New Location

I have decided to move to a new url and take advantage of a different format whose interface works better with my format and devices. Please visit the new site for all future updates. I will have all the hsitoy pages and links moved over there shortly.

Returning

All one of my readers may be interested to know that after an all too long haitus, I will be reviving this blog. Happy reading.

HTNS Lecture: Granville Street

On Thursday January 21st The Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia will be hosting a lecture on the history of the Granville Street National Historic Site. Speakers Elizabeth and Philip Pacey will be guiding guests on an illustrated tour of the street from high fashion 19th century shopping district to it's integration into NSCAD University. The lecture will take place in the Museum ofNatural History Auditorium at 1747 Summer St. Admission is free.

If I Were a Blackbird

This Sunday at the Halifax Central Library Rook Nest Productions is launching the soundtrack for "If I Were a Blackbird", a local piece of musical theatre by playwright Glenn Walton and starring Laura Smith which celebrates the life and legacy of folklorist Helen Creighton. The launch is in partnershp with the Helen Creighton Folklore Society and will take place on the 13th between 2 and 4pm in the O'Regan Theatre.

Tales Light the Darkside

Cindy Campbell-Stone with guest Leo Feinstein will be at the Darkside cafe in Dartmouth on the 26th to share story-songs and tales of local history, family, community and culture. The event is by donation, and will begin at 7pm. More information can be found on the Storytelling Nova Scotia Blog.

Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society Meeting

The Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society will be holding a meeting on its latest activities in conjunction with the presentation of the 1988 documentary "Keepers of the Light" which examines the lives of lighthouse keepers in Canada, the U.S., the U.K and France.

The meeting will take place in the theatre of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic at 7:00pm.

Hearts in the Past

Singer songwriter David Stone will be at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic on January 26th to share songs based on the life of Laurence Kavanagh, a merchant of St. Peter's, Cape Breton. Laurence was the son of a Irish merchant residing in Louisburg after the fall of New France. The family had been forced to relocate to St. Peter's in the late 1770's due to the collapse of the local fishery there. After Laurence's father had been lost at sea during a business trip to Halifax, Laurence and his brother had been left to run the family business based on the West Indies Trade and the Great Banks Fishery. Over the ensuing decades they were responsible for a great deal of immigration of skilled tradesman to the town. Many of the town's current inhabitants are descended from pioneer's who settled in the region to work under Laurance Kavanagh, who became the heart of the community in those early years. 

The night will kick off at 7:30 pm. More information, including historical notes to accompany the songs can be found here.

The Golden Age of Ocean Liners

On January 19th the Martime Museum of The Atlantic will be hosting a lecture on the golden age of ocean liners. The lecture will cover the history of these grand ships from 1907 to 1957, covering both their legendary triumphs and the tragedies. Richard MacMichael, the museum's Coordinator of Visitor Services and Interpretive Programming will be the speaker for the evening.

The lecture will take place at the Museum of the Atlantic at 7:30pm. Admission is free.

RNSHS Lecture: Nova Scotia’s Part in the Great War: An Update

The first lecture in the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society's winter lecture series will be taking place on Thursday, Wednesday 21st at 7:30 pm.

This lecture will be hosted by Dr. Brian Tennyson of Cape Breton University. His lecture will explore the role of Nova Scotia in World War I through Stuart Hunt's book written in 1920, which remains one of the few sources on this topic. The lecture will explore who Stuart Hunt was, aspects of the province's involvement which were not flushed out in his work and discusses further exploration for historians on this topic.

The lecture will take place at the Archives and admission is free.

HTNS Lecture: Lost Churches of Halifax

The Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia will be hosting a lecture in conjunction with its Januaury meeting. The lecture will cover the history of Halifax's churches which have been abandoned or lost over the city's 250 year history and the stories that these churches held. It will specifically focus on 35 cases that the lecturer has specifically been researching. The lecturer will be Glenn Taylor, retired principle and active member of the cities heritage field. Admission is free, and the lecture will take place at 7:30pm on the 15th at the Museum of Natural History.

Rose and Kettle: Sea Music with Geoff Kaufman, and "So Long from Home: A Connecticut War of 1812 Tale in Prose and Song"

The next concert in The Rose and Kettle Series will be taking place at the Cole Harbour Farm Museum on the 23rd of October. This is a special concert featuring Geoff Kaufmann, internationally renowned organizer of the Mystic Seaport Festival. Kaufmann is a curator, historian, and folksinger-songwriter. The event kicks off at 7pm at the museum tea house.

The following evening, the 24th, at 7pm Kaufmann will be at the Maritime Museum to present his one-man show "So Long from Home: A Connecticut War of 1812 Tale in Prose and Song" based on the dairy of a privateer who chronicles his imprisonment on Melville Island in the North West Arm.

September Edition of the Griffin Quarterly

The September Edition of the Griffin Quarterly is now available through the the Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia's website. This is a excellent resource for anyone interested in our built heritage or in heritage preservation in our province. The publication can be access here.