Oral history event on local stores. Photo by Katie Harvey. 2017
On Wednesday afternoon Katie and I headed out to Port Blandford to meet with the Conservation Corps' Port Blandford Green Team and Calvin Efford with the Port Blandford Heritage Society. Calvin contacted the Heritage Foundation about having the Oral History Roadshow come to Port Blandford. The Heritage Society suggested we focus on the stores in the community as there have been over twenty stores in the community through the years, and many local people have memories of both shopping and working in these general stores, convenience shops, and grocery stores.
Thursday morning we met with the green team and provided an overview of how to do oral history interviews including consent, recording equipment, questions to ask, and how to process the material once the recording has been done. Following this meeting Katie and I interviewed two women in the community about their experience with stores in the community.
In the afternoon we held the public oral history event where twenty five people came out to share their memories of local stores like Roland Greening's (later Wanda's), Powell's, Pelley's, and other small stores. There were stories about the charge system, how everything was noted by hand, and memories of the delivery service first by horse and cart and then by vehicle.
Following the afternoon event Katie and I interviewed five community members about their stories and memories of working and shopping in Port Blandford. We are still looking for memories of the stores in Port Blandford so if you have one let me know by calling 1-888-739-1892 ex. 5 or emailing terra@heritagefoundation.ca
Dianne Carr of the Spaniard's Bay Heritage Society. Photo by Terra Barrett.
On Tuesday July 31st, as part of the Collective Memories project, I interviewed Dianne Carr about her memories of charms and cures from Spaniard's Bay, Newfoundland. One of the stories Dianne told me was about her sister Jeanette and how she had her warts charmed as a child. Listen to the clip below to learn more about how a local woman charmed the warts away!
If you have any stories about folk charms, and cures, or practical recipes for things like soap, toothpaste, or wallpaper paste me know at terra@heritagefoundation.ca or call Terra at 1-888-739-1892 ex. 5.
Cyril Pinsent reading out some of his story from "The Goats of New Perlican" booklet.
Several people who were interviewed for the booklet surround Cyril on stage.
On Saturday, July 8th, while the rest of our office was busy with Great Fire celebrations in St. John's, I headed to New Perlican for their Heritage Day celebrations. The day was a celebration of all things heritage and included a couple of speeches and presentations as well as display boards on family genealogy, occupational folklore, significant buildings, and events in the community.
As part of New Perlican's Heritage Day we also launched "Goats of New Perlican". This is the first booklet in the Oral History Roadshow series. The booklet focuses on local memories and stories around the goats of New Perlican from their many uses to their stubborn nature.
New Perlican Heritage Day displays.
The roadshow is an initiative of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the HFNL made possible with assistance from the New Horizons for Seniors program. The Oral History Night Roadshow will see researchers travel from community to community, hosting a series of Oral History Nights, open-mic storytelling sessions led and inspired by seniors in that community.
The launch was a great success with approximately a hundred people turning out to celebrate New Perlican's heritage! Heritage New Perlican is currently selling the print copies of "The Goats of New Perlican" or you can check out the free PDF here!
Heritage Day audience.
If you would like to know more information about how your community can get involved in the Oral History Roadshow call Terra at 1-888-739-1892 ex. 5 or email terra@heritagefoundation.ca or Dale ex. 2 and ich@heritagefoundation.ca
On May 29, 2017 as part of the Collective Memories project, I interviewed Daphne Gillingham about growing up in St. John's including her memories of her time in school, her first job at as a cook at cub camp, and her memories of the holidays.
Daphne Gillingham was born in St. John's in August 1938 and grew up in St. John's. She shared her memories of growing up in St. John's in the 1940s and 1950s. One of the things which stood out in Daphne's memory was Valentine's Day. In this clip Daphne describes the difference between Valentine's day when she was a child and how it is celebrated today. If you would like to listen to the full interview you can head to Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative.
On July 7, 2016, as part of the Collective Memories project, I interviewed Sarah Hiscock of Champney’s West. In this short interview Sarah describes growing up in Champney’s West, shares her memories of the wreck of the Hazel Pearl, and explains how to prepare turr to eat. I’ve included a short audio clip below about cleaning and eating turr.
(01 02 004) Water Street, St. John's. View looking east with Ayre and Sons to the right. Photo courtesy of Geography Collection of Historical Photographs of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Last week Dale and I presented at The Rooms' Research Workshop on Collecting Community History. In the morning there were presentations from The Rooms' staff on how to use their collections for researching community history. The participants also got a tour of the archives.
Dale Jarvis interviewing Melanie Tucker.
