Nova Scotia Archives
6016 University Avenue B3H 1W4 Halifax, NS, Canada

Springtime in the Annapolis Valley. Nova Scotia Information Service, undated.

#OnThisDay May 16, 1980 27 miles Ship Harbour, NS, Day 35 Today is a momentous one in Terry’s fundraising journey. We know he appreciates every dollar rai...sed but it is hard reading that on some days, like today, he runs 27 miles to raise $200. So we rejoice with Terry when he learns that the BC government has made the biggest donation to the Marathon of Hope so far. He also, of course, gratefully acknowledges the free meal he and Doug receive because every dollar saved means more money for cancer research. "Today I woke up with a headache. I didn't get up until 6am. I had to make a phone call to CBC after 9 miles. A good interview. The last 6 miles were very tough. We collected over $200 today on the road. I ate and slept after 15 miles. Then went out and did 12 more. I had to phone the Honorable Evan Wolfe of Health and Welfare BC and I learned that the BC government had sponsored me for $30,000. A great lift! I had a million calls and then ate, everything free. We were at the Webber Inn in Lake Charlotte." Photo from Duncan MacMillan High School, Sheet Harbour NS

Some inspiration for your weekend - Percy Starr of Starr's Point, Kings County, getting some fresh air while staying close to home, ca. 1930s. Reference: Clara Dennis Nova Scotia Archives 1983-468 no. 49

Dancing at the Gaelic Mod in beautiful St. Anns, Cape Breton. #GaelicMonth Reference: Nova Scotia Information Service, Nova Scotia Archives no. NSIS 16854, n.d.

Today we celebrate #InternationalNursesDay and pause to reflect on the invaluable and crucial work they do. Thank you to our nurses, past and present! #NationalNursingWeek Nurses Parade, Charlotte Street, Sydney, ca. 1946. Photograph by Abbass Studios. 538.3.

It's National Nurses Week and I think we can all agree that nurses past and present deserve our gratitude and appreciation. Thank you nurses!

Happy Monday! "Portrait of Black man lighting a pipe, Guysborough, N.S." ca. 1900 Reference: Buckley Family Nova Scotia Archives 1985-386 no. 43

Happy Children's Day! You can find more of these photos in our virtual exhibits: John Collier Jr. - Photographer, Digby County... https://archives.novascotia.ca/collier/ and 'An East Coast Port': Halifax in Wartime, 1939 - 1945 https://archives.novascotia.ca/eastcoastport/ See more

Percy Junior Jackson enlisted with The North Nova Scotia Highlanders during the Second World War. Listen to Jackson’s mission overseas to reunite with his older brother:

Check out the new materials to transcribe from Archibald MacMechan - Halifax Disaster Record Office. The records consist of materials created and accumulated by MacMechan in the course of his employment at the Halifax Disaster Record Office, 1917-1918, including correspondence, copies of reports, memoranda, journals containing typed notes and press clippings, and personal reminiscences detailing events of the Halifax Explosion, including damages, injuries, and medical and relief activities. https://archives.novascotia.ca/transcribe/

Did you know today is National Sandwich Day? Here's a recipe from our "What's Cooking?" collection, printed around 1920, for a Hot Cheese Sandwich - the ultimate comfort food. Reference: Prat-Starr Family Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 vol. 2627 no. 17

As we're well into Movember, here's a mustache appreciation post.

A portrait of Captain Angus MacDonald of Ballantynes Cove, Antigonish County. The teapot was presented by Her Majesty Queen Victoria for rescuing the Captain and crew of the shipwrecked Coronet in November of 1881. Photographed by Clara Dennis, ca. 1920 Reference: Clara Dennis Nova Scotia Archives 1983-468 no. 58

How I looked before I stepped out into the torrential rain and wind... "Lorraine 'Bunny' Hobbs" Ms. Bunny Hobbs was a Haligonian singer who entertained troops stationed in Halifax during WWII.

Did you know that the original Gaelic name for Inverness was An Sìthean, "The Fairy Hill"? Tales of horse hair being braided by unknown hands in the night, hearing ethereal music in the forest, or happening upon Fairy Rings where the Fairies danced the evening before were once common in Nova Scotia. The Mi'kmaq also have stories of the "Little People", or Wiklatmu’j. Have you ever encountered them? Reference: Barbara Creighton [costume worn as a star fairy in a play here called the Enchanted Wood in July, Trinidad] 1921. Helen Creighton, Album 5 no. 12

"It was a long, lonely tussle, the words I’d written sounding to me sometimes really good, sometimes like cracked bells;" - acclaimed Nova Scotian novelist Ernest Buckler on writing 'The Mountain and the Valley'. Are you participating in National Novel Writing Month (#NaNoWriMo)? Does your writing draw inspiration from Nova Scotia, or do you have a favourite Nova Scotia novel?

