Showing 5184 results

Authority record
Corporate body · 1931-1933

The Nova Scotia Royal Commission Concerning Jails in the Province of Nova Scotia, also known as the Campbell Commission, was created on December 29, 1931. Alexander J. Campbell, senior lawyer in Truro, was appointed chairperson along with Reverend Charles F. Curran of Halifax, Dr. Samuel W. Williamson of Yarmouth, Justice A.D. Campbell of Sydney and Professor S.H. Prince of Halifax as co-commissioners. Its mandate was to investigate and make recommendations for improvement of the conditions of all jails and their administration in the province. The Royal Commission held 40 public and private meetings attended by 1000 citizens, received evidence from over 200 witnesses, and consulted with municipal officials, supreme court judges, police, and leading world experts. They conducted visits of inspection to all jails, and many lock-ups and police stations in 24 towns across Nova Scotia. They visited other jails, reformatories and penal institutions in Ontario and Quebec, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The Commission found that generally existing accommodations in jails were unfit for human habitation, and among their recommendations suggested the establishment of a central provincial institution based on a prison farm model, not sending women to male facilities, and better community support for released inmates. The Royal Commission submitted its report to Government in 1933 and then disbanded.

Dennis, Clara, 1881-1958
Person · 1881-1958

Clarissa Archibald Dennis was born 24 November 1881 in Truro, N.S. After attending Mount Allison College, Dalhousie University, and Halifax Business College, she worked for her father, Senator William Dennis, at the Halifax Herald office. As a reporter and author, she published numerous newspaper and magazine articles on topics including Nova Scotia history, prominent citizens, and Mi'kmaq folklore and customs. Her books include Down in Nova Scotia (1934), More about Nova Scotia (1937), and Cape Breton Over (1942). Clara Dennis died in Halifax on 16 February 1958.

Corporate body · 1903-1955

The gold mine in the Oldham district near Enfield, Nova Scotia was a business interest of the Brennan family of Prince Edward Island. It was started in 1903 by William A. Brennan under the name Oldham Sterling Gold Company Ltd (1903-ca1916). W.A. Brennan had purchased the land from J.E. Hardman of Oldham, NS and from Frederick Taylor of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States near the end of Nova Scotia’s second “gold rush” 1895 to 1903. He also established an ore crushing mill on the site for his use and the use of other miners in the area. Oldham Sterling Gold Co. enjoyed some early success mining gold 1907 to 1912. After W.A.’s death in 1916, the Oldham property was inherited by his 2 sons Arthur and Victor and wife Rosara. Lacking the financial means to actively mine the property themselves, the Brennans looked for investors. Their first investor was Charles Spearman, a mining engineer from Montreal, who mined the district under the name Acadia Gold Mines Ltd. (1926-ca1932). It may have also operated under the name Acadia Metals Ltd. for a short time. When Spearman was unable to meet expenses and payroll for the miners, the company went bankrupt and the property reverted back to the Brennans. After several attempts to attract new investors, Arthur Brennan sold it to George Reynolds of New York, United States, and another Montreal-based group of investors under the name Avon Gold Mines Ltd. in 1935 (1935-1955). This company was active until about 1943 when labour shortages and equipment restrictions brought on by the Second World War (1939-1945) made operating the mine unprofitable. It never recovered in the post-war era and ownership again reverted back to the Brennan family. By 1955, Arthur’s son William “Bill” Brennan sold off the remaining equipment and all mining operations ceased.

Blackwood, Robert, Rev.
Person · 1789-1857

Robert Blackwood was born 29 September 1789 in Coldrain, Fossoway & Tullibole Parish, Kinross-shire, Scotland, the son of William Blackwood (1750-1812) and Janet Keltie (1761-?). He studied theology and graduated from Divinity Hall at the University of Edinburgh. In 1816 Blackwood married Ann Macara of Perth, Scotland, with whom he had nine children. That same year he and his wife left Scotland with the intention of settling in the state of Ohio. On his way to the United States, he stopped in Halifax, where he was persuaded to remain since there was a demand for Presbyterian ministers. In October 1816 he became pastor for the congregation of Nine Mile River, Gay's River and Shubenacadie, residing at Shubenacadie. In 1840 he left Shubenacadie to preach at Tatamagouche. Prior to his arrival in Nova Scotia, Blackwood had acquired some medical training and was known to occasionally treat members of his congregation. In 1852 Blackwood resigned his charge at Tatamagouche but continued to minister in New Annan, Nova Scotia at Willow Church. He died on 12 December 1857.

Corporate body · 1850-

In 1850, J. W. Dawson was appointed as the first superintendent of education for the province of Nova Scotia. During his tenure, Dawson encouraged the establishment of free schools. In 1855, Dawson’s successor, Alexander Forrester, established the Provincial Normal College in Truro, for the training of public school teachers and the standardization of school curriculum. The Free School Act of 1864, introduced by Premier Charles Tupper, created a system of free public schools throughout the province. The Education Act of 1864 assigned a school inspector to each of the 18 counties. The act also increased state funding and encouraged local taxation to support public schools, and standardized the classification and examination of students. Over the next hundred years, public school attendance registers fell under the authority of the Halifax-based office variously known as the Educational Department of Nova Scotia (-1894), the Education Department of Nova Scotia (1894-1929), the Nova Scotia Department of Education (1929-1967), and the Minister of Education (1967-). Today, the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, as it is known, is responsible for K-12 public school education throughout the province.