In the afternoon session Dale gave an overview of how to do an oral history project including planning in advance, focusing the project, and support and funding that is available. He also did a mock interview, and explained the process of memory mapping or the People, Places, and Culture workshops we run at the Heritage Foundation. I also gave a brief presentation on what to do with the material once you have completed the oral interviews and how to present the material back to the community. If you want more information on how to complete oral history projects please visit our Oral History Project Guide.
Participants of The Rooms' Research Workshop on Collecting Community History.
Melanie Tucker, an archivist with The Rooms, was interviewed by Dale about her memories of growing up in St. John's, going to school, working with the Provincial Archives, and in particular her memories of Water Street, St. John's. If you want to hear more about buying seal flippers, riding the bus, Woolworth's Department Store and the taste of their donuts, buying shoes at the Arcade, or the sights and sounds of the Mount Cashel Christmas raffle listen to the short interview below!
After the mock interview Dale explained the benefits of having community members think about and map out the important people, places, and traditions found in the community. He explained how you can print large community maps at the Provincial Government's Land Management Division Office. Dale brought a large map of St. John's and gave each of the workshop participants a couple of recipe/index cards to fill out with memories. Once everyone had a chance to fill out a memory they were placed on the map. The participants glued their cards to their map and taped a ribbon to the corresponding building in which the memories took place.. If you want to start an oral history project or run a people, place, and culture workshop give us a call at 739-1892 ex. 5 or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca If you want to know more about People, Places, and Culture Workshops click here!
Lavina Fraser on her 90th birthday in August 2016.
In October I had the opportunity to do an oral history interview by phone with Levina Fraser. Levina, originally from Isle aux Morts, currently lives in Oromocto, NB but has vivid memories growing up in Newfoundland. In this interview Levina remembers her childhood in Isle aux Morts - going to school, chores such as washing laundry, knitting, spinning and carding wool as well as the lack of electricity, indoor plumbing and cars. Levina also describes with pride how her grandmother worked alongside midwives and doctors to deliver babies in the community. If you want to learn about life in a small fishing community before confederation or hear the alphabet recited backwards give this interview a listen!
The recording can be found here on Memorial University's Digital Archives.
Levina Fraser age 20 at Mount Royal in Montreal, QC.
In the evening we met with community members in the St. Lawrence Public Library in order to discuss how to do an oral history project. Dale gave an introduction to oral history interviewing including how to focus the interview, reasons to conduct an informal “pre-interview” and the sort of questions to ask. We also ran through the basics of consent forms and how to process the material once you collect it. This included an explanation of tape logs and suggestions of ways to use the material such as booklets, audio clips, etc.
After our interview with Therese we had a look at the community’s grotto and cross engineered by Herb Slaney and visited a couple of graveyards. Our last stop on the drive back to St. John’s was to the community of Petite Forte to photograph another designated building and take a look at the beautiful harbour. All in all a very successful trip to the Burin Peninsula!
In the second week of September Dale, Heather, and I spent several days in Cupids with the new folklore students. Each year Memorial University's Department of Folklore holds an intensive three-week field school for the incoming MA and PhD students to focus on fieldwork techniques. This year the students were in the community of Cupids, Conception Bay North and they focused on occupational or workplace folklore.
Dale describing good interview techniques.
During the students' first week in Cupids, Dale spent two days teaching them interview techniques, showing them the basics of working with recording equipment, and doing a staged interview. I also gave a short presentation with suggestions of how to use the material collected in oral history interviews for blogs, articles, audio and video clips, booklets, etc.
Gerard and Emma taking field notes during the Targa Newfoundland Races.
Heather and I also joined the students in class to learn more about fieldwork techniques and how to take better field notes with folklorist Bonnie Sunstein. Bonnie teaches nonfiction writing and ethnographic research at the University of Iowa and gave the students a presentation on how to take field notes and how to work with the field notes taken to produce a piece of data that can be used in future writing. She stressed the need to be descriptive and suggested the students do double entry notes - using one side to describe the situation and the other to describe their feelings and reactions to the situation.
After the students classes in research, writing, and field techniques they went out into the field and conducted their own interviews and research. This Thursday September 29 the students will be presenting their research results to the community. This event is open to the public and everyone is invited to come out and learn more about work in Cupids!
Salvation Army Citadel, Elliston, 1960. Source: Community Memories Virtual Museum, Subsistence of Early Outport Newfoundlanders, Tourism Elliston Inc. album, 203.
Do you have memories about the Salvation Army in Elliston, NL? The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) is looking for stories, photos, and memories and wants to talk to you.
