In December, 1917, tragedy struck Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Halifax Explosion, a devastating event, was one that ultimately left around 25, 000 souls without shelter. A blanket of snow would soon coat the destroyed city, creating a discombobulating sense of calm amid the chaos. A blizzard descended upon Halifax, making life even harder for any survivors that may have been left. Anyone who was able to participated in relief efforts.
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Strange Pieces of the Past
here’s no doubt technology has advanced a long way. In my time, I’ve seen phones go from attached to the wall with a cord, to a tiny computer in your pocket. The way we go about our daily lives has been streamlined over the years. Often you can see the path of evolution, how tools have changed over time to what they are today, and other times, two roads diverge
Walter Francis Lunn – A Fallen Soldier of The Great War: His Story
Walter Francis Lunn – A Fallen Soldier of The Great War: His Story by Kevin Lunn Winnipeg, MB klunn36@mymts.net August 2018 Introduction It was late September 1918. The push was on by the British, French and their allies to bring the Great War to an end. A soldier in that effort, Walter Francis Lunn, age 24, died on a fall Friday morning on a battlefield in France. He was some 4900 km from his
What Am I? Museum Edition
What Am I? I have two ceramic arms. What Am I? I have a large base, so I don’t tip over. What Am I? I am made from ceramic, metal and leather. What Am I? I make sure you have somewhere to put your feet. What Am I? You can make me taller or shorter, depending on who I’m holding! What Am I? You’ll go away feeling new…and maybe lighter.
New Connections in an Old Location
Going into this job, I definitely expected to learn new things. After all, that’s what a museum is for; learning. And I definitely have learned new things, and have been given context to things I already knew. Stories I’ve read or names I’ve heard throughout my life make more sense to me now. My understanding of the West Hants area has expanded greatly. More than that, though, I’ve learned many
Putting a Name to a Face: Our Fourth Challenge
For our fourth challenge, we have a photo of a young girl in a sweet white dress. This is obviously a formal photo, taken by a photography company. Around the base of the photo it reads: PLATINUM PHOTO CO, W I ERB MANAGER. It also says ‘Windsor & Westville NS’, meaning it is a local photo. The child in the photo seems quite young, maybe around 6 or 7 years
Summertime Successes
This summer, as mentioned by many, has been the busiest yet. I feel as though the museum has turned a corner; there is a much stronger, much more prominent community presence. We held more events than previous seasons and had record numbers in attendance each time. We branched out in both advertising and community participation. We hosted our first “Historical Show & Tell”, which allowed for individuals to come together
Putting a Name to a Face: Our Third Challenge
Our next challenge in this project revolves around the photo of three young women, happily sitting on a bench with linked arms. It should be noted that this photo was found among a collection pertaining to a Katherine Anslow, so the women pictured could have a connection to her. The Anslow name is from this area, leading me to believe that the girls would have been Windsor (or nearby) residents.
So Long, Farewell!
The countdown is on. The museum’s summer season is coming to a close, which means that us summer students are packing up their things to jump into fall. We’ve had a great time, and I was able to meet some new people as well as learn more about those I already knew. Co-workers are always what makes a job great, so I’d say we’ve been pretty lucky in that respect.
Made With Thread, Fabric & Undying Love
Within our museum, we hold the remnants of a tale brimming with tragedy, love and careful stitches. Hanging nonchalantly on a cupboard among sewing kits and delicate needlepoint, there is a quilt, detailed and worn. It has a quiet loveliness that piques curiosity and draws the wandering eye. It rests, undisturbed and still. The colored fabrics are softly faded, sewn together to make up a psychedelic pattern of hexagons. However,
A Trick of The Light…?
