Heritage Places Poster Contest Awards 2014

Today is Heritage Day in Newfoundland and Labrador, and to celebrate, the HFNL put on an awards ceremony at the Quidi Vidi Plantation for this year's Heritage Places Poster Contest. Four talented students from around the province won awards for their artistic renditions of important local heritage structures.

Savannah Skinner, grade 2 student at Jakeman All Grade, Trout River, received an award for her poster of Roberts Store Municipal Heritage Site in Woody Point. The Elementary winner was Hae Na Luther, a grade 6 student Stella Maris Academy, Trepassy, for her depiction of Cape Pine National Historic Site. The Junior High winner was Erica Bailey, grade 8, who attends Bishop White School in Port Rexton. Her poster is of the Lester Garland House in Trinity. Finally, the Senior High and overall winner was grade 11 student Colby Farrell who attends Marystown Central High School. His poster of the Temperance Street Registered Heritage Structures, known fondly as the Four Sisters in St. John's, proved to be the best in show.

Thank you to everyone who attended the ceremony today, and congratulations to our poster contest winners.

The four winners of the poster contest pose with their posters.

Savannah accepts her framed poster and award, presented by Shannie Duff.

Hae Na accepts her framed poster and award, presented by Jerry Dick.

Erica accepts her framed poster and award, presented by Frank Crews.

Colby accepts his framed poster and award, presented by Frank Crews and M.H.A. David Brazil.

The Sailor's Valentine

Sailor's valentines are a form of seashell folk art developed in the early nineteenth century, particularly popular between 1830 and 1890. Octagonal boxes with a glass overlay served as frames for symmetrical designs that artists created, using small shells of different colours and sizes.

It was once thought that sailors made these valentines themselves, to pass the time at sea. Contrary to this belief, sailor's valentines were actually a cottage industry on the island of Barbados, the centre of supply and distribution for English, Dutch and North American ships. It is recorded that the primary source for sailor's valentines was the New Curiosity Shop, located in Bridgetown. The shop was owned by English brothers B.H. and George Belgrave.

The valentines were usually assembled by female residents for sailors to purchase and bring back to their loved ones at home. The craftswomen would often include romantic phrases and flower and heart designs.

The sailor's valentine featured above belongs to Georgina Mercer of Bishop's Cove, NL. The valentine was gifted from her uncle and has been in Mercer's family for decades.

Job Posting: Museum Association Intern

Employment Opportunity - Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador

Internship

The Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (MANL) is a not for
profit, registered charitable organization that supports our membership and
museums throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

Job Description
The Museum Intern will work with the Executive Director in reviewing the
organizational records of the Museum Association. The Intern will be
responsible for reviewing the member information and updating it on the MANL
website. Assist with planning, organizing and delivering our Annual General
Meeting and training programs. The Intern reports to the Executive Director
and works with committees of the Association to fulfill the goals of the
Association. The duration of this position will be one year.

The areas of responsibility include but are not limited to:

• Digitizing of records of the Association
• Reviewing organization documents for retention
• Assist in the development of membership database
• Reevaluation and organization of reference library
• Assist with Annual General Meeting and training programs
• Other related duties as required

Qualifications
The Intern will have demonstrated relevant experience. Must meet the
criteria for the Graduate Transition to Employment Program, having graduated
from a post-secondary program within the past two years. Must have
experience with Microsoft Office programs such as Word and Excel; and
possess excellent communications and organization skills. Knowledge of the
museums, records management, archives and heritage sector would be an asset.
Completion of MANL and ANLA training would be an asset. The successful
applicant must demonstrate the ability to work with others in an office
environment. The successful candidate must present a certificate of conduct
upon request.

Deadline for applications: February, 27th , 2014, 3:00 pm
Applications may be forwarded to:

kflynn@nf.aibn.com

MANL thanks all applicants for their interest; however only those selected
for an interview will be contacted.

Tuesday's Folklore Photo - Somebody's Home

Photograph of a heritage structure submitted by Teri Delaney.

A few weeks back Teri Delaney stopped by our Springdale office to drop something off. She noticed a photograph on the wall of one of our designated heritage buildings. She said that she took a photo of that same building, and hadn't realized that it was a provincially recognized structure. I asked her to send along a copy to share on the blog. Her photograph "Somebody's Home," reminds us that many of the province's surviving historic buildings once served as year-round homes for families. This one, it seems, is still in use. Thanks for sharing your photograph, Teri.

-Lisa

Well, Well, Well, a Google Map

Last summer when I was doing wells and springs work, I not only measured wells and photographed them, but I also recorded their GPS coordinates. I though it would be neat to look back after the fact at the distribution of some of the wells I'd seen. I was able to record the location of 35 wells over my summer of fieldwork, and have finally had the time to do something interesting with the information.

Google maps works really great for this, because you can create your own personalized maps, and store them either privately or publicly. Creating a map is incredibly simple - you can type either the address or the GPS coordinates to the points you want into the search bar, and then add a pin to mark that space on your map. Pins are customizable, so you can pin multiple types of spots onto a map, and then hide or show layers, depending on what you want to see.

If you want to take a look at the interactive Wells, Springs, and Folklore Google map you can find it here! Some of the points have links to videos or other information - and of course, all the wells and springs photos and information can be found on the DAI.

