Walter Halsey Abell was born in Philadelphia in 1897. He was educated at Swarthmore College and the Barnes Foundation, studying art. He went to Europe for three years to continue his study of art before coming to Acadia University.
Abell began as a Professor of Art at Acadia in 1927 and may have been the first instructor of fine arts in Canada. The Carnegie Foundation endowed Acadia’s fine arts department during the time that Abell was teaching. He left in 1942. While at Acadia, Abell published his first book in 1936, entitled “Representation and Form”. With the assistance of Carnegie, he also established the Maritime Art Association.
After leaving Acadia, Abell joined the staff of the National Gallery of Canada for a short time. He then went to Michigan State University as Professor of art history. While in Michigan, he published a number of books and articles. Walter Abell remained on staff at the University until his sudden death in 1956.

Frank Dawson Adams was born 17 September 1859 in Montreal, Quebec. After graduating from Montreal High School, he completed his BSc (1878) and MA (1884) at McGill University, and later earned a PhD at Heidelberg University. In 1892 he married Mary Stuart Finlay. Adams died in Montreal on 26 December 1942.

Adams was a well-known geologist, educator and author with a long association with McGill University. He began lecturing at McGill in 1889 and held a number of prominent positions there, including Logan Professor of Geology, Dean of Applied Science, Director of the Redpath Museum, Acting Principal, Vice-Principal and Dean of Graduate Studies. He was also employed as a chemist and petrographer for the Geological Survey of Canada from 1913-1914, was Deputy Director of Khaki University in Britain, and actively participated in a number of national and international geological organizations, including the Geological Society of Canada.

Adams retired from McGill in 1924 and traveled widely while continuing his geological research and study. A recognized leader in his field, he was awarded the Flavelle Medal in 1937 and held honourary degrees from the University of Toronto, Queen’s, Mount Allison, Bishop’s, and Tufts. His articles were printed in American and Canadian journals, and he authored the well-regarded The Birth and Development of the Geological Sciences in 1938.

Emily has been a long-time lover of Cape Breton music and dance. In her teen years, she began playing with Toronto-based Cape Bretoners like Donald MacLellan and John L MacDonald. As part of her undergraduate degree, she completed a thesis on the value and perception of dance halls in Inverness County. She has done some teaching of Cape Breton piano and step dance and continues to play within the tradition while expanding beyond to fit her context. She now lives in Ottawa, Ontario.

John Geoffrey Adshead was born in 1904 in Manchester, England. He was educated at Stockport Grammar School before entering Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University, graduating with first class honours with distinction in mathematics. He was also a half-blue in lacrosse, later touring the United States as a member of the Oxford-Cambridge lacrosse team. In 1927 he was appointed at the University of King's College, transferring to Dalhousie University in 1947 as acting head of the Department of Mathematics, a position made permanent in 1953.

In addition to his popularity with students, he was considered by his colleagues to be an excellent cook. In P.B. Waite's reminiscences of faculty life in the 1950s, he writes that "one remembers Adshead's baked halibut with oyster stuffing, served with a Poilly Fuissé" (http://hdl.handle.net/10222/63115). Adshead retired in 1964 and died in 1979.

James (Jim) Hermiston Aitchison was born on January 22, 1908 to James C. and Elizabeth Aitchison in Innerleithen, Scotland. He came to Canada at age four and was raised and educated in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Aitchison received a B.A. (1928) and B.Ed. (1929) from the University of Saskatchewan as well as a B.Sc. from the London School of Economics (1935). While in London, Aitchison married Oriole, with whom he had one daughter, Elizabeth. In 1953, he received a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto.

Aitchison’s career as an educator began in 1929. He taught high school from 1929 until 1933 and lectured at Brandon College (1935-1938), University of Toronto (1938-1939), and McMaster (1939-1941). Aitchison then became an associate professor at Victoria College (1946-1948). He also served with the Canadian Army from 1942 to 1946, reaching the rank of Major.

Aitchison came to Dalhousie in 1949 and served as head or chairman of the Department of Political Science until 1973. His research centred on Canadian politics and government and he wrote profusely on the topic. He also edited The Political Process in Canada: Essays in Honour of R. MacGregor Dawson in 1963. Aitchison was active in the Dalhousie community and served as the first president of the Dalhousie Faculty Association in 1951. Even after his retirement, Aitchison maintained a close connection with Dalhousie’s Department of Political Science, continuing to work in his office as late as 1993 at age eighty-five. He was also active in a number of professional organizations, including the Canadian Association of University Teachers and the Social Science Research Council of Canada, where he served as president and chairman, respectively.

In the 1960s, Aitchison was also involved with the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party, serving as chairman of the committee for the party (1961-1962), party president (1962-1964), president and acting leader (1964-1966), and leader (1966-1968). He also ran unsuccessfully for election in the 1962 and 1965 federal elections, as well as in the 1967 provincial election.

In 1993, Aitchison’s contributions to his field were honoured by the Atlantic Provinces Political Science Association. He died in Halifax on July 12, 1994.

Mary Jane Aitkin lived in Pictou, Nova Scotia, in the mid-nineteenth century. Sophia Catherine Brehm lived in Halifax ca. 1857.

Thomas Beamish Akins was born in Halifax in 1809 and died there in 1891. A lawyer by profession, he was an antiquarian and bibliophile by vocation. In 1857 he was appointed Nova Scotia's commissioner of public records, holding the office until his death. A prolific historical author and editor, he is best known for his history of the town of Halifax and for Selections from the Public Documents of the Province of Nova Scotia (Halifax 1869).

Alexander MacDonald (1841 – ?) served as Deputy Land Surveyor for the County of Antigonish for a number of years. Born in James River, he was the son of Duncan ‘Ban’ MacDonald and Lydia Kell; he was unmarried, but had several brothers, sisters and large extended family.

Brian Redmond Macdonald Alexander, commonly known as Ben Alexander, was born in 1904 in Richmond, Quebec, the son of George and Susan (Jenkins) Alexander. He studied forestry at the University of New Brunswick and was hired by the Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forests to carry out 'cruises' (tours of inspection) on Crown Lands. By about 1932 he had left the Department to manage the MacLeod Pulp Company lands, later becoming chief forester and finally a director with the Minas Basin Pulp and Paper Company of Hantsport, Nova Scotia. He married Katharine "Kay" Durfee Clements and they had two sons: George and Christopher. Alexander's wife Kay died at Hantsport in February 1985. He died at Hantsport two months later, on 29 April 1985.