Collected stories will be made available through Memorial University’s Digital Archives Initiative, which is a free, public website where the HFNL stores the photos, videos, and interviews it collects. Researchers are currently looking to talk to locals about their memories of the Salvation Army in Elliston, NL. We are also interested in any photographs of Salvation Army events such as weddings, and citadel suppers.
The Salvation Army began in London England in 1865, and arrived in Elliston in 1887 with the first officer assigned in 1894. We are looking for anyone connected to Elliston’s Salvation Army’s citadel including soldiers, officers, captains, and majors who may have served in the area. From recollections of the church’s social events such as weddings, garden parties, and citadel suppers to regular services, if you have been involved with the Salvation Army in Elliston we would love to hear from you.
The oral history project is part of HFNL’s ongoing Intangible Cultural Heritage program. The program works to safeguard the living heritage of the province for present and future generations everywhere, as a vital part of the identities of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and as a valuable collection of unique knowledge and customs.
If you would like more information, are interested in being interviewed for the project, or have photos of citadel events please contact Historic Places Researcher Terra Barrett at (709)739-1892 ext. 5 or terra@heritagefoundation.ca.
Salvation Army Captain standing on Lodge Hill, Elliston, 1940. Source: Community Memories Virtual Museum, Subsistence of Early Outport Newfoundlanders, Tourism Elliston Inc. album, 28.
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.
Ready to map the living treasures of the community
It’s been a whirlwind two days of work here in Champney’sWest. Dale and I headed out Thursday
morning for a weekend of oral history interviews, asset mapping, and an oral
history workshop. On Thursday evening
there was a public asset mapping workshop held in Champney’s West to see what
heritage means to the people of the community.
There were three tables of locals with a moderator taking notes on the
community’s cultural organization, creative cultural industries, spaces and
facilities, festivals and events, cultural heritage sites, natural heritage and
intangible cultural heritage.
Discussing the community's cultural assets
Checking out the map of Champney West's living treasures
After the community brainstormed the important cultural assets of the community
the residents received a recipe card and were asked to think of a living
treasure in the community. Living
treasure just means someone in the community who is knowledgeable about a
particular topic or skill and why they are important. The residents then mapped these local
treasures on a map of Champney’s West.
After the map was completed everyone enjoyed a little lunch and cup of
tea before heading home for the evening.
Friday morning and afternoon Dale and I interviewed two older residents of the community
brothers Ben and Roy Hiscock. Both
brothers were great storytellers and told stories about growing up in the
community, local shipwrecks, memories from the Second World War, and jokes from
local characters. Be on the lookout for
clips of these two interviews!
Checking out Elliston, the root cellar capital of the world!
Don Johnson and I outside one of Ellison's many root cellars
Between the interviews with Ben and Roy we also headed out to Elliston to talk
with Don Johnson from Tourism Elliston to do a short interview on root cellars
in the root cellar capital of the world.
Don showed us a couple of cellars and explained their importance to the
community in the past and to the present community. He explained their upcoming festivals and
took us out to see the puffin site and the new sealers memorial.
The Sealers Memorial in Elliston
Puffin site in Elliston
After a lovely supper at the Bonavista Social Club we were back in Champney’s
West for the first coffee house of the season.
It was a great evening with live music, jokes, stories and another small
lunch. After lunch we were in for a
special treat as local characters Martha and Bertha put on a skit. They discussed the “h’asset mapping” and the ‘eritage
of the community. They even mentioned
the out of town folklorist who wrote a book on mummering. This is when it got interesting as Bertha bet
Martha he couldn't even mummer. Let’s
just say a nice bit of dress up and dancing ensued! Check out the pictures below!
Local fiddler
Martha, Dale Jarvis and Bertha
Plankin er down!
Thanks to Champney’s West for a great two days!
Today we've got a couple more interviews and an oral history workshop in
Port Union.
Things have finally settled down (a little) so I wanted to stop in and make a final blog post to say thanks! Since I last wrote on the blog I finished my job with the heritage foundation, took a quick trip out to the west coast of the island, attended the fishing for folklore workshop, headed to Witless Bay for field school, and am currently making my way through courses at MUN.
My summer job as a heritage intern with the Heritage Foundation was definitely one of the highlights of my summer! The Oral History Project in Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove taught me a great deal about interviewing, photography, working with the media, metadata, and much more.
As a heritage intern I had the opportunity to assist with cemetery clean ups, gravestone rubbing workshops, and heritage district plaque ceremonies. I was able to interview a number of people from Petty Harbour about the community's social events such as card games, community concerts, and garden parties. I also learned about growing up in Petty Harbour and the children's games played in the area (pidley, rounders). I was told stories about folk beliefs and instructed not to whistle on the water, turn against the sun, or have the gangboards turned over in the boat. I was given meals of lobsters and glasses of slush, I attended community breakfasts, and met wonderful people. I would like to send out a huge thank you to everyone in the community who took the time to talk to me, send pictures or plays, stopped by the oral history booth, sourced out potential interviewees, and all in all made me feel like a part of the community.
