A (very incomplete) history of the Mary March Museum, Grand Falls-Windsor.

I had a request for information on the history of the Mary March Museum, in light of the recent discussions over its name. Here is what I've found.

The Mary March Museum started in 1973 and was housed in the Penthouse room at the top of the Provincial building in GFW. It was run by a board of directors. In the early 1970s the board managed to get Federal funding to establish an Exhibition Centre which would become the current museum.

Sod was cut to start work on the museum June 14, 1976. More:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/compoundobject/collection/trident/id/637/rec/4 page 5

The Museum opened in 1977:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/compoundobject/collection/trident/id/610/rec/5 page 4

And closed in 1981 due to lack of funds (plus information on the locomotive in the photo) page 52

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/compoundobject/collection/cns_decks/id/4312/rec/1

The Museum was taken over by the province in 1985:

https://www.assembly.nl.ca/houseBusiness/Hansard/ga40session1/May27-1985.pdf 

page R974

At some point in the 1980s there was a reconstruction of a Beothuk encampment associated with the museum. Do photos of this exist??

Archival photo of the building circa 1988:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/decksphotos/id/3283/rec/8

A petition was made in 2006 by local students to change the name:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/rename-museum-for-beothuk-s-sake-students-1.579197

And

https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/demasduits-museum-grade-two-students-petition-to-set-the-record-straight

The petition was presented to the House of Assembly by Anna Thistle, the member for Grand Falls-Windsor:

https://www.assembly.nl.ca/HouseBusiness/Hansard/ga45session3/06-11-20.htm#1470

Discussion resurfaced in 2020 with the town council seeming to be in favour of a name change:

https://www.saltwire.com/lifestyles/local-lifestyles/renewed-interest-in-changing-name-of-provincial-museum-in-grand-falls-windsor-460778/#.XufzBI4Mtws.twitter

And

http://ntv.ca/mary-march-museum-may-soon-be-changing-name/

One response to the proposed change suggested the museum needed to go further, and operate as more than a seasonal museum:

http://ntv.ca/qalipu-councillor-says-changing-name-of-mary-march-museum-would-be-good-first-step/ 

UPDATE: The first Curator of the Museum was Glen Stroud. The Beothuck village reconstruction was never part of the Museum, it was established by the EVTA, Exploits Valley Tourism Association and run seasonally by them. It was put in place with the help of Don Pelley, Lloyd Seaward and a few other people.

It's Just the Love of the Craft: Stained Glass With Michael Laduke. #MakerMonday

For #MakerMonday we'll be profiling some of the people practicing traditional skills on the Baccalieu Trail.
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Michael Laduke remembers seeing his first stained glass piece, a gift given to one of his friends, and the love of glass was instantaneous. Originally from Quebec, he and his wife have been operating the SeaGlass Bed and Breakfast in New Perlican for the past 6 years. After moving to Newfoundland and Labrador permanently last year, Michael brought with him all the glass he needed to continue making stained glass and selling it out of his studio.

Jellyfish stained glass sun catchers by Michael Laduke. Photo from Sea Glass BnB.

Influenced by nautical themes and the scenery of Newfoundland, Michael likes to play with colours and textures in glass to catch the light in different ways and bring dimension to his work. He uses his wife's photography as layouts to design unique Newfoundland inspired pieces.

Heritage Foundation NL · Michael Laduke On Stained Glass

I really like the way the light plays on the glass in different intensities. In the sunlight sometimes it looks completely different than if you're in the shade. So, that's kind of cool. I really like that aspect of it. I try my best to think about that. I mean, sometimes I finish a piece and hold it up to the light and go, "Oh my God, what was I thinking?" But probably most of the time, I hang it up anyway because, a piece that's completed, it'll sell right away. So, I have my tastes, but that's probably not the same as anybody else. I mean, everybody's taste is individual, so what I think doesn't go well together, somebody else might really love.

According to Michael, stained glass has one speed: slow. It is a solitary process, and you need to be comfortable to sit down for hours and do the work. He says that for self-isolation during this pandemic, it has been the perfect refuge.

Michael Laduke working on a piece. Photo from Sea Glass BnB.