Working in a museum is very interesting. You meet a lot of new people and learn a lot of new things. You get to surround yourself with pieces of the past. What stories could they tell? What things have they seen? What ghosts haunt them? Yes, that’s right; this post is about ghosts. Whether you believe in them or not, you have to admit a museum would be fertile ground for spirits. Ghosts are attached to either a location or an item, so they say. Our museum is an old building located in a historic town, and we have many items belonging those long gone. For example; we have artifacts directly related to an accused murderer who swore his innocence. If that isn’t grounds for a haunting, I’m not sure
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Murder in the Maritimes
One of my favorite exhibits here in the museum has to be the display that focuses on George Stanley, the last person to be executed here in Windsor. It’s a bit of a morbid story, of course, but it has just enough mystery and grisly details to qualify as one of the many strange and interesting happenings from Windsor’s past. George Stanley, as the locals knew him, was a drifter who had found room and board with a Mr. Freeman Harvey, who’s property was located outside of Ellershouse. Freeman, popular among the locals, was known to be a prominent part of the community and lived alone before Stanley entered the picture. Stanley had told locals that he was to be installing telephones around the province of Nova Scotia and would
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Getting Involved
A huge, positive difference that I have noticed between this year and the last within the museum is the amount of community involvement we have been experiencing. Individuals are reaching out to us and looking for ways to become more involved in both the area and history. A lot of people have come forward to voice their opinions on the importance of history and sharing what we know. It’s wonderful to see! We have also been invested in welcoming this enthusiasm by holding more events where we can promote communication and connection to those around us. We have had Yoga at the Fort, Historical Show & Tell and most recently, a Genealogy Fair. We have had some small turnouts and some large ones, but each event has brought everyone closer
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Putting a Name to a Face: Our First Challenge
Our first unknown photo for our project is that of a young man. He is dressed quite formally (presumably for the photo itself). The photo was taken by Afelsby & Carr., and there is a stamp that has marked ‘AINSDALE’ at the bottom of the picture. Ainsdale, according to Google, is located in England. However, there is an Ainsdale golf course in Ontario, so I am unsure if there are any connections there; perhaps there used to be an Ainsdale area? Perhaps Ainsdale isn’t even an area. We can assume he is from (or lived in) the area, because of the photo being within our database. We have it dated around 1865, but it could have been taken later than that. The information I have provided is speculation using clues
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Putting a Name to a Face: A WHHS Project
Over the course of my time working at the West Hants Historical Society, I have perused our shelves often. I peek into cabinets and rifle through drawers, always finding something that can pique my interest. Working here is almost like being Indiana Jones; you’re constantly discovering little treasures (although they usually aren’t made of solid gold). However, on my little excursions to our storage rooms, I have found an abundant amount of unmarked photos. All they have to identify themselves as a part of our history is an accession number so that they can be distinguished within our database. There is usually nothing else. The photos are often of people; there are no names, no dates and no listed locations. It is easy enough to imagine the kind of life
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With summer being a few weeks underway, I have been hard at work upstairs in the artifact storage room of the Historical Society. One part of my job is to enter the artifacts I find into the museum database. I take photos of the objects and find as much information about them as I can. Anyone can look through the database at http://www.novamuse.ca/Detail/entities/6334 and see some of the artifacts that are not on display in the museum. Sometimes I don’t know exactly what an artifact is. Maybe I can’t find a record of the object, or maybe the record that I found does not have a lot of information about the purpose of the object. That’s when I ask for help from the community. Facebook is great way to post
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Another Summer Ahead
As the days get warmer and brighter, our museum hours get longer and our genealogy services open all season long. We’re excited to be open 5 days a week to offer free museum tours and interactive genealogy help to the best of our abilities. We have extensive records and information on many family names and are always looking to increase our collection so that everyone who comes through is able to find what they are looking for. If you have questions or would like to use our genealogy services and are not local, contact us by phone or by email and we will gladly accommodate; we will get the information you need to you. We’re always happy to help! As for our exhibits, we have revamped the museum floor a
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Job Title: Interpreter at Fort Edward National Historic Site
Job Title: Interpreter at Fort Edward National Historic Site Location: Windsor, NS Wage: $11.15 per hour at 35 hours per week (Tuesday-Saturday) Start Date: June 19, 2018 End Date: September 1, 2018 Deadline to apply is May 16, 2018. Please email a cover letter and resume to whhs@ns.aliantzinc.ca or write to West Hants Historical Society at 281 King Street, PO BOX 2335 Windsor NS B0N 2T0 or visit in person on Wednesdays from 10 am to 3 pm. For more information please email the above address or call 902-798-4706. RESPONSIBILITIES: 1. Greet visitors and maintain visitor statistics; 2. Deliver guided tours of the Fort Edward Blockhouse and grounds; 3. Gather visitor feedback and comments; 4. Assist in planning special events to take place at Fort Edward; 5. Explore new methods
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Mill Island, Windsor
Mill Island by Eva Mumford, Windsor, NS Prior to European settlement the area that is now called Windsor was a group of islands surrounded by marshland that was covered with salt water on the high tide. Through a system of dykes (levies), ditches, and one-way valves called arbiteaux, these marshes were eventually dyked by the Acadian settlers who came to the region about 1680. The dyked land became very fertile farmland. In 1749 the English began building a system of small garrison forts intended to ‘overawe’ the Acadians and native Indians. In the summer of 1750 one such fort, Fort Edward, was built on the most prominent island south of the junction of the Ste. Croix and Pisiquid (Avon) river. There followed ten years of guerrilla warfare during which some
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Acadian Prisoners to the Rescue of British Soldiers
On the 3-4 November 1759, the Maritimes was struck by one of many storms that marked its history. It is comparable to the storm of 1711 and the gale of 1775 gale that killed around 2000 people. Those storms were so severe that they were epoch-marking, so much so that events are dated as “before” or “after” the big storm. The Storm of 1759 happened at the time when Acadians were still being deported – the Acadian Deportation lasted from 1755-1762. As with this hurricane, major damage was sustained in 1759 all along the coasts of Acadie and the Atlantic provinces. Fortunately, there were no reported fatalities in 1759 and destruction of homes was less since most Acadians had been deported and many of their homes destroyed by British troops.
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