Registration for the Traditional Newfoundland Sock Knit-Along is OPEN!

As part of the Grey Sock Project, the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and the City of St. John's are presenting Knit Some Socks Knit-along.

Come knit a traditional pair of Newfoundland socks found in Operation Homespun among fellow knitters! Knit-along with a group as you rib, turn heels and graft toes. If you are unsure of how to do something, there are two wonderful instructors to help or ask your neighbour. Once finished, you can donate your socks to those in need or take them home! Snacks and refreshments provided.

When: March 5th and March 12th

Where: A.C. Hunter Children's Library

Time: 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Participants will be required to bring:

• 2 sets of double pointed needles - 3.75 mm and 4 mm
• 2 skeins of Briggs and Little Heritage worsted weight 100% wool (or equivalent worsted weight wool)
• Optional: Small portion of yarn for stripes

Proposed Audience: Some experience to intermediate

Biography of presenters:
Christine LeGrow lives and works in Outer Cove, Newfoundland. She enjoys designing patterns as well as knitting traditional patterns. Many of her designs are inspired by Newfoundland early knits. LeGrow shares her designs with twenty-five knitters who contribute to her company Spindrift.

Shirley Scott, or Shirl the Purl, lives and works in St. John’s, Newfoundland. She spends much of her time knitting and preserving traditional patterns. Scott wrote Canada Knits: Craft and Comfort in a Northern Land and has since been known as Canada’s knitting historian.

Project Updates: What traditions are important to you?

On February 17^th we launched the TRADITIONS AT RISK survey. The project has been warmly welcomed by over 100 people! Thank-you! 

On February 18^th we reached the 50 mark! In less than 24 hours, we had 50 people take part! Well done, Newfoundland and Labrador! Check out the map to see where the responses have come from (updated every day at 4:30pm).

Photo courtesy of CBC CrossTalk

On February 22nd I spent the noon-hour with Pam Hall (pictured right) and Ramona Dearing on CBC's Cross Talk. Sarah Baikie, a grasswork artist from Rigolet, and many others across the province shared their thoughts on traditions at risk. You can check out that conversation HERE. To get a peek at the beautiful (and onerous) process behind grass work art: check in with Them Days HERE.  

On February 23^rd I began tracking the locations of survey responses using Google Maps. Check out the MAP (pictured below) on the ICH at Risk page! Don’t see your community? Complete the survey to make sure the intangible cultural heritage in your community is represented!

Living Heritage Map

On February 24th we hit the 100 mark! Thank-you to everyone who has participated so far. We reached our first goal! Our next goal is 200 respondents by March 2nd! We can do it!

Living Heritage Podcast Ep033 Student Internships and Textile Heritage with Stephanie Micikyan

Stephanie Micikyan is a graduate of the University of Ottawa with a BA in History, and of Fleming College’s Museum Management and Curatorship Graduate Certificate program. She has worked as an intern with The Rooms history division in St. John’s, working on a textiles-based project, and is the Intangible Cultural Heritage Intern with the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, working on the Grey Sock Project, inspired by the First World War-era Women’s Patriotic Association. We talk about internships and Fleming College’s certificate program, the work of archiving and preserving textiles, work to safeguard traditional knitting skills, and her recent research on the life and work of Anna Templeton, a craft pioneer in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Memory Store: Well it's not a burial place...

This week’s Memory Store video is a clip of Elisabeth Laverty from the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Elisabeth describes the cathedral’s weekly organ concerts and the daily summertime tea in the crypt.  You can check out an organ concert on Wednesdays or enjoy some home baked goods in the crypt during the summer time!

Watch the video below or click here to watch the video on YouTube.

Click here for more information about the building's history and architectural style.
If you missed our initial post explaining the concept of the Memory Store clip here to go back to our first blog post with the introduction video or check out our YouTube channel at ICH NL.

Stay tuned for more short stories about historic places in the province, in the form of short oral history interviews conducted with the people who care about those places and if you have a personal memory about a historic place in Newfoundland and Labrador, and want to add your voice to the Memory Store project, let us know at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

-Terra

Exploring Industrial Chic - an interview with Mike Barneveld of Square Peg Designs

I spent the last two days at the Willowbank School for Restoration Arts, in Queenston, Ontario, teaching the Heritage Conservation Program students about the world of intangible cultural heritage. It was my second year at Willowbank, and it is always a great deal of fun introducing new people to ICH, and demonstrating the link between living traditions and heritage conservation.

For the second year, I was also able to conduct a demonstration interview with one of the artisans associated with the school. This year, it was with Mike Barneveld of Square Peg Designs, an alumnus of the program.