Michael says that the way this tradition will continue is for other people to fall in love with the craft as he as. His best advice for new practitioners is patience. It will take time to learn how to put thin, smooth lines of solder on and to grind the glass to the appropriate shape. Even though he has been practicing this craft for over 40 years, he says he is still getting better at it and there are always new things to learn.

Puffin stained glass sun catcher by Michael Laduke. Photo from Sea Glass BnB

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Do you live on the Baccalieu Trail and practice a traditional skill or know someone who does? Fill out our survey!

A Window on History: the June Heritage Update for Heritage NL

In this edition of the Heritage Update: restoration of the Basilica windows; heritage staycations; the Baccalieu Trail Traditional Knowledge Inventory; and engaging seniors in heritage work. Download the pdf here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ps2krKSV5q6RXufbekjWy-Cu5KlYOwK4/view?usp=sharing

Living Heritage Ep176: Storytelling on the Baccalieu Trail with Clifford George

Photo courtesy of Jackie Evans.

Clifford George is an artist and storyteller living in Whiteway, Newfoundland and Labrador. While he’s primarily self-taught, Clifford also received a formal art education at the College of Trades and Technology in St. John’s. He has painted and studied with well-known Newfoundland artists like Gerald Squires, Frank LaPointe and Don Wright. Clifford also worked as a medical artist at the Health Sciences Centre at Memorial University.  You can find Clifford’s work at the Christina Parker Gallery in St. John’s.

In this episode, Clifford shares a few stories with Heritage NL researcher Katie Crane about Newfoundland faeries, his painting, and his advocacy work on behalf of Newfoundland ponies.

This episode is part of a special series about the Baccalieu Trail region of Newfoundland and Labrador. Join us as we explore the hidden gems of the Baccalieu Trail- from stories of phantom ship sightings to local art and history.

Learn more about Clifford's work and the Newfoundland Pony:

https://christinaparkergallery.com/artist/clifford-george/
http://nqonline.ca/article/q-and-a-with-clifford-george/
https://newfoundlandpony.com/
https://gem.cbc.ca/media/absolutely-canadian/season-15/episode-8/38e815a-00939422c38

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Living Heritage is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum
professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the
community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Performance and Pandemic - an interview with Jordan Vincer

As part of our ongoing Covid-19 NL Oral History series, we sit down for a chat with Ryerson University student Jordan Vincer about his studies, performance during lockdown, and his thesis project reimagining the traditional Newfoundland Mummers' Play. 

Out of Necessity, I Suppose: Knife Making and Wood Carving with Edward Delaney. #MakerMonday

For #MakerMonday we'll be profiling some of the people practicing traditional skills on the Baccalieu Trail.
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Edward Delaney of Gull Island has been whittling and carving since he was a child. He describes himself as an outdoorsman, and carving has been a way for him to pass the time and entertain himself while hunting or working outside.

Heritage Foundation NL · Edward Delaney on Carving and Making His Own Knives

I could always kind of recognize the images and shapes of the things, right? Like I said, what it was, you look at a piece and you see something into it, like you see an animal, like a weasel, or a mink, or maybe a head of a horse. Something like that, right? And then you go from there. Of course, you'd start off with a pocket knife. And then as I got a little bit more advanced, then I had to make my own knives because, they were basically, well, you couldn't hardly buy them and they were too expensive to buy anyway, so you had to make your own knives. Something like that, right? It was a hobby and a pastime, and like I said, you create something that you like. Because I was always interested in it. I like horses, and I like animals, and I like wildlife, right? So, why not carve it?

Now, after years of practice, he can see animals and objects in the shape of the wood. He prefers to carve wildlife. He does several different types of carving including carving in the round and relief carving. He prefers carving in the round because it allows him to bring the animal to life from the wood. For people new to carving, his advice is to start small and visualize the end product. If you can't see what you're trying to bring out of the wood, it will be harder for you to figure out the steps to make it happen. He says no one gets it right on the first try, so keep practicing.

Horse carved by Edward Delaney. Photo by Linda Delaney.

Edward also makes his own knives for carving and hunting. He says that commercial carving knives were too expensive and had to be ordered from away when he started carving. Out of necessity, he started crafting his own knives out of already tempered steel. Making knives this way requires no specialized tools, and the knives are able to be resharpened and reused. Sustainability is an important factor for Edward, and knowing how to make knives is important to him so that he can continue the traditions of resourcefulness and independence of Newfoundlanders.