Corporate body · 1967-

Dalhousie Library was established by order of the University Senate on 24 April 1867. The library, first housed in the “new” Dalhousie College (renamed the Forrest Building in 1919), was beset by financial difficulties during the early decades, especially after the Board’s 1890 decision to withdraw all library funding. During this period the collection grew only through sporadic donations, although 1894 witnessed both the advent of the class memorial book gifts and expanded hours of library service, increasing from two to seven hours per day, five days each week.

In 1916 the library was renamed and moved into the MacDonald Memorial Building, due to the generosity of Professor Charles MacDonald, who bequeathed $2000 to the library for books, a gesture that triggered an eponymous fundraising campaign. Despite several renovations and later additions, eventually the collection and its user population outgrew the space, and in 1971 the Killam Library was opened.

Currently the University Libraries encompass five distinct units, including the Sir James Dunn Law Library; the Kellogg Health Sciences Library; the Sexton Design & Technology Library; the MacRae Library, at the Faculty of Agriculture Campus in Truro; and the Killam Library, which remains the administrative heart of the Libraries and houses the office of the Dean of Libraries.

Each library has its own head librarian, who also serves as an associate university dean across service areas including Scholarly Communications, Access Services, Learning and Curriculum Support, Discovery, and Resources. These broad areas are reflected in various units, which have shifted and evolved in both name and purpose over time. However, much of the University Libraries’ work continues to be accomplished through committees and working groups created to deal with initiatives and issues pertaining to particular library functions.

Past university librarians include: Reverend Dr. William Lyell (1876-81); John Forrest (1881-85); Jacob Schurman (1885-86); William Alexander (1886-89); James Seth (1889-92); Walter Murray (1892-1902); Archibald MacMechan (1906-31); Ivy Prickler 1940-47; Dorothy MacKay (1947-51); Jean Carter (1951-52); Douglas G. Lochhead (1952-60); J.P. Wilkinson (1960-66); Louis G. Vagianos,(1966-79); William F. Birdsall (1981-97); William R. Maes (1998-2010); and Donna Bourne-Tyson (2010-2022).

Eaton, Rosemary
Person · 1919 to 2004

Rosemary Eaton was born in England and received some of her early education in Geneva. Her father owned a tea plantation in Sri Lanka, where she spent some of her summers. During World War II, while living in Britian, she joined the Home Guard. She worked in bookshops and other retail positions. Eaton studied photography and did some photography in Britain, northern Canada, Quebec and Nova Scotia. and has had photos published in magazines. She later moved to Toronto and then to Cole Harbour, N.S. in 1966 where she took an avid interest in the area. Eaton has written various newpaper articles relating to Cole Harbour issues and began documenting the area in photographs and journals. She married Michael Eaton and did not have any children.

Jones Clayton family
Family · ca1923-2021

The Jones and Clayton families, both prominent in the African Nova Scotian United Baptist Church community, were united by marriage when Rev. Dr. Willard Parker Clayton (1921-2007) married Annie Jean Jones (1932- ) on June 24, 1954 in Halifax Nova Scotia Canada. Willard was born in 1921 in Liverpool NS to Licentiate Samuel James Clayton (1886-1967) and Idella Mae (Croxen) Clayton (1888-1978) and raised in Upper Hammonds Plains NS. He left school to work with his father in the family cooperage business (making wooden barrels to transport foodstuffs), then joined the Canadian Army in 1942. Willard P. Clayton served overseas during the Second World War (1939-1945) in the Royal Highland Regiment, Black Watch of Canada, Canadian Army European Theatre (Infantry). He saw Front Line action in France, Holland, Germany, and Belgium before being honorably discharged in 1946. He was ordained as a Christian minister in The African United Baptist Association on September 25, 1952. Clayton earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952, a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1955 and a Bachelor of Education degree in 1963, all from Acadia University. He went on to earn a Doctor of Religion degree in 1980 in the United States. In addition to ministering, Rev. Dr. Willard P. Clayton was employed full time, first with the Federal Public Service (1952-1962) then the Digby County and Halifax County Bedford District School Boards as classroom teacher (1963-1974) and Vice-Principal (1974-1986). Within the Church, Willard served as Executive Member of The African United Baptist Association of Nova Scotia from 1954 to 1996. Together with his wife Jean they worked in church ministry to the Black community in Nova Scotia for 50 years. Clayton was also a writer, with 4 books published between 1982 and 2005. Rev. Dr. Clayton died on April 17, 2007 in Halifax NS.
Annie Jean (Jones) Clayton was born in 1932 in Tracadie NS to Deacon Sydney Morgan Jones (1899-1993) and Amelia Jean (Desmond) Jones (1900-1952). Sydney M. Jones was one of 16 Blacks to enlist in the 106th Battalion, Nova Scotia Rifles, Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was wounded at Passchendaele, Belgium during the Third Battle of Ypres while serving as a member of the Royal Canadian Regiment during the First World War (1914-1918). After the war, he served as Deacon for the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church and lived in north end Halifax, where his daughter Jean grew up. She graduated from Queen Elizabeth High School in 1951 with Grade 12. After her marriage to Willard Clayton in 1954, she worked as a pastor’s wife within the Church and raised their three daughters: Joyce, Shelley, and Heather. In 1975 Jean earned a diploma as a Social Service Worker from Nova Scotia Institute of Technology and started working outside the home and church. From 1975 to 1994 Jean was employed with the Black United Front, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the Halifax Metro United Way, and finally Human Rights Resources Development Canada. Jean Clayton was also a writer, especially of poetry. As of 2023, she lives in Halifax NS.