Square Peg Designs is a small, Niagara-based company which creates one-of-a-kind furniture and accessories with an “industrial chic” feel using vintage and reclaimed materials.  I sat down with Mike in front of the students, and we chatted about his work trajectory, the establishment of his business, what he learned from the Willowbank program, his creative aesthetic and process, and the business side of his art.

Listen in below, or click here to download the interview in various audio formats.

- photos courtesy www.squarepegdesigns.ca

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Last Year's Youth Heritage Forum

Today's photo was taken at last year's Youth Heritage Forum by Jeremy Harnum. This is a member of the First Nations Eastern Owl Women's Drum Circle. The group was part of last year's opening ceremony and are back again this year!

Saturday March 19th is the 2nd Annual Youth Heritage Forum in St. John's. This year, the forum is focusing on heritage skills, networking, and mentorship. There will be mentors established in different fields such as archaeology, folklore, archives, and much more!

Youth will have the opportunity to ask the mentors questions, network with fellow youth in the heritage field, and take part in exciting events like the heritage skills competition.

Visit www.youthheritagenl.wordpress.com for more information and updates about the forum and register today!

As Good as New!

Last week, the darning workshop took place at the A.C. Hunter Children's Library at the Arts and Culture Centre! We had twenty-two eager and excited participants who learned to mend holes in knitted garments with Christine LeGrow. Shirley Scott was there and she gave some great tips to participants on how to knit and care for knitted socks so they are everlasting!

I was lucky enough to see some darning egg/mushrooms - and even a radiator knob - that have been used to darn socks:

          

             Left - Elizabeth's darning egg -
       a nice modern example
               Right - Rebecca Jeffery's darning egg which
          belongs to her father, Gary. c.1930 from
       Southern Ontario!

Glenna Jamieson-English's darning mushroom!
See the orange? We used them to darn!

After some show and tell, Christine got down to business and taught everyone how to darn. My favourite example was how she compared darning to weaving like some of us were taught in school. By the end of the workshop, everyone got the hang of it and holes began to be mended!

It was a fun filled, exciting, and educational evening. Everyone who attended will certainly be using their new skill to mend socks, hats, trigger mitts, and sweaters for years to come, keeping everything looking as good as new! **Stay tuned - I will be posting darning instructions from Christine for those who missed the workshop soon**

Thank you to everyone who attended, Christine LeGrow, Shirley Scott, the City of St. John's, Susan Prior, the NL Public Libraries, and all those who promoted this event making this workshop a great success!

Missed this workshop? We have a knit-along happening in March!

Living Heritage Podcast Ep031 A Life in Public Folklore, with Peggy Bulger

Peggy A. Bulger retired in 2011 as the second director of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, where she served from 1999. A native of New York State, she holds a B.A. in fine arts from the State University of New York at Albany, an M.A. in folk studies from Western Kentucky University, and a Ph.D. in folklore and folklife from the University of Pennsylvania. A folklorist, consultant, and producer, Bulger has been documenting folklife and developing and managing folklife programs for more than forty years. We talk about her life, her fascinating work, and her thoughts on where public folklore is going today. Recorded on 7 August 2015.

Photo: Dale Jarvis and Peggy Bulger, 2013

What traditions are at risk in your community?

Last week I promised to unveil a new ICH project. Here it is:

Back in 2008 and 2013 we asked community members, organizations and groups interested in NL heritage and culture to share their thoughts on the needs of communities in safeguarding local intangible cultural heritage. Here in Newfoundland and Labrador, this living heritage is everything from the Christmas mummering traditions to, depending on where you're from in the province, flummies, tiffins or toutons!

One of the common threads in these past reports was a concern for the traditions, skills and knowledges that are at risk of being lost. We hear you! So, in the spirit of safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador we came up with a short survey (3-5 minutes) based on what people have identified as at risk. Help us identify the intangible cultural heritage that is at risk in your community! We want to hear from you!

The survey will be open to everyone beginning February 17th until March 24th at 5:00pm. The report will be made available to the public when the project is complete.

To take the survey, please visit the ICH Risk link on the main page of the blog.

If you have any questions contact:

Meghan Mills
meghan@heritagefoundation.ca
1 888 739 1892 ext 5.

Workshop Feb 24th - Using Craft to Tell a Story

An exciting and instructive session for museums, heritage sites and craft makers, this session will offer insight into how craft can tell a cultural story and how makers and visitor destination sites can make use of craft to enhance the visitor’s experience.