Knives by Edward Delaney. Photo by Linda Delaney.

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Do you live on the Baccalieu Trail and practice a traditional skill or know someone who does? Fill out our survey!

Living Heritage Podcast Ep175 Weaving with Renee Finlayson

This week, we chat with retired Newfoundland production weaver Renee Finlayson. We talk about her move from Quebec to rural Bonne Bay in the 1970s, her beginning and evolution as a weaver, the types of work she created, and her insights into weaving as a profession.

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Living Heritage is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum
professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the
community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Bark Tanning

One of the projects I am working in this summer is researching the process of barking or bark tanning. The Dictionary of Newfoundland English describes this as "to immerse a fish-net, sail, etc, in the liquid formed by boiling the bark and buds of a conifer, as a preservative."

People would boil bark, twigs, and branches from local trees in a communal barking pot or barking kettle and use the resulting tea which was rich in tannin to preserve nets, sails, or other canvas goods. The area near where St. John's City Hall is today was once the location of a barking kettle.

It was also used to tan things like seal skin for making boots. There is evidence of the Dorset Paleoeskimo practicing bark tanning of seal skins in Port aux Port, indicating its long history of use in the province. This is a practice which is continued today by some residents on the Northern Peninsula.

Last week, the Craft Council tweeted about the website Handmade In Labrador, a collection of handmade crafts by the Labrador Artisans Co-operative which showcases the traditional craft methods of Southern Labrador. Many of their products use traditional bark tanning to transform cotton duck, a plain, heavy cotton fabric, from white to shades of brown and moss green.

Barked apron with right whale. Labrador Artisan Co-operative via Handmade in Labrador

They include a page with a history of barking in Southern Labrador, and also, wonderfully for my research, an interview with Kathleen O'Brien of West St. Modeste, Labrador on her process of barking cotton duck. Listen to the interview here!

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Below is a transcript of the interview.

Interviewer: I am here at Kathleen O’Brien’s, at her house, and she’s going to give me an outline for how to do bark for cotton duck. Go ahead, Kathleen.

Kathleen O'Brien: Go in the forest, first of all, and cut alder trees. You rind the alder, and you put the rind in a container or box for a few days until it turns brown. And the best season for getting your rind is summer or early fall before the sap leaves the rind and goes, you know, because trees go dormant in the fall.

Interviewer: So, would you gather this all one time for all your cossacks or just pick so much at a time?

Kathleen O'Brien: So much at a time because if you took too many the one time it would dry out too much before you get it used. Then, you fill up a large boiler with water, throw in about two gallons of rind from the alders, let it simmer, bring to a boil, boil the rind for about approximately two hours. Then you add two tablespoons of salt because salt helps the bark to go in the material. And then you let it simmer and after it’s boiling for about - simmering and boiling for about six hours, when you see the colour of the colour of the bark go in, you know, through the water, you add, well, two tablespoons of baking soda but do not add the full amount all at once, just gradually add it until it dissolve because, you know, baking soda fizzes up and water in the boiler would boil over, and of course you’d have a mess. Keep simmering and check your bark. If it’s not dark enough you could always add more soda, but keep stirring it around as it's boiling through. When your bark is completed you take it off your stove and strain it with cheesecloth or pantyhose or some kind of a cloth. All the dust into that then will be strained out because if you don’t strain it all the dust from the bark, from the trees, will get in your cotton duck and make a mess on it. So then, when that’s strained off you put it in a bucket or a tub, whatever you have, and add your cotton duck while your water is hot and keep turning, keep turning the cotton duck over so as the material won’t go spotty. So do that until the water starts cooling down, and then after so many hours, only leave it in so many hours. If you leave it in all night all the bark will lodge on the material in different spots and it’ll be darker in some spots and then lighter so to have it all the one thing you just keep stirring it over. And then you take it out and you can put it on your clothesline outdoors to dry or you can put it in the dryer. I found the best was to put it in the dryer. When it was drying it would all dry even. So then it’s ready for to make.

Interviewer: So that’s how you make it.

Kathleen O'Brien: That’s how to make it.

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I'd love to chat with anyone who has memories of barking sails, canvas, or skins. I'd especially love to hear from anyone who has barked something recently! You can reach out to me by email at research@heritagenl.ca.