If you would like to listen to the interviews from the Petty Harbour Oral History Project check out MUN's DAI. Here you will find links to the interviews and accompanying pictures of the lovely people I had the opportunity to meet. There are still a handful of interviews to be processed by the DAI so check back for more interviews at a later date. Also if you would like to learn more about the community events found in Petty Harbour there is a small article in the ICH Update for July 2014.
Last but not least I would like to thank everyone at the Heritage Foundation, particularly Dale and Lisa in the ICH Office for a fantastic summer!
In closing I've added a short video of Petty Harbour resident (and my uncle) Gordy Doyle doing a recitation of the Smokeroom on the Kyle.
Thanks,
Terra
P.S. Thanks to Lisa for suggesting I turn the recitation into a short video!
This week at the office we are gearing up for the Arts and Heritage Festival in Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove. As part of the festival the Heritage Foundation will have a Memory Store set up in a yellow shed across from the town hall, just three sheds up from the convenience store.
We'll have an oral history recording booth set up in the shed and we are looking for anyone with a connection to Petty Harbour who would be willing to share their memories. From recollections of the town’s social life to tales of the community concerts, if you have been involved in the community we would love to hear from you! We'll be encouraging people to bring a family member or friend in order to interview one another about your Petty Harbour memories.
You will receive a copy of your interview to keep and it will certainly make a great memento!
Thomas Ruck fonds
VA 45-1; Petty Harbour in the 1860s
Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms
Today’s folklore photos are pictures of the flakes, stages and stores of Petty Harbour’s past. Throughout my interviews in Petty Harbour a major change that has been mentioned has been the change in the fishery. The move from making fish to catching crab has meant a shift in the physical landscape of the harbour.
Petty Cove [Petty Harbour]
VA 143-18 [between 1892 and 1904]
Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms
The loss of the fish flakes from the island rooms has been mentioned in a number of interviews as has the shift in the fishery. Several of my informants have memories of the responsibilities of making fish and cutting tongues for the fishermen.
Mike Hearn
Mike Hearn described walking into the Goulds to sell the cod tongues 10₵ a dozen as opposed to selling the tongues for 10₵ a pound in Petty Harbour. He also mentioned making flickers out of his mother’s old cotton reels filled with lead in order to catch tom cods in the harbour.
Petty Harbour VA 15a-43.1
Newfoundland Tourist Development Board photograph collection
Newfoundland Views Photographs
Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms
The lack of children involved with the fishery today has caught the attention of people in Petty Harbour and a non profit organization called Fishing for Success has been established. Check out their website and facebook page as they reintroduce fishing knowledge to the children of Petty Harbour Maddox Cove and beyond.
This summer, folklorist Crystal Braye of the Wooden Boat Museum of NL and Lois Bragg of the Marine Institute are travelling around the island measuring and documenting wooden boats, and recording the work of traditional Newfoundland boatbuilders. As part of the outreach work of the museum, the ICH office is partnering with them to deliver a series of workshops on intangible cultural heritage and oral history along the way.
Yesterday was the first of our oral history workshops, held at the lighthouse in Twillingate. The workshop space was fantastic, with probably the best view of any workshop I've ever given, looking out at hundreds of icebergs and bergy bits. The workshop room was also conveniently placed above the fog horn, shown above, which punctuated our meeting as the fog rolled in and out throughout the afternoon.
We heard great stories, and local residents helped us identify a mystery woman in one of our oral history collections: broadcaster Hiram Silk had interviewed a Twillingate woman in the 1980s, but had identified her only as "Miss Anstey." We listened to the interview, and people were quick to name her as Mary Anstey, or "Aunt Polly" Anstey, to differentiate her from another Mary Anstey in the community. You can listen to that interview with Mary "Polly" Anstey on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative.
Lois and Crystal are shown below, taking the lines of a wooden boat outside the lighthouse at Twillingate. They are going to be working in the Twillingate area till July, and then moving on to Trinity. If you know of boat builders or wooden boats in those areas, they would love to track them down. Drop me a line at ich@heritagefoundation.ca and I'll put you in touch. The next workshops in our series are in Trinity on July 15th and 16th. More info on those workshops here.