Join Keynote speakers Joanne Kaar from Caithness, Scotland and Pam Hall from St. John's at the Manuels River Interpretation Centre on Wednesday, February 24.

Presentations will be followed by panel comprised of local experts in storytelling and the craft industry. The panel will explore ways in which Newfoundland and Labrador craft makers, artists and designers are using craft to tell their stories.

This is a collaborative project between the Craft Council Of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Intangible Cultural Heritage office of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. Your fee of $50 + HST includes lunch!

Click here for more information

Click here to register

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Eggs and mushrooms

In the spirit of darning, here are two darning tools sent to us from Karlie King and Eileen Murphy!

Karlie King's darning mushroom

Eileen Murphy's darning egg

Eileen writes, "This was passed on to me from my mother' s cousin. Many feet continued to be warm and snug because this was used to mend the wear and tear."

Thank you Karlie and Eileen for these great photos!

We are still looking for photos and stories about darning tools! Do not hesitate to e-mail me stephanie@heritagefoundation.ca

By the way, did I mention the traditional darning workshop is tonight? You still have time to register!



Join instructor Christine LeGrow tonight, Tuesday, February 16 between 6:15 pm-8:15 pm, at the A.C. Hunter Children's Library at the Arts & Culture Centre, 125 Allandale Road to learn traditional darning techniques.

Participants will be required to bring:

• Socks that need darning
• Scraps of equivalent yarn
• Darning needle
• Scissors
• Optional: Darning egg

Hope to see you there!

In Memoriam: Heritage Advocate Beve Butler, Grand Falls-Windsor

I was saddened today to learn of the passing of Beve Butler, Past President of the Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society, and a friend of us here at the Intangible Cultural Heritage office. Beve was a great champion of local heritage and oral history, and the key motivator behind the Heritage Foundation of NL's work to digitize the oral history collections of Mr. Hiram Silk.

Catherine Simpson of the Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society wrote today on Facebook:

Beve was a force of nature, and not only in heritage circles---a person with a huge heart and boundless enthusiasm who inspired all of us with her dedication and passion. She was a tireless champion of heritage to the end. 

I will miss Beve and her enthusiasm for local heritage. I am thankful, however, that I had a chance to sit down with Beve at her home last year, and record some of her stories of her early life. We chatted about everything from her childhood years in Grand Falls and Lethbridge, to her Christmas memories, children's games, and her life in education. You can listen to that interview on Memorial University's Digital Archive Initiative.

A reception will be held at the Royal Canadian Legion on Queen Street in Grand Falls-Windsor on Wednesday, 17th February, 2016, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, for anyone who would like to come together to share memories of Beve and to express their sympathies to the family.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep032 Heritage, Radio, and Building Community Voice

Join us as we celebrate UNESCO's World Radio Day, Feb 13th - a day to celebrate radio as a medium; to improve international cooperation between broadcasters; and to encourage major networks and community radio alike to promote access to information, freedom of expression, and gender equality over the airwaves.

In this special World Radio Day podcast, we are talking about Heritage, Radio, and Building Community Voice, with Joan Cranston and Anita Best.

Joan Cranston is a physiotherapist who operates her clinic out of the old Bonne Bay Cottage Hospital in Norris Point. She is also the (volunteer) coordinator for the Bonne Bay Cottage Hospital Heritage Corporation, and has served on many community development boards. Anita Best is a renowned Newfoundland folk singer, storyteller, and broadcaster. Anita has received several honours for her work in collecting and disseminating Newfoundland folksongs, including the Marius Barbeau award from the Folklore Studies Association of Canada and an Honourary Doctorate from Memorial University, and is the program director for Voice of Bonne Bay Radio. In this episode, they talk with Dale Jarvis about the work of the Bonne Bay Cottage Hospital Heritage Corporation, a not-for-profit community corporation which is adaptively re-using the old cottage hospital as a community center, operating on a social enterprise model.

(Another) little introduction:

Hello, folks! My name is Meghan Mills and I will be joining Stephanie and Dale here at the ICH office for the next seven weeks. Pleased to "meet" you! 

Over the next few weeks I'll be working with Dale on a pretty exciting project. It's exciting to me because it will give me the chance to talk to you (yes, you!) about what intangible cultural heritage in your community looks like and what it may look like in the future. Interest piqued? We're launching the project on February 17th right here so be sure to check-in!

In the meantime if you have any questions you may reach me at meghan@heritagefoundation.ca.

Take-care and happy weekend,

Meghan

Counting crows, and poem from Tilting, Fogo Island. #FolkloreThursday

On Monday last, I gave a guest lecture on intangible cultural heritage for Scott Neilsen's Cultural Resource Management (CRM) course at Memorial University. I talked to the class about the five domains of ICH as defined by UNESCO, and gave examples from a Newfoundland and Labrador perspective.