Works Cited

Dictionary of Newfoundland English. https://www.heritage.nf.ca/dictionary/a-z-index.php#192

Renouf, M. A. P., and T. Bell. "Dorset Palaeoeskimo Skin Processing at Phillip's Garden, Port Au Choix, Northwestern Newfoundland." Arctic 61, no. 1 (2008): 35-47. Accessed May 27, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/40513180.

Creativity During Covid-19 with Mireille Eagan, Curator of Contemporary Art at The Rooms in St. John's

Mireille Eagan, Curator of Contemporary Art at The Rooms in St. John's chats with folklorist Dale Jarvis of Heritage NL about her work telling stories in the gallery space, her life as a curator, and about how the pandemic shutdowns have affected The Rooms specifically, but also the wider impact it has had on how we think about galleries, art, and creativity.

The Great Covid-19 Bake Off with Lara Maynard - a #FoodwaysFriday interview!

Today, as part of our ongoing Covid-19 NL oral history project, we visit Lara Maynard in her Torbay kitchen, and chat about what she's been doing to keep busy during the pandemic lockdown. As you might expect if you know Lara, it involves a lot of baking!

Do you know someone we should interview for our Covid-19 project? Email dale@heritagenl.ca

We asked people on the Baccalieu Trail about what they do. This is who answered!

We're off and running with the Baccalieu Trail Traditional Skills Inventory!

Since the launch of our project last week I've been chatting with all sorts of fascinating people working, crafting, making, and keeping heritage alive along the Baccalieu Trail. I've talked to Edward Delaney of Gull Island who makes his own knives for hunting and wood carving, and his wife Linda who knits trigger mittens. I was regaled with fairy and ghost stories by Clifford George of Whiteway. I've heard from vegetable gardeners, traditional musicians, caplin smokers, Indigenous basket makers, seal skin crafts, bakers, and stained glass producers.

Horse carving by Edward Delaney.

Do you know someone practicing a traditional skill in your community along the Baccalieu Trail? I'd love to talk to them! Fill out our survey at www.heritagecraft.ca or join our facebook group Baccalieu Trail Heritage and Memories.

Ian Gillies, Newfoundland Blacksmith - An interview with folklorist Dale Jarvis

Ian Gillies, Newfoundland Blacksmith, chats with folklorist Dale Jarvis about his forge in Brigus South, how he got started with blacksmithing, materials and techniques, colour, coal, and creativity!

Baccalieu Trail Traditional Skills Inventory Facebook Live Event

Do you know an expert berry-picker? The best local net mender or sheep shearer? Who in your community hooks mats or makes furniture? We want to know!

Terrence Howell teaching a print making course at his studio in Grates Cove, NL. Photo by Kathi Penney-Stacey

Today, Dale Jarvis is hopping on Facebook Live to talk about the Baccalieu Trail Traditional Skills Inventory. He'll let you know more information about the project and let you know how you can get involved!

Tune in at 10am to find out more!

The Baccalieu Traditional Skills Inventory Project Launch

Do you know an expert berry-picker? The best local net mender or sheep shearer? Who in your community hooks mats or makes furniture? We want to know!

Terrence Howell teaching a print making course at his studio in Grates Cove, NL. Photo by Kathi Penney-Stacey

We are looking to identify people in the Baccalieu Trail region who are the ‘hidden gems’ of Newfoundland traditions: storytellers, musicians, berry-pickers, hooked mat makers, carvers, knitters, guides, craft producers, and people who know traditional recipes, dances, or other local knowledge. 

The purpose of the project is to build a publicly accessible inventory of tradition bearers which will serve as a local resource to match people who have valuable traditional skills with tourism operators in the region. The inventory project is part of Memorial University’s Thriving Regions Partnership Process, which supports research partnerships that help promote thriving social and economic regions.

We are eager to learn more about a variety of traditional skills in the area. We are curious about skills like net making and mending, pottery making, furniture making, tinsmithing, crocheting, tatting, and running birch brooms, but all kinds of skills or crafts are of interest.

We will be launching the project on Wednesday, May 20th at 10am NDT with a Facebook Live event on the Heritage NL facebook page. Join Dale Jarvis as he talks about the importance of the project and how to get involved.

