Drinking About Heritage: The Bad, Better and Brilliant open mic! #nlheritage

This Thursday, 21 April 2016, whet your whistle and chat with heritage folks! Come to the historic Crow's Nest (which has been designed a Registered Heritage Structure by HFNL) for an open mic story night about heritage work in the province! We are limited to the first 40 people who want to participate (it is free!), so register now!

Image: Lay of St. Dunstan by George Cruikshank

Living Heritage Podcast Ep038 Portable Museums of Curiosity and Wind Folklore with Joanne Kaar

Joanne Kaar (@joannebkaar) lives in Dunnet, on Dunnet Head, Caithness, Scotland, only two miles from where she grew up in the village of Brough.  She has a BA in Textiles and Surface Decoration and an MA in Textiles from Manchester Metropolitan University. She has been self employed for over twenty years and has been exhibiting and working around the world as both participant and instigator of arts and heritage projects and collaborations.

In this interview Joanne talks about craft, the folklore around wind knots, research on local stories, herbariums, the development of her “Portable Museums of Curiosity,” and the mysterious link between the Magellan Daisy and world-travelling whalers. Recorded on 29 February 2016.

http://www.joannebkaar.com/

photo of wind knots credit to Joanne B Kaar

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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.

Youth Heritage Forum 2016

On Saturday March 19th, the second annual Youth Heritage Forum took place at The Lantern in St. John's. Our goal was to increase the activity and interest of youth in the heritage field and to bring like minded youth together.  We had fifty-four participants take part in an exciting day of mentorship, heritage skills, and networking.

The day started with Eastern Owl who did a smudging ceremony and played traditional and original music. We were lucky enough to have Stephanie Chipilski, Assistant Registrar at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and member of the Youth Advisory Council under the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, flown in from Winnipeg to be a keynote speaker. She talked about networking, putting yourself out there, and how mentorship can help in all aspects of your career.

Right after Stephanie's speech, the Heritage Skills competition began. Participants got into teams of six and chose what skill they wanted to learn. There was the choice of darning with Christine LeGrow, rug hooking with Ruth Green, knot tying with Barry Darby, net knitting with Bernard Martin and Leo Hearn, Northern games with the St. John's Native Friendship Centre, and Morse code with Mark Sheppard. Each team member got an hour to learn a new skill. After a coffee break the competition was under way! It was exciting, fast paced, and a great time!

We had a speed dating luncheon with established people in the heritage field who mentored participants while they ate a delicious meal served by Multi-Ethnic Food Kitchen. We posed questions to the mentors and they discussed them with participants. We had Glenn Keough from Parks Canada, Colleen Quigley from MUN QE II Archives, Teresita McCarthy who is the Manager of the Bell Island Community Museum and the #2 Mine Tour, Scott Neilsen who is an assistant Archaeology professor, Julie Pomeroy who is the Heritage Programs and Services Coordinator for Portugal Cove-St. Philip's, Catharyn Andersen who is the Special Advisor to the President on Aboriginal Affairs at MUN, Jillian Gould who is a professor of Folklore, and Stephanie Chipilski.

After lunch, four breakout sessions were offered. We wanted them to be exciting, relevant, and fun. Based on the feedback, they were all of these things and more. Jason Sellars taught "Public Programming and Other Extreme Sports," Jane Severs taught "How NOT to start a Heritage Business," Meghan Mills ran a conversation cafe called "What Traditions Matter to You(th)?", and Josh Smee taught "Social Media for Nonprofits."




After the sessions, students from a Public Folklore class hosted the "Lives in Heritage" plenary where guests Chris Brookes, Jane Severs, Hilda Chaulk Murray, and Christine Hennebury answered questions about their time in the heritage field. Later, the panel was opened to participants to ask questions.

At the end of the day, prizes were handed out to six people who completed their heritage skill the best. There was a tie breaker for the best overall team between Team I and Team K. Team I took the prize and with that the forum came to a close! It couldn't have gone any better and we hope that everyone who participated had a great time. See you all next year!

We'd like to thank our sponsors for making the Youth Heritage Forum happen this year: the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Historic Sites Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Newfoundland Chocolate Company, St. John's Haunted Hike, Canadian Commission for UNESCO, the Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives,
We'd also like to thank Fishing For Success, all of our guests, and the volunteers who made it all happen!

Did you attend the forum? Would you like to give us some feedback? Please click here and fill out this short evaluation.

The Association of Heritage Industries and Youth Heritage NL are bringing you another awesome event! On April 21st, at the Crows Nest Officers' Club, is Drinking About Heritage: Bad, Better, and Brilliant! Register here for FREE today.

All photos courtesy of Jeremy Harnum

New Directions: Graduate Folklore Students Explore the O'Brien Farm Heritage Site

New Directions: Graduate Folklore Students  Explore the O'Brien Farm Heritage Site

Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at 7:30 PM
Room 1014, Education Building, Memorial University
Parking available in Lot 18

Join us to learn about exciting projects involving the rich traditions of the O'Brien farm and family. Under the direction of Dr. Gerald Pocius, eight folklore students have been working in their course, "Museums: Perspectives and Practices" on a series of projects to help interpret and develop the O'Brien Farm Heritage Site. Find out about:

· Architectural history of St. John's summer cottages
· Interpretive plan for the Thimble Cottage parlour
· Launch of a digital archive site
· Collections Policy
· Drawings from the O’Brien farm
· Creation of a walking tour app for the farm meadows and gardens

The O'Brien Farm has plans to interpret Irish-Newfoundland agricultural history, culture, settlement, and the O'Brien family, through active learning and today's lens of sustainability. 

