St. James Anglican Cemetery in Carbonear

Last week Dale and I went to Carbonear with Edwina Suley of the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation. We were there to talk with volunteers from the St. James Anglican Church about their cemetery and help them make a plan for the future. While the more recent sections of the cemetery are easily maintained, the older sections which date back to the early 1800s, have become extremely overgrown. The group is looking to clean up the area to make it easier to maintain and to help preserve the history of the area.

Unfortunately in the cemeteries current state many of the headstones are difficult to access, making it hard to view some headstones, particularly those that are broken and continue to deteriorate.  

The church group is enthusiastic about beginning the project of clearing up the cemetery, even in knowing that it will not be a quick process. They are also interested in comparing the current cemetery with the church burial records, particularly with graves that do not have headstones. Some plots are marked simply with a fence, and other are unmarked entirely.

The cemetery is partially bordered with a stone wall and features a beautiful gate in one corner, both of which will need repairs in the future. Another interesting feature of the cemetery is a bronze sundial with cast iron pedestal. The sundial is located among the headstones, and marks the centre of where the old church once stood.

We look forward to the work that will be done to clean up this cemetery, and expose the history of the church and community for current residence and future generations.

~ Kelly

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Hermann's Shoe Shop

Elizabeth Munch in front of Hermann's Shoe Shop. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Munch.

On October 14, 2016, as part of the Collective Memories project, I interviewed Elizabeth Munch Power of Grand Falls-Windsor about her family’s business and experience on Main Street.

In this interview Elizabeth discusses her parent's move from Europe to Canada, and how they made their way to Windsor, NL. She also discusses growing up in Windsor, her father's cobbler/shoe shop in Windsor, the camaraderie of the business owners on Main Street, and the family's move to St. John's. I posted a short clip of Elizabeth discussing Bonfire Night below but your can click here to listen to the entire interview and learn more about Hermann Munch's shoe shop.

Hermann Munch on left. Circa 1950s. Photo courtesy of GFWHS.

~Terra Barrett

#FoodwaysFriday - What is your favourite type of baked bread?

Bread making workshop. French bread before going in the outdoor oven, Conche, Newfoundland.
Photo by Lisa Wilson. 2010.

When we discuss foodways of Newfoundland and Labrador the first food that often comes to mind is the codfish. Cod has played a major role in everything from the province’s economy to its culture. It is featured in many traditional dishes however it is not the only food tradition in the province. Seafood and fish, caribou, seal, sea birds, berries, root vegetables, and imported products such as molasses and tin milk all play a part in the province’s food traditions. In celebration of the diverse foods harvested, grown, cooked, and eaten in Newfoundland and Labrador we will be doing a #FoodwaysFriday feature on the ICH Blog.

This week we are featuring a series of photos from a bread making workshop in Conche from 2010. The French Shore Historical Society has an outdoor oven where they bake French style bread. The loaves are served hot, right from the fire, a traditional way of baking bread that very few people practice today. In the spring, 2010, the FSHS held a bread baking workshop for members of the community. From mixing and kneading dough, to monitoring the fire's temperature, every part of the process was explained and demonstrated.

If you want to learn more about French bread baked in Conche, NL click here to view the photos from the workshop!

Share your stories and knowledge of food with the hashtag #FoodwaysFriday.

Nora Hunt making bread. 1970. Conche, NL.
A Pictorial from the Northeast Coast of Newfoundland.
Virtual Museum of Canada.

~Terra Barrett

“It’s a nice time, right?” - Interview with Palma Mercer

Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Memory Mug UpPalma Mercer, interviewed by Jordan Zalis

Palma was eager to get started at the Portugal Cove-St. Philips Memory Mug-up at the recreation centre. She was the first to arrive and had her hands full with old photos and a book of happenings that she found among her late father’s things. “Unfortunately, two pages are gone,” she said of the book from the 19th Century. Events of Newfoundland was full of community news-stories that had Palma smiling while I read it out loud. She takes pride in being born and raised in the seashore community, saying “I’m from Portugal Cove and never left – the only way I leave now is when I die.”

Life on ‘The Cove’ has been good for Palma (née Harding), who grew up on Harding’s Hill, an area of the community that has hosted her family since 1750 when the first Harding arrived in Newfoundland. As the family grew, so did their homestead, though they all remained close by. Palma, born in 1950, remembers the long conversations she used to have with her great-grandmother and how her father built their house himself.

Through our morning together, Palma shared with me some amazing memories that demonstrate the strong ties her family has to Portugal Cove and a certain historical richness she feels through them in the area.

“We never suffered hardships…my father always went to town and whenever he’d come back, he always brought me back a new dress…and I’d wait for him.” He did this quite a lot.

About her father, she says, “he was a very interesting man – he could tell some stuff too.” He worked construction down at the American military base and later drove a cement truck. About ‘The Cove’, she says, “he could go way back!”