We've created a brief online survey to help identify these hidden gems. Do you practice a traditional skill along the Baccalieu Trail? Does someone you know? Please fill out our survey or contact us at research@heritagenl.ca.

The Sourdough Revolution with Dee Payne - part of our ongoing Covid-19 NL Oral History project

As part of the ongoing Covid-19 NL Oral History project, folklorist Dale Jarvis sits down for a virtual chat with Dee Payne, admin of the Newfoundland/Labrador Sourdough Revolution Facebook group, taking a deep dive into the world of sourdough starters and bread-making during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Learn more about the group here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/243414046963940/

Double Your Bubble with Mike Hickey - documenting social interaction during #COVID19

Here in Newfoundland we’ve been lucky enough to reach a stage of the COVID-19 lockdown where we’re now allowed to “Double Bubble”, choose another household to socialize and interact with as we move forward, learning to live with Covid-19.

In this interview, filmmaker Mike Hickey chats with folklorist Dale Jarvis about his new "Double Your Bubble" podcast, how it got started, the kinds of stories he's been collecting, and some tips for people new to the world of podcasting/recording about where they might start.

You can find the "Double Your Bubble" podcast at https://anchor.fm/hickeycommamike or follow Mike on Twitter @hickeycommamike





Do you have a suggestion for someone we should interview as part of the NL Covid-19 Oral History Project? Email us at covid19@heritagenl.ca

Hey NL Students! We want your family stories about the #Covid19 pandemic!

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

Covid-19 NL Oral History Project with Heritage NL and The Rooms

We want your family stories about what is happening in Newfoundland and Labrador during the Covid-19 pandemic! Here are some sample questions to get you started on your home oral history interview. You can answer these yourself, or sit down with a family member and interview them. Don’t forget to start your interview by spelling out your full name, and including the date of the interview.   You can record your interview in any format (audio or video) on your smartphone or digital device, and email it to covid19@heritagenl.ca.  If it is a large file, you can use the free www.wetransfer.com website to send it to the same email address, or post it on YouTube and send us the link.

All submissions welcome, including songs, recitations, poetry, or music!

Sample Questions

• Can you describe the community where you live?
• When did you first learn about the coronavirus? What were your initial reactions?
• How did your community respond to the virus? What closures, restrictions, or safeguards were put in place?
• Describe any events you witnessed that express your or your community’s response to the virus.
• How are you personally responding to the virus? What has changed in your daily routine?
• How has your family been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic?
• How are you staying in touch with family and friends?
• What will you remember most about this time in our lives?
• Who is in your Double Bubble, and why?

Feel free to make up your own questions!

What will happen to my audio/video file?

Once you contact us, we will ask you to fill out this brief, confidential consent form so that we can add your story to a permanent collection on Memorial University’s Digital Archives Initiative, where it can be seen and accessed for educational and non-commercial use only, and where it may be used as part of a future physical or online exhibit at The Rooms about the Covid-19 pandemic. Your story will become part of the historical record! If at some point you want your story taken down from the website, we can always remove your records from the archive.

• Download this page as a pdf here. 

For more information, contact:

Dale Jarvis, Heritage NL  dale@heritagenl.ca
@dalejarvis on Twitter   www.hfnl.ca 

Wicker work and woven furniture in Newfoundland - Have you seen a chair like this?

I've been scanning some photos from North River and Halls Town in Conception Bay, as part of an ongoing project we have there. If you are on Facebook,  you can look at all those photos in the North River Halls Town Memories group.

One of the photos is scanned from a slide from the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation, circa 1994. I have no information for it, but am assuming it came out of a house in North River, and was photographed when the Heritage Corp was doing heritage inventory work there in the 1990s. It shows a wicker rocking chair, painted white. I don't know if it was made locally or imported, but I'd love to have more information on it, or pieces like it.

Back in 2012, I photographed the woven bassinet below, owned by the Barnable family. It was purchased in 1959, and was made as part of a craft training program run by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). You can see more on that here.

If you have any pieces of Newfoundland (or Labrador) made woven furniture or basketry, or if these spark a memory for you, email me at dale@heritagenl.ca or comment below.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep173 Collecting Covid with Maureen Peters (with video!)