This morning I had the pleasure of conducting my first interview as part of the Petty Harbour Oral History project. I interviewed Ann Payne from the Petty Harbour Maddox Cove Museum and her ninety five year old mother Annie Francis (nee. St. George) Lee.
Annie was born and raised in Heart’s Desire, Trinity Bay and moved to St. John’s for work. When Annie was nineteen she left work at Donovan’s hotel and moved to Petty Harbour where her sister Mary lived. Annie worked in Chafe’s shop in Petty Harbour for nine years and after nine years she married the owner’s brother Ambrose Lee.
Ann Payne was born in St. Claire’s hospital, but grew up and spent her whole life in Petty Harbour. Anne had many memories of growing up in the area and stories about the changes the community has seen.
The interview covered many aspects of life in Petty Harbour from beliefs about fairies to Christmas visiting to memories of children’s games. Annie and Ann discussed Chafe’s shop and how is carried everything from a “needle to an anchor”. The shop carried a variety of foods and also sold material. Annie mentioned the priest’s vestments were made out of the thick cloth which was sold at Chafe’s shop.
Ann described growing up in Petty Harbour and the different areas where she would play as a child. The river was a particularly important place and somewhere you would play during the day. Ann said you would never visit the river at night as you were afraid of the fairies. Ann’s father’s family was from Ireland and had a strong belief in fairies. Against advice Ann’s uncle cut across the river one evening, was caught by the fairies and held in the water and broke his leg. Ann said she felt the river was a magical place due to all the stories which surrounded it. The children would go skating on the river during the winter when parts of it froze and in the summer families often had to bathe in the river as their wells would run dry. The river was also a source of water for gardens or for washing clothes on Mondays in the days before indoor plumbing.
School plays, concerts, variety shows and dances were discussed as major sources of entertainment in Petty Harbour. The annual garden party was a particularly important afternoon where there would be turkey teas and tables. Years ago each lady would have their own table with their goods. For example Mrs. Marty made her own butter so she would have a table of homemade butter while Aunt Lucy would have one for desserts. In the years Annie was involved with the garden parties there were no individual tables although she did make a good pie. She won five trophies at the agricultural fair for her baked pies, jam jams or homemade bread. There were also cash prizes for the best vegetables and Annie’s husband Ambrose won a number of times. Community dances and in particular dances during the war were great fun. Annie told a story of how she went to a dance with Ambrose but barely saw him the whole evening as she was dancing with everyone who asked.
Another form of entertainment mentioned was weekly games of cards. Ann described her father and his friends playing games of 45s or 120s where they would gamble for a quarter or a half cow. Annie played cards on Monday evenings in the different spots in the community and continues to play today.
Ann said a favourite summer activity was a picnic to Cape Spear or an outing to pick berries. On a day when her father was not working the family would pack a picnic lunch and head over to Cape Spear. She described the roads as being worse than Petty Harbour’s and when you hit a pothole the whole car went in. Another outing the family would go on would be a berry picking excursion which would involve swimming for the children and lunches of corned beef and cabbage on the Coleman stove.
It was a really great interview and an excellent starting point for the Petty Harbour Oral History project. The interview touched on many aspects of community life in the harbour and sparked my interest in the folklore of Petty Harbour. If you have any memories about the concerts, times and social customs in Petty Harbour I would love to hear from you: terra@heritagefoundation.ca or (709)739-1892.
Yesterday, I was contacted and interviewed by Leigh Anne Power from CBC Central on the wells and springs project I've been working on here at the Heritage Foundation. Have a listen!
Also, if you have any stories, wells and springs, photos, or memories you would like to share with us, please contact me - I would love to hear more from you!
Tonight, Wednesday, May 1st, at 7pm, join the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) at The Rooms Theatre for “Talking Shop: Metalworking.”
To highlight The Room’s new exhibit Silver: a Noble Metal, this Engaging Evening will explore the craft of metalworking. Folklorist Dale Jarvis will host Don Beaubier, Susan Lee Stephen, and Jason Holley, three local artists who work with metal, and who will join us to talk about their experience creating their pieces of art with silver and other metals.
The presentation is organized to coincide with a recent Rooms exhibit, “Silver: A Noble Metal.” In chemistry, silver is considered a noble metal; it is resistant to corrosion and oxidation and is considered precious due to its rarity in the Earth’s crust. From silverware to jewelry, pocket watches and trophies, silver was once mined and worked right here in Newfoundland.
Silver has been a status symbol for centuries, its artisans creating functional works of art but also paying attention to styles and trends. It has also been considered a great reward and is given as an award to important dignitaries, athletes and heroes on the battlefield. The exhibition examines silver (sterling and plate), its uses and markings and its production within the province.
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