“Oh yeah,” Palma’s husband agreed. They came to the Mug-up together, but he wanted her to be the focus.

“There were good wages back then,” she said of her father’s work and in turn, her upbringing. One advantage that Palma had growing up was that her father always had a car -- and always had a nice car. But needing a car can be another story altogether. Palma, an engaging storyteller, tells it like this:

“The house just up from me was a small bungalow. There was still a lot of snow left on the ground. So, me [and] my brothers, somehow managed to get up on the roof of the porch and jumping into the snow for fun, right? So, I had to jump -- and break my leg. Yeah, I got to my fear of heights that day, that’s where it comes from. But anyway, I had to wait all day for my dad to take me to the hospital. I had to wait the whole day, I never forgot that. My leg on a chair…I was screaming in pain. Anyway, back then you were put in the hospital. I was put in the hospital for two weeks for that…I had two brothers so [my mom] couldn’t stay with me, so they had an orderly sit by my bed every night…A cast on and a big old slipper on that foot…I got a terrible fear of heights.”

We found out then, that Palma had, in fact, left ‘The Cove’ at least once, and she laughs about it now, but this was 1958 and she explains “there were no taxis…I had to wait for my father to come home.” This was also during a great storm where much of the area was without power for two weeks – but they had a generator.

Palma’s father played into her stories a lot and him having a good job in town afforded her and her younger brothers other luxuries that were rare at the time. “We were one of the first with a television…one of the first.”

***

Summertime made for different fun growing up on Harding’s Hill on ‘The Cove’. It was “the spot.”

“We used to go [up the hill] and explore…we’d be gone all day…and go get some money and get some candies…then mom would call us for supper.”

She reflects warmly:

“We’d pile-up on Harding’s Hill, that’s where I grew up, it’s named after my family, and we’d play everything over there because there wasn’t much traffic going up and down. If there was we’d just move to the side and the cars would go back and forth. We’d play hopscotch and ball…softball…baseball. I’d be the only girl…and there would be six of us and my two brothers, and basically I’d be looking out for them too.”

But “looking out” did not necessarily mean keeping them, and herself, out of mischief:

“My [neighbour] was a fisherman, so at that time he had flakes there, they were called. He’d lay the fish out to dry in the sun…someone…anyway decided we’d take a few fish…and at that time in the backyard was a big old garage with old batteries and whatever. And we were trying to figure out how to set fire to roast the fish…Anyway we set fire to the battery…we got matches from somebody…somebody was a smoker or whatever…all to roast a fish, right?”

Or, there was the time she left her brothers while they got into it a little deeper at another neighbour’s house:

“The father used to have a backroom that he had all his old beer bottles in…I’m going to get in trouble for this one…But my cousin Doug and my two brothers decided they were going to take the bottles…and there was a snack store just down the hill…Siskin’s Store…So they went in…I don’t how much they got for them…They sold all of his bottles! Well I’ll say they were in trouble that night...I don’t know if they gave the money back to the man…I mean back then, that was a lot of money…For some reason, I didn’t want to get involved…mischief, right?”

***

Palma had so much to share, and really enjoys telling stories about her family, and food, and all the fun she had growing up in the area. Her tales are rich with imagery, full of real history, and reflect a beautiful life held with warm memories.

“It’s a nice time, right?”

This interview was conducted as part of a Collective Memories Mug Up project conducted by Memorial University students enrolled in FOLK 6740: Public Folklore, Winter 2017. If you would like to listen to the full interview click here. 

The Church of England Cemetery in Harbour Breton. #folklorephoto

One of our former board members, Doug Wells, was inspired by the podcast we did last week with archaeologist Robyn Lacy (listen to that interview here). He sent us a few photos of the old gravestones at the old Church of England Cemetery in Harbour Breton, sometimes referred to as the Newman & Co. Cemetery.

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Harold "Sparks" Squires, Wireless Operator

VA 10-56 "Sparks" [Harold Squires (telegraph operator)] and Adelie [penguin], Hope Bay. 1945. Courtesy of The Rooms Provincial Archives.  

In March, I digitized a series of cassette tape interviews from Admiralty House Museum and Archives. One of the interviews recently added to the Mount Pearl section of MUN's DAI was an interview with Harold Squires, a wireless operator who worked for the Marconi Company and traveled to the Antarctic on the S.S. Eagle. In the interview, Squires talks about life on the ship, his job, the other crew members, and his nickname "Sparks", One of the interesting stories Squires tells about the voyage, was how when the ship warmed up, the deck on the old sealing vessel oozed seal blubber. Squires also talks about working as a wireless operator at Cabot Tower and having to walk to work everyday.

To listen to this, and other interviews about Mount Pearl and the early days of radio in Newfoundland and Labrador, visit Memorial University Digital Archives Initiative.

#FoodwaysFriday - How do you fence your garden?