Welcome to the  Covid-19 version of the Living Heritage Podcast! We've shifted the format a bit, and are recording on Zoom, which lets us bring you some video as well. We'll still be podcasting the audio on our Anchor.fm station so if you want to listen to just the audio, head over there and download it. But since you are here, enjoy the video version!
In this episode, Maureen Peters, Curator of History at The Rooms, St. John's, NL, chats with Dale Jarvis of Heritage NL about documenting the Covid-19 Pandemic in Newfoundland and Labrador. They chat about what The Rooms is collecting in terms of material culture, why it is important to collect this material now, looking back at polio and smallpox in the province, Corona beer facemasks, and crocheting a model of the human intestines! 

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Living Heritage is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum
professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the
community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep172 Dr. Laura Sanchini of the Canadian Museum of History

Photo courtesy of Laura Sanchini

Dr. Laura Sanchini, the Curator of Craft, Design, and Popular Culture at the Canadian Museum of History, talks about her work and background as a folklorist. Laura has an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Folklore from Memorial University. Before she began her work at the Canadian Museum of History, Laura worked at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 and travelled all over the country conducting oral history interviews.

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The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum
professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the
community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Remembering Dr. Ivan "Bud" Green, Deer Lake. Do you have a memory of him?

A while back, I posted about the work we've started with the Town of Deer Lake to map out heritage assets (read that here).  One of the people of possible historic interest that was noted at our workshop was Dr. Ivan "Bud" Green. When we posted our note, Antony Berger sent us the following clips. Do you have a memory of Dr. Green? If so, post below!

Exploring the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador

The rocky shores of Newfoundland and Labrador has created a bond between Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and the sea, as well the fishery that sustained it for centuries. Generations of fishermen relied on the boats right here at home using traditional methods to provide for their families and ensure their survival at sea. These wooden boats were the workhorses of the fishing industry and the designs were often unique from one outport community to another. The transmission of this knowledge has declined in the past half-century, but in Winterton, one organization is working to safeguard this knowledge and pass it on to future generations.

The Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador. Photo by Katie Crane, 2019.

A small fishing community in Trinity Bay, Winterton has a long tradition of boat building. In the 70s and 80s folklorist David Taylor conducted fieldwork as a graduate student in Folklore at Memorial University in the community, taking extensive photographs and notes on the construction and design of the unique boats built in this community. It was this information that inspired the Winterton Heritage Advisory Board to create what they thought would be a temporary exhibit for Come Home Year in 1997. The display proved to be so popular that it was converted to a permanent exhibit, and eventually expanded to celebrate wooden boats not just in Winterton, but across the province. The Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundlandand Labrador was established as a provincial museum in 2008 with its headquarters in Winterton. Its mandate is to connect wooden boat builders and wooden boat enthusiasts across the province and to encourage sharing the knowledge and skills associated with traditional wooden boat building.

Three piece mould once owned by boat builder Marcus French. Photo by Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador, 2018.

Through a mix of on-going exhibits and hands-on workshops with descendants of boat building masters, the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador is working to both safeguard and transmit the knowledge and history of wooden boats in Newfoundland and Labrador. They still keep to their roots with a folklorist on staff. Crystal Braye works to document people still making wooden boats today and their knowledge of wooden boat construction, as well as other traditions of boat building across the province. Listen to her talk about what her research includes in this episode of the Living Heritage Podcast.

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The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum
professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the
community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Let's take a peek inside the Green Family Forge, Trinity

When Ada Green approached the Trinity Historical Society in the 1990s about opening her family’s forge, abandoned since it closed almost 40 years earlier, as a museum exhibit she never could have dreamed that today it would be a working forge once again.

The Green Family Forge has operated in some way since the 1700s. The current forge was built around the turn of the century to replace an older forge. It is unusual because of its size, large enough to have two fires. Though people often associate forges with agricultural tools, the Green Family Forge also supplied metal parts, including anchors, for the fishing industry in Trinity. When it closed its doors in 1955, all the blacksmith’s tools, some of them homemade, were left inside and remained untouched until the forge reopened as a museum in 1991.

Green Family Forge, Trinity NL. Photo by Dale Jarvis, 2019.

Current blacksmith Wade Ivany transformed the forge from a static exhibit into a living history museum based on a social enterprise model. Today, as a member of the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Green Family Forge makes and sells letter openers, candle holders, fireplace pokers and more with the help of apprentice blacksmith Devin Hookey. These sales help to keep the forge operational.