Presented by the Department of Folklore of Memorial University and the O'Brien Farm Foundation Interpretation Committee.

contacts:
gpocius@mun.ca 

obrienfarmfoundation@gmail.com

Thimble Cottage at the O'Brien Farm was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of NL in 1992. 

The Memory Store: It did kind of launch a whole generation...

In this week's the Memory Store video Andy Jones discusses the spirit of the early days of the RCA (Resource Centre for the Arts) at the LSPU (Longshoreman’s Protective Union) Hall and describes the co-production system which launched a number of careers.

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

Intangible cultural heritage in England and Scotland - guest talk April 6, 12:30pm @memorialU

"The perception of intangible cultural heritage in England and Scotland: a diverging heritage narrative in the United Kingdom"
Guest Lecture by Suzy Harrison
Wednesday, 6 April 2016
ED4051 - Education Building, Memorial University
12:30pm

Suzy Harrison (@SuzyHarrison76) is a second year PhD researcher at Nottingham Trent University, in the United Kingdom, and is funded through the AHRC Midlands3Cities Doctoral Training Programme. Her research analyses current attitudes towards intangible cultural heritage in England, and looks to reveal the challenges which it faces through closer examination of intangible heritage in the East Midlands. The research is also focusing on looking at opportunities to possibly adopt practices at a local or national level which may exist in other countries.

• Facebook event listing here. 

When Your Boy Comes Back To You - more WWI-era sheet music!

We posted last week about finding a copy of the 1916 First World War sheet music "The Sweethearts That We Left In Newfoundland" here in the Heritage Foundation of NL office.

This week, we bring you the second of our finds, a piece entitled "When Your Boy Comes Back To You" by Gordon V. Thompson, dated 1916, published by the Thompson Publishing Co, 75 Bay Street, Toronto.

The lyrics are as follows:

When Your Boy Comes Back To You

Keep the lamp of hope still brightly burning,
Till your boy comes back to you,
And although your heart may oft' be yearning
For one whose love is true,
Bear in mind the day he'll be returning,
So then, cheer up! don't be blue,
Ev'ry day you're far apart you grow dearer to his heart,
Till your boy comes back to you!

[Chorus]
When your boy comes back to you,
You will keep your promise true,
You will watch, you will wait by the old garden gate,
Till the regiment appears in view
Whey your boy comes back to you
And the bands are playing too,
Won't your heart be beating fast,
Just to welcome him at last?
When your boy comes back to you!

Don't forget to heed this word of warning,
It will mean so much to you,
Though it's dark tonight the sun at morning
Will shine with brighter hue
On the boys with glory all adorning,
You will share that glory too!
Wear a bright and sunny smile, tho' you wait a long, long while,
Till your boy comes back to you!

[Chorus]

Download  a pdf copy of the sheet music here.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep037 The Greenspond Historical Society and Archives

Linda White was born in St. John's, Newfoundland. She worked as a Registered Nurse in the United States and England before returning to Newfoundland to attend Memorial University. She completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in History and a Master of Arts degree in History. In 1990 she began working in the Archives and Special Collections, Queen Elizabeth II Library, Memorial University. Presently she holds the position of Archivist there.

In this edition of the Living Heritage Podcast, Linda talks about why she started studying history, how she became an archivist, what she does at the MUN archives, and about Greenspond, NL. She talks about the aims of the Greenspond Historical Society and Archives, stories of connecting people all around the world, and the process she goes through editing the Greenspond Letter.

photo of the Greenspond Courthouse Registered  Heritage Structure
courtesy the Greenspond Historical Society Facebook Group

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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.

The Sweethearts That We Left In Newfoundland: First World War sheet music

It's spring cleaning time at the Heritage Foundation of NL, and look what we found!

"The Sweethearts That We Left In Newfoundland" is a piece of sheet music, with words and music by James J. Galway of St. John's, printed by the F.J. Lawson Company of NY, dated 1916.

The lyrics are as follows:


The Sweethearts That We Left In Newfoundland.

Tho' on the battlefield and waves we fight for Motherland,
We can't forget the sweethearts dear at home in Newfoundland,
The fondest thoughts revert each day and hearts with throbs expand,
When we recall the lov'd ones there in far off Newfoundland.

[Chorus]
We've seen bewitching maidens glance on us in Motherland,
And grasp'd the hands of fairest ones from Scotland's heather-land,
We've been entranc'd by Irish smiles with words of blarney grand,
Yet sweethearts none can conquer us but those in Newfoundland.

And now when battle thunder rolls as we the foe withstand,
We'll yield no truce to tyrants who would crush the Motherland,
But all the more we'll bravely fight with Britain's martial band,
When thinking of the sweethearts dear at home in Newfoundland

[Chorus]

Then when the crown of vict'ry rests on Britain's free old land,
We'll treat the transports decks again embark'd for Newfoundland,
To meet once more and grasp with joy in loving embrace grand,
The sweethearts that we left behind in dear old Newfoundland.

[Chorus]

You can download a pdf of the sheet music here.