Beach and gardens in Oliver's Cove, Tilting.
Photo by Gerald Pocius, 1989.

When we discuss foodways of Newfoundland and Labrador the first food that often comes to mind is the codfish. Cod has played a major role in everything from the province’s economy to its culture. It is featured in many traditional dishes however it is not the only food tradition in the province. Seafood and fish, caribou, seal, sea birds, berries, root vegetables, and imported products such as molasses and tin milk all play a part in the province’s food traditions. In celebration of the diverse foods harvested, grown, cooked, and eaten in Newfoundland and Labrador we will be doing a #FoodwaysFriday feature on the ICH Blog.

This week we are featuring a series of photos taken by Dr. Gerald Pocius in Oliver’s Cove, Tilting in 1989. The photos are of the gardens and picket fences found in the now abandoned community. Oliver’s Cove was once inhabited by William and James Hurley and their families but no houses exist there today, instead, you will find fenced gardens, root cellars, and a hay house (Mellin, Robert. 2008. Tilting.).

Looking over these photos of these fenced-in potato and cabbage gardens reminded me of this great video titled Wrigglin’ fence done by the MUN extension service in 1977. In the short film the Paddy Brothers of Port Kirwan build a traditional wrigglin' or riddle fence around their garden.

If you want to learn more about fence styles in Newfoundland and Labrador check out this document from the Heritage Foundation which features paling, longer, picket, wriggle/riddle, and wattle fences. Or if you want to see the full photo collection from Dr. Pocius on Memorial's Digital Archives click here!

Let us know how you fence your garden!

Share your stories and knowledge of food with the hashtag #FoodwaysFriday.

Cabbage growing in Oliver's Cove, Tilting.
Photo by Gerald Pocius, 1989.

~Terra Barrett

Living Heritage Podcast Ep077 Headstones, Hexfoils, and Historic Archaeology

Robyn Lacy is a 2nd year Masters student in the Archaeology Department at MUN, and completed her BA in Archaeology at the University of Calgary in 2014. Her research focuses on historic archaeology in Newfoundland and New England, exploring burial landscapes and their relationship to 17th-century settlements. This summer she will be excavating at Ferryland for four weeks in search of the early burial ground at the Colony of Avalon. She writes about her fascination with burial landscapes, tombstones, and more, on her blog "Spade and the Grave - death and burial through an archaeological lens."

In this podcast, Robyn talks about how she got interested in historical archaeology and the archaeology of burial places, burial landscapes, her work searching out Ferryland’s hidden graveyard, the folklore of hexfoils, and public archaeology.  Don't know what a hexfoil is? Tune in and find out! We'll send you on a hunt for one hidden somewhere fairly public in downtown St. John's.

Listen on the Digital Archive:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/704/rec/1

Photo: 1699 gravestone with pinwheel design on the finial. Design in the Hartshorne tradition, New London, CT. Photo by R Lacy, 2015.

Application Deadline Extended - Historic Places Intern

Job Posting - Historic Places Intern

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) is a non-profit organization which was established in 1984 to stimulate an understanding of and an appreciation for the heritage of the province.

HFNL will be working to document the untold histories, intangible cultural heritage, and the associated narratives of Newfoundland’s historic places. The Historic Places Intern will be undertaking a project to help HFNL further these goals, by researching the stories and oral histories of historic places, and making those stories more accessible to the general public. This will include photography of historic places, as well as recorded oral histories with local residents. The research will form part of a permanent collection with Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Digital Archives Initiative.

Much of the intern’s work will be in support of existing HFNL programs. The intern will provide research and support services for a variety of heritage projects, but there are three clearly defined tasks which will be undertaken by the intern directly. First, the intern will work to research, and identify stories about historic places. Second, the intern will work on heritage outreach programs and the development of community-based workshops around the themes of place, narrative, and oral history. Third, the intern will document stories, including oral history recordings, photo documentation, and report writing. The position will also work with HFNL staff on a heritage conference to be held in Oct 2017, and will compile conference presentations into a post-conference toolkit.

The applicant must have excellent oral and written communication skills; good knowledge of Microsoft Excel; valid driver’s licence and use of automobile (if possible); availability to travel throughout Newfoundland & Labrador; as well as a degree in history, archaeology, folklore, or architecture. Previous experience with a heritage organization is an asset, as is a keen interest in folklore, oral history, architectural history, or vernacular architecture.

$18/hour for approximately 40 weeks, ending March 30, 2018.

The applicant must be:

- Graduated from a post-secondary institution within the past 2 years
- Canadian Citizen, permanent resident, or have refugee status in Canada
- Legally Entitled to work in Canada
- Between the ages of 16 and 30 years of age at the start of employment
- Registered with the Young Canada Works program online: https://young-canada-works.canada.ca/Account/Login

To apply, email a cover letter, resume, and 3 references to:

Mr. Dale Jarvis
ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Deadline: 5pm, Tuesday, June 20, 2017.