While talking about oral traditions and expressions, I challenged them with a couple traditional riddles, and then two students spoke up with rhymes that they had learned when younger.

First up was Rebekah Nolan, who had a fantastic version of a counting crows rhyme which I'd not heard before. I've written about crow counting rhymes before, but Rebecca's version was new to me. She learned it in San Luis Obispo ("America's happiest city" apparently) circa 2003:

One for sadness

Two for mirth

Three for marriage

Four for birth

Five for laughing

Six for crying

Seven for sickness

Eight for dying

Nine for silver

Ten for gold

Eleven for a secret that will never be told

Twelve for darkness

Thirteen for light

Fifteen for morning

Sixteen for night.

The second was from Jackie Tizzard, who had a rhyme she learned from her mother, who was a Burke from Tilting, Fogo Island.  "She could never tell me where it came from," Jackie told me. This was her rhyme:

"Long has been my cherished hope,

Upon my dying day,

To lie upon some sunny slope

And dream my life away."

Jackie thought it might be a riddle, but didn't know the answer. 

The rhyme is not a riddle at all, and neither does it originate on Fogo Island. It is, rather, a quote from a book, The red cow and her friends, by Peter McArthur, published in 1919, in Toronto, Ontario, by J.M. Dent & Sons. It is a fascinating book on farm life, with stories on sick cows, feeding pigs, racoon hunts, and horse contrariness. How a line of it came to be memorized by a young Miss Burke in Tilting is anyone's guess.

The full quote is as follows:

Although the oak is my particular friend among the trees on the farm, there are others with which I can claim at least an acquaintanceship. There is a maple at the edge of the wood-lot that always makes me feel uncomfortable, because I have a feeling that it has a joke on me. It stands on what would be called rising ground " which means an elevation that does not deserve to be called a hill " and while lying on the grass in its shade I can see over several farms to the south and east. It used to be a favourite of my boyhood, and once I composed a poem while lying in its shade. If you bear in mind the fact that I was seventeen years of age at the time you will understand why the tree has a joke on me. Here is the only stanza I can remember of the little poem I composed to express the "unmannerly sadness" of youth.

It long has been my cherished hope Upon my dying day To lie down on some sunny slope And dream my life away.

At that age I could not have cherished the hope so very long, and the old tree must have chuckled to its last twig at my absurdity. Anyway, I never see the tree without recalling that wretched stanza, and I immediately hurry away to some other part of the woods.

Got a piece of folk poetry stuck in your head, or a counting crow rhyme of your own? Leave a comment below, or send me an email at ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

- Dale Jarvis

Living Heritage Podcast Ep030 Safeguarding Traditional Stepdance

Kristin Harris Walsh is a dancer and dance scholar based in St. John's. She holds a PhD in Folklore from Memorial University and a Master’s in Dance from York University and currently is working on a SSHRC funded research project on percussive dance in Newfoundland and Ireland. Kristin has been step dancing for 15 years and has trained and performed in Newfoundland and Ireland. She is Past President of DanceNL, the province’s sectoral dance association, and is the President of the Society for Canadian Dance Studies. In this interview, we talk about step dancing, percussive dance, and the challenges and opportunities for safeguarding traditional dancing in Newfoundland and Labrador. Recorded on 4 August 2015.

Photo of Kristin dancing by Meghan Forsyth.

What is Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)? A quick definition.

I had a question this morning from a colleague who asked, essentially, what is ICH? It is a complex answer, but sometimes people want a quick summary. So, based on the UNESCO 2003 Convention and our own work at the Heritage Foundation of NL, here is our working definition:

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, and skills that communities recognize as part of their cultural heritage. It is sometimes called living cultural heritage, is transmitted from generation to generation, and is constantly recreated by communities and groups, in response to their environment, their interaction with nature, and their history.

ICH is manifested in the following five domains:
- Oral traditions and expressions, including language;
- Performing arts;
- Social practices, rituals and festive events;
- Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; and,
- Traditional craft.

ICH can include the stories we tell, the family events we celebrate, our community gatherings, the languages we speak, the songs we sing, knowledge of our natural spaces, our healing traditions, the foods we eat, our holidays, beliefs and cultural practices.

If you are looking for a more detailed discussion of what intangible cultural heritage is, download our free  "What is ICH?" booklet for Newfoundland and Labrador, or UNESCO's own Intangible Cultural Heritage page. 

