries as Community Heritage
Thursday, November 21st
9:30am - 12:00pm

Heart's Content Regional Centre for the Arts (former Heyfield Memorial Church)
Heart’s Content Registered Heritage District, NL
Directions: https://maps.app.goo.gl/1mkEja8nYGo75uvF7


Schedule of Events:

9:30am - Doors open, tea and coffee

10am - Session start

Introduction: Dale Jarvis, Heritage NL
Before You Start Cleanup - Planning and Municipal Cemetery Designation: Andrea O'Brien, Heritage NL
Update on Heart's Content Cemetery Documentation: Juliet Lanphear, Heritage NL
What is Cemetery Tourism?: Katie Crane, MUN Folklore
Adopt a Headstone Project, St. Paul’s Anglican Cemetery: Jim Miller, Trinity Historical Society

11:30am Questions, general discussion, and wrap-up


This is a free event, and open to the general public, but pre-registration is required here.

After the event, from 12:00pm-1:00pm, there will be a post-session meeting with Heritage NL, Mizzen Heritage, citizens, and Town of Heart's Content to discuss next steps for the community:

• What has already been done?
• Are there burial records for the cemeteries? Where are they?
• What comes next? Who will do it?

Meet MANL conference panel moderator Dale Jarvis- Digital Museums Canada Session

As part of the upcoming MANL conference, Heritage NL will be facilitating a Digital Museums Canada session on Saturday Oct 26th. Come learn about how your heritage organization or museum can avail of DMC funding to help share your local knowledge and stories. 

Registration deadline is October 16th, end of day.
https://museumsnl.ca/2024-conference-agm/ 

Meet moderator Dale Jarvis

Folklorist and author Dale Jarvis is an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Folklore, Memorial University, and the Executive Director of Heritage NL, helping communities to safeguard living heritage and historic places. Dale has been working for Heritage NL since 1996, and holds a BSc in Anthropology/Archaeology from Trent University, and a MA in Folklore from Memorial University. He has served on the UNESCO Consultative Body to the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and regularly teaches workshops on oral history, cultural documentation, and public folklore.

Meet MANL conference panelist Neil Burgess- Digital Museums Canada session

2024 MANL Conference

Date: October 25-26, 2024.
Location: The Rooms, 9 Bonaventure Ave, St. John's, NL

Join us for an in-person opportunity to explore what binds us as heritage organizations! MANL, ANLA and Heritage NL are working together to help you build ideas and tell your communities’ stories. As part of the conference, Heritage NL will be facilitating a Digital Museums Canada program on Saturday Oct 26th. Come learn about how your heritage organization or museum can avail of DMC funding to help share your local knowledge and stories. 

Registration deadline is October 16th, end of day.
https://museumsnl.ca/2024-conference-agm/

Meet panelist Neil Burgess

Neil Burgess has a Masters in Science and worked as a wildlife biologist for 30 years. Now that he is retired, he pursues his passion for learning more about shipwrecks in this province. With friends, he established the Shipwreck Preservation Society of Newfoundland and Labrador. The aim of the Shipwreck Society is to document, protect and promote awareness of shipwrecks and nautical history across the province. The Society has partnered with local museums to create two Community Stories exhibits with funding from Digital Museums Canada. They partnered with the Bell Island Heritage Society to create a virtual museum exhibit online on the U-boat attacks at Bell Island in 1942 and the sinking of four ore ships, and partnered with the South West Coast Historical Society Inc. on an exhibit about the sinking of SS Caribou.

The Tragic Sinking of S.S. "Caribou" 

https://www.communitystories.ca/v2/tragic-sinking-ss-caribou_naufrage-tragique/

When World War II Came to Bell Island, Newfoundland

https://www.communitystories.ca/v2/wwii-came-to-bell-island_seconde-guerre-mondiale/

Meet MANL conference panelist Terra Barrett - Digital Museums Canada session

As part of the upcoming MANL conference, Heritage NL will be facilitating a Digital Museums Canada session on Saturday Oct 26th. Come learn about how your heritage organization or museum can avail of DMC funding to help share your local knowledge and stories. 

Registration deadline is October 16th, end of day.
https://museumsnl.ca/2024-conference-agm/ 

Meet panelist Terra Barrett

Terra Barrett (she/her) is the Intangible Cultural Heritage Program Planner with Heritage NL. She holds a BA in Folklore and an MA in Public Folklore from Memorial University as well as a Social Media Certificate from Algonquin College. She is currently documenting untold histories, traditional skills, and the associated narratives of Newfoundland and Labrador’s historic places. Previously for Heritage NL, Terra conducted fieldwork in several communities, and worked with the Oral History Roadshow and Craft at Risk projects. She volunteers with a number of organizations, and is particularly interested in the crafts, foodways and folk beliefs of the province. Terra has past experience working with MUNFLA, Them Days Inc., and The Rooms.