Nan’s Cookbook in the Digital Age

Digitizing and preserving family heirloom cookbooks and recipe cards.
Date: February 21, 2014, 1-4:30 p.m.
Location: ANLA office, Suite 201, 15 Hallett Crescent, St. John’s

Presenters: 

• Dale Jarvis, Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer, Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Nicole Penney, Intangible Cultural Heritage Programs Assistant
• Mary Ellen Wright, ANLA Professional Development and Outreach Officer

Do you have your nan’s recipe cards? Did your mother keep a scrapbook of her favourites? Do family members reminisce about that old copy of the Cream of the West Cookbook with the comments and changes written all over its pages?

This workshop will teach participants how to create and preserve digital copies of these important family and community heirlooms. We’ll also talk about how best to preserve the original documents! Participants will be encouraged to bring examples from their own homes or collections.

Registration fee: $30
Registration deadline: February 17, 2014 Some financial assistance for transportation costs is available for ANLA

members: please contact the ANLA office for more information.

Mary Ellen Wright
Professional Development and Outreach Officer Association of Newfoundland
and Labrador Archives
(709)726-2867
www.anla.nf.ca

It's Cold Outside...Let's Keep the Bogey Going

During an oral history interview with 95-year-old Alice Mercer, originally of Bay Roberts, I asked her to share some memories from her school days. She talked about having to go outside in all kinds of weather to use the washroom, and how it was hard work for the teacher to keep the classroom warm.

"We had stoves in all the classrooms. Teachers had a time to try and learn us something and keep the bogey going. One of the boys would come with a handful of splits in the morning and the bucket of coal. Used to buy the coal from the coal shed. He’d light the fire and it was up to the teacher then to keep it going. sometimes the teacher would forget it and it would go out. Then we’d get cold."

Wait, "...keep the bogey going"? What's a bogey? From the context of the conversation I could see that with her use of the word bogey, she was referring to a stove for heating, but since I hadn't heard that word before, I checked the Dictionary of Newfoundland English, just to make sure. It states:

bogie n also bogey, bogy. PARTRIDGE bogy 4 'a stove for heating'; SND ~ 'cooking galley on a fishing boat (1916); DC Nfld (1916-). A small stove used originally on a fishing schooner; applied generally to any small coal- or wood-burning stove.

This was the word that Alice and her family would have used for a wood stove when she was a child. But do people still use it? And are there regions of the province that it is more widely known?

(The above photographs of two variations of small stoves, or bogeys, were taken from the Geography Collection - Historical Photographs of Newfoundland and Labrador on MUN's Digital Archives Initiative.)

If you have an experience with this word and its uses, please feel free to drop me a line and let me know. lisa@heritagefoundation.ca.

- Lisa

Folklore Photo: The Cupids American Man circa 1930

Today's folklore photo comes courtesy of the Newfoundland Historical Society archival collection. The photo shows the "American Man" - a cairn of stones located at the top of Spectacle Head, in Cupids. The original photo was taken by A.C. Hunter, and the back of the photo has an inscription which reads:

Photo by A.C. Hunter, about 1930
The "American Man" on the hill between Cupids +
Clarke's Beach. Mrs Hunter in photo
There was another one between Brigus and Cupids.
They were used as landmarks for Vessels
coming in, we supposed. We also wondered if
they came from "Marking Man"???
                             Muriel H. Hunter, 1976
Negative of this is in the A.C. Hunter Collection, Memorial Univ.
                                                                                Audio Visual.

The cairn, which has been rebuilt several times since the 1930s, is much taller today, and a secondary, smaller cain has also been constructed nearby.  I've heard it referred to as both the "American Man" and the "Merican Man," and have also heard the theory, given by locals, that it is indeed a corruption of "Marking Man."

Here is how the structure looked during the Cupids 400 Celebrations in 2010. I believe the photo is by Dennis Minty:

At some point after the 2010 celebrations, the structure was damaged by vandals, and rebuilt by local volunteers. Here is what the cairn looked like on 13 October 2013. Note that it is slightly more symmetrical here, than in the 2010 photo.

This note is the first I've heard of a similar structure located between Brigus and Cupids. If anyone knows of that particular cairn's current or previous location, email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

- Dale Jarvis

UPDATE:

On 5 February 2013, Mike Sexton wrote me and noted the following:

"...years ago I met an Icelander in L'Anse Aux Meadows, he was on the hill looking for a third cairn at the viking site. He was an old mariner and he told me that there should be three if they were used for navigation. they always have the sky as a background,and you have to keep one in the middle for safe water. This one in the middle could be a considerable distance behind the ones closest to the coast. so you sail by, and when you have them positioned right you turn towards shore. (Safe water)"

Expression of Interest - Looking for artists and tradition bearers

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador's Cultural Connections Strategy allows teachers throughout the province to apply for professional development in and through the arts and heritage. As outlined under the Cultural Connections Strategy there are a variety of projects (i.e. Arts and Culture Infused Curriculum (ACIC), Legacy and Learning Partners) available to meet teachers' arts related professional goals and learning opportunities.

To assist teachers and NLESD programs staff in finding qualified artists and tradition bearers in their local areas for submitted projects, the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District (NLESD) is seeking artists who are interested in working with k-12 teachers.

For more information, look here!