Photo: Participants of the December 18, 2010 Mummers Festival, by Mark Bennett.
Courtesy Memorial University's Digital Archive Initiative. 

- Dale Jarvis

The Memory Store: All the soil is a very rich soil from Europe or the West Indies...

This week’s Memory Store video is filmed in Captain Blackmore’s Heritage Manor in Port Union, NL. Gary Blackmore, owner and operator of the manor, discusses why the soil surrounding Captain Blackmore’s Heritage Manor in Port Union, NL is so rich and fertile.

Watch the video below or click here to watch the video on YouTube.

If you missed our initial post explaining the concept of the Memory Store clip here to go back to our first blog post with the introduction video or check out our YouTube channel at ICH NL.

Stay tuned for more short stories about historic places in the province, in the form of short oral history interviews conducted with the people who care about those places and if you have a personal memory about a historic place in Newfoundland and Labrador, and want to add your voice to the Memory Store project, let us know at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

-Terra

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Buttons!

Today's photo is of the lovely buttons we ordered for the Grey Sock Project! Next week, February 16th, is the traditional darning workshop we are offering for FREE at the A.C. Hunter Children's Library with instructor Christine LeGrow. We will be giving these buttons to everyone who comes!

Didn't know about the workshop?


We hope to see you there!

Living Heritage Podcast Ep029 The Old Hag - The Terror In The Night

Lloyd Pike is a retired teacher whose 32 year teaching career began on remote Pass Island, located off the Connaigre Peninsula on Newfoundland's Southwest coast. On one particular dark night Lloyd experienced a disturbing encounter with the "old hag." Danielle Barron was born and raised in St. John’s, is an avid reader and has had multiple experiences over the past seven or eight years with the old hag. We discuss sleep paralysis and the old hag, Lloyd and Danielle’s experiences with Herself, fortune telling, reading tea leaves, mediums, and other superstitions and folk beliefs.

Listen in to this week's Living Heritage Podcast, if you dare!

Photo: Old Hag doll by Designs by Janet, available at The Rooms gift shop.

Today in ICH - Grey Socks, Anna Templeton, Youth Heritage, and more!

In this edition of the ICH Update, we look at what's happening with www.greysockproject.ca, provide some historical background on Miss Anna Templeton - a pioneer in the craft sector in Newfoundland and Labrador, give you a tease of what is to come with the 2016 Youth Heritage Forum, and provide an update on our current intangible cultural programming.

Contributions from Stephanie Micikyan and Dale Jarvis.

Download the pdf here.

Photo: Miss Anna Templeton

Learn to Knit at the Quidi Vidi Village Plantation

Family and Friends Learn to Knit participants!

I went to the Quidi Vidi Village Plantation last week to check out the Family and Friends Learn to Knit program run by the City of St. John's. It ran for four weeks on Sundays in January. The program is offered to anyone who wants to learn to knit.

Participants learned how to cast on, knit, purl, decrease and increase stitches as well as how to knit their own dishcloth. For the last class, participants chose their own projects and started on them. Some of the participant chosen projects were wrist warmers, scarves, and a baby blanket.

The first project knitted by participants

One participant stated she joined the program because knitting was something nice to do in the winter months and was a good way for her to hang out with her friends. She said she really wanted to learn to make socks and this workshop was a great way to learn the basics.

I asked someone else what their favourite part of the workshop was. She said she enjoyed learning new stitches and actually creating something herself.

If you ever wanted to learn to knit this is the perfect opportunity. The instructors are excited to teach and if you're willing to learn you'll be knitting and purling in no time! Luckily, there is another four week program you can register for just like this.


Date: Sundays, Feb. 7 to 28, 2016 (4 weeks)
Time: 2 to 4 p.m.
Location: Quidi Vidi Village Plantation, 10 Maple View Road
Ages: 10+ years
Cost: $28 per person
Click here to register for this course.

Plus, who can deny this view?

View from the Quidi Vidi Village Plantation

Thank you to the lovely group of knitters who allowed me to chat with them and take photos.

Happy knitting everyone,

Stephanie

Learn another traditional skill! We are offering a free traditional darning workshop February 16th. 

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: A darning what?

Today's Folklore Photo comes to us from Lloyd Kane! These darning tools are family heirlooms from his wife, Linda's, grandmother’s sewing box.

Both seem to be commercially manufactured. The darning tool on the right has a removable handle which may be used to store darning needle(s). There are markings that say “Made in Germany”. The other one has embossed ‘FOOT FOR’ ‘PATENDED’.

These darning tools were called the "darner" or "darning mushroom" writes Lloyd. I have heard people call them darning eggs as well. There are also stories of people using door handles or just their fist to mend socks. 