Blacksmith at work, Green Family Forge, Trinity, NL. Photo by Dale Jarvis, 2019.

But to the blacksmiths and the members of the Trinity Historical Society, it’s not about the money. It is about passing on valuable traditional skills which have been in decline for half a century. Jim Miller of the Trinity Historical Society says, “those living history skills of the trades are very important to us overall for our operations and will be, I think, going into the future. That seems to be the market now where visitors are even wanting to see those things demonstrated and, even more so, wanting to take part.”

Visitors watch blacksmith Devin Hookey at work, Green Family Forge, Trinity, NL. Photo by Dale Jarvis, 2019.

The Green Family Forge is open from April to November and is one of the must-see tourist attractions in the Trinity area. Visitors are encouraged to stop by and watch a demonstration by the blacksmiths working to keep this tradition alive. To learn more about blacksmithing in Newfoundland and Labrador, check out this episode of the Living Heritage Podcast.

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The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum
professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the
community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Heritage NL and The Rooms launch Covid-19 NL Oral History Project, and want your stories.

What have Covid-19 shutdowns meant for you personally? Have you been learning how to bake bread or sew? How are you staying in touch with family and friends? Local heritage organizations want to know!

Heritage NL, in partnership with The Rooms, is collecting personal stories for an oral history project about the experiences of living through a pandemic.  The “Covid-19 NL Oral History Project” invites Newfoundlanders and Labradorians living in the province or away to document their memories and thoughts about what is happening to them or in their communities during the current novel coronavirus situation. 

The project is designed to document how the virus is affecting the lives of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and to archive their collective memories. Interested volunteers can request to be interviewed over the phone or web, can self-record a voice memo or video, they can interview a family member, and submit their file by email, or complete an online questionnaire.

The collected material will become part of a permanent online archive for future generations of students and researchers and may be included in a future physical or online exhibit at The Rooms. 

“Recording oral histories is one way to better understand the Covid-19 pandemic and the effects it is having on the lives of ordinary people,” says Heritage NL folklorist Dale Jarvis. “To create a historical record of how everyday people are responding to this event, we have developed sample questions and easy ways for people to share their stories.”

While all personal stories of the pandemic are of interest, Jarvis is particularly curious about the informal stories of health care workers and those working on the front lines of the pandemic: nurses, emergency responders, home care workers, grocery clerks, and the like. 

The oral histories are part of a longer ongoing project that The Rooms curatorial staff is engaging with the community on to gather materials related to people's experiences of the pandemic. These materials may be integrated into an exhibition, collections, or social media at a later date. The Rooms is looking for materials that reflect the culturally specific ways that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are dealing with this global event.

If you have a memory or story to share or want more information on the project, contact either Dale Jarvis at covid19@heritagenl.ca or visit the project website at www.hfnl.ca.  To submit a physical object for consideration, email Maureen Peters, Curator of History at MPeters@therooms.ca. 

Basketry Summer School in the 1930s - Musgravetown and Bonavista

I recently came across the following photographs in Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative (DAI).  The first two are from Musgravetown, presumably in 1937. The photos are from the H.M. Dawe Photograph Collection of the United Church of Canada - Newfoundland Conference Archives.

The third photo is from Bonavista, taken two years previously. The photo is from the Maritime History Archive - Forbes Family Photograph Collection.

I'm not certain, but I suspect the Summer School in question was a training program for Newfoundland teachers, where they could acquire skills to take back to their classrooms in September.  Support for this comes from a clipping from the Western Star, 1936-05-06:

If you have information on this program or similar schemes to teach basketry skills in Newfoundland and Labrador, or photos of any baskets that might have been produced in this way, email dale@heritagenl.ca 

Heritage Update - New Designations, Virtual Museums, and Heritage post Covid-19

In this edition of the Heritage Update, Jerry Dick discusses Post-COVID-19 and Economic Stimulus – An Opportunity for Heritage; Michael Philpott introduces the new heritage designations; Dale Jarvis takes you on a virtual heritage tour of historic Bay Roberts neighbourhoods; and Andrea O'Brien gives an update on what's happening during the pandemic shutdowns.

Download the pdf here.