Terra has been the Heritage NL lead on the following DMC projects:
-The Early Lebanese Community in Newfoundland (2024)
-Heritage Underground - A History of Root Cellars in Newfoundland and Labrador (2022)
-Carved by the Sea: Heritage Places of Bay Roberts, Newfoundland (2020)
-Remembering the Merchants of Main Street, Windsor (2019)

Meet MANL conference panelist Leah Resnick - Digital Museums Canada session

2024 MANL Conference

Date: October 25-26, 2024.
Location: The Rooms, 9 Bonaventure Ave, St. John's, NL

Join us for an in-person opportunity to explore what binds us as heritage organizations! MANL, ANLA and Heritage NL are working together to help you build ideas and tell your communities’ stories. As part of the conference, Heritage NL will be facilitating a Digital Museums Canada program on Saturday Oct 26th. Come learn about how your heritage organization or museum can avail of DMC funding to help share your local knowledge and stories. 

Registration deadline is October 16th, end of day.
https://museumsnl.ca/2024-conference-agm/

Meet panelist Leah Resnick

Leah Resnick (she/her) is a seasoned museum leader with a proven track record directing and forging strategic partnerships nationally, internationally and in cultural diplomacy. She is currently Director of Digital Museums Canada. Over the course of her career she has led close to 100 high profile cultural projects (digital initiatives, exhibitions, grants, art commissions, festivals, art prizes and community engagement). Highlights include leading the Sobey Art Award, Venice Biennale, and a number of world class travelling exhibitions. At the National Gallery of Canada, she was instrumental in reinventing the National Outreach Program. She champions the power of digital, diversity and inclusion, accessibility and sustainability in museums.

Links to Heart’s Content , NL, Cemetery Resources

 

Heart's Content Carbonear Road Anglican Cemetery, 2021.

Links to Heart’s Content Cemetery Resources

Heart’s Content Anglican Cemetery Notes.pdf - rough draft c2000

Heart'sContentAnglicanRectoryCemetery.pdf

Heart'sContentCableOfficeCemetery.pdf

Heart'sContentCarbonearRoadAnglicanCemeteryBook182.pdf

Heart'sContentHayfieldMemorialUnitedCemeteryBook181.pdf

Heart'sContentHeyfieldMemorialUnited2.pdf

Heart'sContentMainBrookCemetery.pdf

Heart'sContentParishHallHillCemeteryBook183.pdf

Heart'sContentRomanCatholicCemetery.pdf

Heart'sContentSalvationArmyCemetery.pdf

BillionGraves pages

Heart's Content Anglican Cemetery

Heyfield United Churchyard

Main Brook Cemetery

Last updated 2024-09-04 by Dale Jarvis

Stories of Early Occupational Therapy in Newfoundland and Labrador

 

A new online exhibit shares the personal stories and memories attached to the development of the profession of Occupational Therapy in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The digital Occupational Therapy History Archive Project is an initiative of the Newfoundland and Labrador Occupational Therapy Association (www.nlaot.ca), in partnership with Heritage NL and Memorial University’s Digital Archives Initiative. 

The exhibit includes stories of pioneer occupational therapists who worked in Newfoundland and Labrador from 1900-1960, as well as audio interviews from a sample of occupational therapists who worked in Newfoundland and Labrador from 1960-2022.  The stories of the pioneer occupational therapists are based on information from historical documents, family members, and occupational therapists who were interviewed for this project. 

“We were really intrigued by the therapists’ stories and the parallels between practice then and now,” says Brenda Head, one of the project coordinators.

The interviews reflect the therapists’ memories and chronicles the development of the profession, highlighting the many early achievements and challenges of a predominantly female profession.

The collection can be viewed online at https://dai.mun.ca/digital/occuptherapy 

Upcoming Wood Windows Workshop in English Harbour!

Heritage NL is excited to be presenting "Care and Maintenance of Historic Wooden Windows", a  workshop led by Mike Paterson of Paterson Woodworking.

On September 14th, Michael Paterson will be giving a one day workshop on the general care and maintenance of wooden windows, designed for the owners or managers of historic homes.

The workshop will be located at the English Harbour Arts Centre, formerly the All Saints Anglican Church, in English Harbour, Trinity Bay. In this workshop, Mike will address a window on the church, demonstrate glazing and re-glazing techniques, and discuss general best practices for rot repair and painting. All materials and tools needed during the workshop will be provided. Lunch will be provided.

Learn more about the workshop and register here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/care-and-maintenance-of-historic-wooden-windows-workshop-tickets-970458677027?aff=oddtdtcreator

Upcoming Scanning Party at the Random Passage Site

Join Heritage NL, the Random Passage Site, and the Friends of St. Luke's on September 13th from 3-5pm for a scanning party! Held at the Random Passage Tearoom, the scanning party is for the communities of New and Old Bonaventure, and we encourage anyone to also bring your photos of George's Cove, White Point, Kerley's Harbour, British Harbour and Ireland's Eye.

A Scanning Party is an informal photo collection session where a digital copy is made of your historical photographs. You bring your photographs to be scanned at the event and then you take them back home with them the same day. Bring a flash drive and receive a digital copy of your photographs. 