Do you have any stories about darning eggs/mushrooms/darners or any photos? Please share them with us. Contact stephanie@heritagefoundation.ca!

Thank you Lloyd for sending this photo in!

Want to learn to darn? We are offering a free traditional darning workshop February 16th. 

Registration Open for Traditional Darning Workshop

Do you have holes in your socks that you'd like to fix but don't know where to start? Come to our free traditional darning workshop with instructor Christine LeGrow! It is on Tuesday, February 16th at the A.C. Hunter Children's Library at the Arts & Culture Centre, 125 Allandale Road.

Click below for materials list and registration! Hope to see you there!

Living Heritage Podcast Ep028 Multi-ethnic food, music, and festivals, with Zainab Jerrett

Zainab Jerrett is the Executive Director of Tombolo Multicultural Festival Newfoundland and Labrador. She is also the Coordinator for International Food and Craft Expo and owner and operator of Multi Ethnic Food Kitchen. She obtained her PhD in Folklore at Memorial University in 1998. We discuss her move to Newfoundland, her PhD work on folk songs in Nigeria, her start at food and craft fairs, starting her business, and her work with the Tombolo Multicultural Festival and the International Food and Craft Expo.

 

The Memory Store: Craft can connect any two communities...

The Memory Store post this week was filmed inside Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Annex Gallery. Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador's executive director Anne Manuel describes the Craft Council's exhibition Spirit of the Caribou and how craft can connect any two communities.

Watch the video below or click here to watch the video on YouTube.

Click here for more information about the building's history and architectural style.

If you missed our initial post explaining the concept of the Memory Store clip here to go back to our first blog post with the introduction video or check out our YouTube channel at ICH NL.

Stay tuned for more short stories about historic places in the province, in the form of short oral history interviews conducted with the people who care about those places and if you have a personal memory about a historic place in Newfoundland and Labrador, and want to add your voice to the Memory Store project, let us know at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

-Terra

Job Posting - Short Term Contract: Intangible Cultural Heritage Intern

Job Posting - Short Term Contract: Intangible Cultural Heritage Intern
This is a position with Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Office, with a salary of $15/hour for 35 hours/week. The position will require a candidate with strong writing and speaking skills in English, with a degree in folklore, public history, anthropology, or related discipline. Excellent organizational skills are a must, and experience working on phone/internet surveys a bonus.

The ICH Intern will work with staff helping to identify aspects or themes of intangible cultural heritage under threat. This will involve creating an online survey, conducting phone interviews, organizing one stakeholder's meeting, and compiling a final report.

The ICH Intern will also work on the digitization of audio oral history recordings, creating metadata and descriptive logs for those recordings.

The job will also include some blog and report writing, taking minutes of committee meetings, assisting with intangible cultural heritage workshops, and other duties as required. The position will end March 31st, 2016.

Application Deadline: Monday, January 25, 2016

Send resume, cover letter, and list of 3 references to:
Dale Jarvis, ICH Development Officer
Heritage Foundation of NL
ich@heritagefoundation.ca 

Living Heritage Podcast Ep027 Cod Liver Oil and Mobile Apps.

Gail Everson, formerly a Hudson, she is a lifetime resident of Pouch Cove. Her family owned and operated 3 Cod Liver Oil factories in Pouch Cove, Bauline and Cape St. Francis from the late 1800s until the mid 1960s. Dr. Margot Duley is a graduate of MUN and the University of London where she received a PhD in history. She currently lives in Pouch Cove, a community that she loves and where she finds inspiration for her ongoing writing in Newfoundland history. The Pouch Cove Heritage Society is a non-profit community association founded in 2009 to assist residents of Pouch Cove identify and protect local heritage. Some of the community activities to date include commemorations of the Waterwitch shipwreck and rescue, Pouch Cove Heritage Days, a heritage night with storytelling, a kitchen party, and events to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1914 Sealing Disaster. The committee has conducted many interviews with local seniors, which form the basis of a book on local history. We discuss the work of Pouch Cove Heritage Society including the background history of the community, their oral history interviews, the development of a Smartphone App walking tour of the community, and the community’s book “Home by the Sea”.

A Call Out: Your memories and photos of Darning Eggs

Source: Artefacts Canada

Nice knit socks were and still are required for a warm, dry foot! There is nothing worse than a big hole that your toe sticks out of or one on your heel. In the past, people would not throw away their socks and waste materials, instead they would fix them.