Between 1900 and 1939, and in his role as curator of the Nova Scotia Museum, Harry Piers maintained meticulous, detailed records of donations made to the Museum...'s collection. In a series of Accession Ledgers, he carefully listed all donations, making note of their names, collection dates and localities, plus the significance of the artifacts and specimens within the Museum's overall collection. Until 1930, Piers was both Curator of the Provincial Museum & Keeper of the Public Records (i.e. Provincial Archivist); as a result, many items described in the ledgers are now part of the Nova Scotia Archives collection, maintained separately from that of the Nova Scotia Museum. This exhibit, Harry Piers: Museum Maker, is the result of collaboration between the Nova Scotia Archives and the Nova Scotia Museum, undertaken to digitize some of the Museum's earliest operational records. https://archives.novascotia.ca/piers/ For over 100 years, these books have been stored at the Nova Scotia Museum, used sparingly by curatorial staff because of their fragile condition. Be sure to open the ledger pages in order to explore the data there, especially Pier's tiny, perfect sketches.

Devil's Island, off the shore of Eastern Passage, not only has an ominous name but a few ominous tales to go with it. The long abandoned lighthouse-keeper's residence has been seen with a light on in the window; a baby is sometimes heard crying; and the Devil himself is said to have visited and taken the soul of one of its residents many years ago. Would you be brave enough to spend a night on its solitary, windswept shores?

Snow & Co., once at the corner of Argyle and George Street, was a funeral home unfortunately rife with business. Snow & Co. handled many of the bodies of not only the Titanic in 1912, but the Halifax Explosion just five years later. This photograph shows the streets lined with pine coffins for Explosion victims. Even though you can no longer find the undertakers in this area, they say that the souls of the victims have never left and continue to haunt the building.

The digitization of the Canadian Expeditionary Force records took over four years to complete! These records are all available now online, free of charge. Search for a soldier you want to remember: ow.ly/3WcE30msrXn #FWW #CanadaRemembers

Day 2 of Halloween week features Helen Creighton's Bluenose Ghosts. Creighton traveled to every dark corner of the Maritimes to gather local tales of spirits, witches, forerunners, and so much more. A few of these tales are highlighted in this video from 1975. Try not to watch this one right before bed... https://www.youtube.com/watch

Nova Scotia ports were vital to the Allied war effort, with Bedford Basin serving as a convoy marshalling point during both World Wars.

We love a good ghost story at the Archives! We're going to post a different spooky story from Nova Scotia's past every day leading up to Halloween. First up, the Fire-Spook of Caledonia Mills. In January of 1922, inexplicable occurrences began plaguing the house of Alexander, Mary, and Mary-Ellen MacDonald in Caledonia Mills. Wet towels and the patches of wallpaper would burst into flames. Fires would appear out of nowhere, but no arsonist was ever caught. The MacDonalds wou...ld also enter their barn to find ashes in the stored milk and all the animals moved to different locations within the barn. The family was persuaded to leave the house and let authorities investigate, but no explanation was ever found. Locals thought it to be the work of a witch or evil spirits, or even that it was a forerunner of the Pope's death! The MacDonald's daughter, Mary-Ellen, came to be known as Mary-Ellen Spook. She moved to Central Canada and no further incidents occurred.

Carrie Best began The Clarion newspaper in 1946, with an intent to publish every two weeks. The paper was centered around the Second Baptist Church in New Glasgow with sections on "Our church", "Our homes" and "Our community." Many editions of the Clarion have been digitized and are available on our website: https://archives.novascotia.ca/newspapers/results/

** Thanks to our wonderful contributors, the little girl in the photo has been identified as Susan Webber, pulled by her mother Etta. The car was built by her father Earl Webber. The following information is what was provided by the photographer: Little girl with a car made by her father, Emerson Titus, the engineer of the ferry. Westport, Digby County, October 1951. Photographer: John Collier Jr.

Quilting bees and sewing circles have been important gathering, learning, and sharing opportunities for generations of Nova Scotian women. Have you or members of your family participated in them?

Mary E. Black, an occupational therapist, teacher, master weaver and writer, contributed to a 'crafting renaissance' in Nova Scotia in the 1940's and 1950's. Her best-known book, The Key to Weaving, was published in 1945 and has since run to 3 editions and numerous printings. See more of Mary Black's work, and learn more about her incredible life, on our website: https://archives.novascotia.ca/black/

I hope you get a chance to enjoy the beautiful fall weather this weekend! Playground in Lakeville, Kings Co., October 1973