For more information visit the Heritage NL Facebook Page or contact outreach@heritagenl.ca

Two Heritage Restoration Workshops with Heritage NL Mentor Rex Passion

 

Workshop #1
Saturday and Sunday
August 17th-18th
10am-3pm each day

Workshop #2
Saturday and Sunday
August 31st-September 1st
10am-3pm each day

Rex Passion is giving two workshop to demonstrate heritage restoration techniques for repairing old buildings. The workshop will include methods such as molding removal, epoxy consolidation, Dutch patching, clapboard replacement, molding replication, and will concentrate on when to use these approaches. One main example will be the evaluation and repair of damaged window sills.

The workshops will be part of the ongoing restoration work at Howard House Registered Heritage Structure, 9 Garrison Hill in St. John’s, NL, from 10am-3pm each day, and will include lunch.

This workshop is free, but is intended for participants with some carpentry knowledge, and pre-registration is required.

Register for Workshop 1 August 17th-18th

Register for Workshop 2 August 31st-September 1st

About the instructor

Rex started as an apprentice cabinetmaker in the spring of 1972, and in 1985 worked in a historic townhouse in Louisberg Square, Boston. From there, he started Classic Restorations, specializing in the restoration and renovation of historic and traditional homes, seamlessly updating them to fit modern lifestyles. Over twenty years, Classic Restorations restored more than one hundred, nineteenth- and early twentieth-century homes in the greater Boston area. Since moving to Newfoundland, Rex has taught workshops for Heritage NL, including several on wood window repair and restoration, and served as a Mentor in Heritage NL’s Mentor/Apprentice program for Crafts at Risk.

Heritage Update for July 2024: New Designations, Sailor's Valentines, and the origin of the place name Halls Bay

 

Have you seen a Sailor's Valentine? If so, a MUN Folklore researcher wants to chat with you! In this version of the Heritage Update for July 2024: 

• we learn about three new heritage designations (The Terra Nova Sulphite Company Pulp Mill, Surgeon Cove Head Light Station, and  Holloway Property in Lethbridge);
• Andrea O'Brien walks us through what is meant when we talk about "heritage designation" and the various levels at which that can occur;
• Meaghan Collins talks about her Sailor’s Valentines research as part of her dissertation project. and,
• a colourful legend about the origin of the place name for Halls Bay by Dale Jarvis.

Download the pdf here

Heritage NL designates three new properties as Registered Heritage Structures

Heritage NL is excited to announce that three historic properties in Glovertown, Surgeon Cove Head (Exploits Island), and Lethbridge have been awarded heritage designation. The designations include a planned pulp mill, a light station, and a family home with outbuildings.

Terra Nova Sulphite Company Pulp Mill.
Photo courtesy of the Town of Glovertown.

The Terra Nova Sulphite Company Pulp Mill is a large concrete structure located along Angle Brook in Alexander Bay in Glovertown. Construction began on the mill in 1920 under the Norwegian company Terra Nova Sulphite Company Limited. The mill was intended to be opened by the Fall of 1921 but, due to the falling value of the Norwegian Kroner and hesitant investors, the mill never became operational. $2,000,000 had been spent on the construction of the mill and it had the potential of employing 300 people, plus the loggers employed to supply pulpwood. Built from reinforced concrete, the mill is a landmark in Glovertown.  

Surgeon Cove Head Light Station. 
Photo courtesy of Paul and Joanne Langdon.

Surgeon Cove Head Light Station includes a wooden, one-storey double dwelling, a light tower, and a spar and boom apparatus located on Surgeon Cove Head on Exploits Islands. The lighthouse was constructed in 1911 to aid navigation along Newfoundland’s northeast coast and to the busy ports of Botwood and Lewisporte. Due to the steep cliffs, in 1920 the first hoisting engine was installed at the site to allow materials to be transported from the boats below. The 1960s dwelling is reminiscent of lightkeeper dwellings built at that time, many of which were constructed to replace older residences and to accommodate rotational staff. The station was staffed until 2002 and is now owned by Adventures Newfoundland.

Holloway Property in Lethbridge.

The Holloway Property in Lethbridge was built in 1915 and includes a two-and-a-half-storey Victorian Gothic-style house and two outbuildings, one traditionally used as a workshop and the other as a barn. Eli John Holloway (also known as John or Jack) likely built the house before his marriage to Minnie Earl of St. John’s in 1916. Minnie died in childbirth but their daughter survived. Eli John married Mabel Cuff of Bloomfield in 1919 and the couple would have six children together.John had a sawmill and lumber business at Parson’s Siding, along the Bonavista Line of the railroad, and was a member of the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit. John was known as an exceptional carpenter, and his workshop remains on the property. The property remained in the Holloway family until 1975.

“These properties are a reflection of our varied industrial history in Newfoundland and Labrador,” says Dr. Lisa Daly, chair of Heritage NL. “From a home built for the owner of a sawmill and lumber business, to a lighthouse for the safe transportation of goods and people around the often dangerous coastline, and efforts to expand pulp and paper, they reflect the challenges and success of industry in the province.” 

Heritage NL was established in 1984 to preserve one of the most visible dimensions of Newfoundland and Labrador culture - its architectural heritage. Heritage NL designates buildings and other structures as Registered Heritage Structures and may provide grants for the purpose of preservation and restoration of such structures.