A darning egg is a hard, round object that is inserted into a sock while repairing a hole. The darning egg makes it easier to stitch so it's not too tight or too loose. It prevents the sock from losing its shape while you repair and prevents you from accidentally stitching two sides of the sock together.

We are very interested in collecting photos or reminiscence of darning eggs. If you have any memories or even a photo or two of your darning egg please e-mail me at stephanie@heritagefoundation.ca or call 709-739-1892 ext. 3  or toll free at 1-888-739-1892 ext. 3. I would love to hear from you!

Learn More About the Women's Patriotic Association

As promised, here is a bibliography with original documents such as Evening Telegram articles, the WPA's published magazine called The Distaff  and photos. Also included are books and articles. I hope this compilation quenches your interest!

Archive and library collections:
At The Rooms:
Patriotic Association of the Women of Newfoundland (W.P.A.) fonds.MG 635, 1914-1921, 1939-1948, predominant 1939-1945.

Walter Edward Davidson fonds.

At Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador:
Archives and Special Collections - Mary Southcott Collection, Queen Elizabeth II Library.

Digital Archive Initiative (DAI):
Newfoundland Quarterly -
Volume 16: Number 1, July 1916, “Outlook Beyond the War,” p. 3, 10. http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/quarterly/NQ_Volume16_Number1.pdf.

Volume 17: Number 1, July 1917, “Newfoundland and the War - Patriotic Work,” p. 4.
Number 4: April 1918, “Empire Honours - Newfoundland List,” p. 5.
http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/quarterly/NQ_Volume17_Number4.pdf.

Volume 18: Number 1, July 1918, “Empire Honours - Newfoundland,” p. 5-6. http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/quarterly/NQ_Volume18_Number1.pdf.

Evening Telegram -
“Ladies’ Patriotic Movement: Women’s Association Formed - Address of Lady Davidson,” September 1, 1914, p. 8.
http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/compoundobject/collection/telegram19/id/2340/rec/4.

“Women’s Patriotic Association,” September 15, 1914, p. 5.
http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/compoundobject/collection/telegram19/id/2458/rec/6.

“For Our Soldiers,” September 24,1914, p. 7. http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/compoundobject/collection/telegram19/id/2810/rec/19.

“W.P.A. Second Shipment,” December 14, 1914, p. 7.

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/compoundobject/collection/telegram19/id/3251/rec/29.

“Women’s Patriotic Association Meeting,” October 1, 1917, p. 3.
http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/compoundobject/collection/telegram19/id/12117/rec/126.

** These are of particular interest but there are other volumes mentioning the WPA.

Centre for Newfoundland Studies
The Distaff 1916. St. John’s: The Royal Gazette, 1916. http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/cns/Distaff1916.pdf.

The Distaff 1917. St. John’s: The Royal Gazette, 1917. http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/cns/Distaff1917.pdf.


Books and articles:
Bishop Stirling, Terry. “Women's Mobilization for War (Newfoundland).” In 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2015-09-30. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15463/ie1418.10736.

Duley Margot I. “The Unquiet Knitters of Newfoundland: from Mothers of the Regiment to Mothers of the Nation.” In A Sisterhood of Suffering and Service: Women and Girls of Canada and Newfoundland during the First World War, edited by Sarah Glassford and Amy Shaw, 51-75.Vancouver: UBC Press, 2012.
Part online at: https://goo.gl/158i0T.

Duley, Margot I. Where Once Our Mothers Stood We Stand: Women's Suffrage in Newfoundland, 1890-1925. Charlottetown: Gynergy, 1993.

Duley, Tryphena. A pair of grey socks: facts and fancies. St. John’s, 1916. http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/cns_wom_lit/PairOfGreySocks.pdf.

Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador. “Women’s Patriotic Association.” Last modified April 2015. http://www.heritage.nf.ca/first-world-war/articles/womens-patriotic-association-en.php.

Thanks to Terry Bishop Stirling for providing sources to this bibliography.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep026 Building a Happy City, with Dave Lane

Dave Lane wears several hats: he is Development Partner at the marketing firm Dc Design House, managing a team web developers, designers, and social media experts; he is a Councillor at Large for the City of St. John's, chairing and sitting on several committees; he is an entrepreneur, building an online business; he is a musician, singing with the Quintessential and Innismara Vocal Ensembles; and he is a fiancée, washing dishes and driving his better half to and from work. We discuss how Dave got his start in heritage, the work of Happy City, community engagement, smart development, and built heritage.

The Memory Store: The visionary behind the trail of the caribou...

This Memory Store video for this week was filmed in the Bishop’s Library where the Basilica houses a museum and archives. Anne Walsh, treasurer of the Basilica Museum and Historical Committee, describes the Bishop’s Library museum and their current exhibit on Thomas Nangle of the Newfoundland Regiment.

 
Watch the video below or click here to watch the video on YouTube.

Click here for more information about the building's history and architectural style.
If you missed our initial post explaining the concept of the Memory Store clip here to go back to our first blog post with the introduction video or check out our YouTube channel at ICH NL.

Stay tuned for more short stories about historic places in the province, in the form of short oral history interviews conducted with the people who care about those places and if you have a personal memory about a historic place in Newfoundland and Labrador, and want to add your voice to the Memory Store project, let us know at ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

-Terra

Tuesday's Folklore Photo - Ladies in the Drawing Room

"Thursday's Working Bee in the Drawing Room"
1915

Happy Tuesday to all! As you may be aware, I have been researching the Women's Patriotic Association as part of the Grey Sock Project. I came across this photo last week and wanted to share it with you.

This photo comes from the Walter Edward Davidson fonds at The Rooms. The women of the WPA would meet at the Government House for meetings, to work on knitting, sewing, sterilizing dressings and other tasks. The ladies in this picture are part of the Working Committee. Their purpose was to prepare workrooms, materials and to arrange work parties. Some of the women are knitting (far left - could those be grey socks!?) while others are using sewing machines.

I loved this photo the moment I saw it because you can see the ladies hard at work. I then discovered that the woman on the far left is Blanche Eleanor Bartlett, sister of Captain Robert "Bob" Bartlett which made me love it even more. Hope you enjoy this photo!

Knitting Comforts and Beyond

On August 31, 1914, Lady Margaret Davidson, the governor's wife, called a public meeting in St. John's. The 700 women who attended the meeting formed the Women's Patriotic Association (WPA). Today, the WPA is known for the knitted comforts they produced for Newfoundland and Labrador volunteers overseas. The grey sock was the most desired item as described by Private Francis Lind of the Newfoundland Regiment,

"A Newfoundland sock is the best in the world and is prized by every soldier. How many times at the Peninsula and before we ever saw Egypt have we been asked by soldiers of different regiments if we had a pair of Newfoundland socks to give them or sell them. They would even offer cigarettes in return."

In the Evening Telegram the socks are described as being "of natural wool homespun and are made in the three principal sizes which are distinguished by rows of colo[u]red wool." It is recorded that 62,685 pairs of socks were knitted by the women of the WPA. The socks were considered more than comfort, it was actually military necessity. The War Office's Field Service Regulations included instruction for the care of feet.

For this reason, the women were required to follow the sock pattern provided strictly, in order to create the most comfortable sock. In A pair of grey socks: facts and fancies, it is described that the socks must be loosely knitted to make the sock soft for marching feet, must not reach the bend of the leg and have no chance of folding. This would cause great discomfort for the wearer. The knitting the WPA did helped greatly but the women went beyond knitting comforts to support the war effort.

The women of the WPA organized concerts, plays, teas, bazaars and raffles. They also sold patriotic calendars, souvenir regimental badges, flowers and other goods. The WPA supported people at home in the province by creating a Visiting Committee. They kept in touch  and visited with family and relatives of volunteers serving overseas. The committee also visited soldiers in local hospitals. In St. John's alone, the committee made 11,270 visits.

By the end of the war there was around 250 branches across the province and over 15,000 members.The WPA collected more than $500,000 which is worth about $6.5 million today. When looking at other initiatives the WPA undertook, it is clear that the women of the WPA exceeded expectations of patriotic support!

This is only some of the amazing work, written in summary, done by the Women's Patriotic Association. There are many sources available to learn more! Stay tuned for a bibliography so you can view articles, books, photos and original documents.

Get Involved! Youth Heritage Forum 2016 #YHNL2016

Last March, youth from across Newfoundland and Labrador gathered at The Lantern in St. John’s. They came together from different professional backgrounds and different communities from across Newfoundland and Labrador to talk about one thing – the role of Youth in the heritage sector.

It’s time to start planning for our Forum this year! We are having a meeting for next Wednesday, January 20th, 2016, 7pm, at the office of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in St. John’s to start making plans for the Youth Heritage Forum 2016.

We want your ideas, your feedback, and to build a team to run the event.

If you want to be involved, please RSVP to youthheritagenl@gmail.com, or send us a message on our Facebook page:www.facebook.com/YouthHeritageNL.

Not in St. John’s? Don’t worry! We can arrange a Google Hangout or something similar to make you part of the conversation.

Looking forward to hearing from you all!

https://youthheritagenl.wordpress.com/…/get-involved-youth…/