Memorial University of Newfoundland (St.John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador)

Hours: By appointment only. Contact in advance to set up an appointment.
Location: L2022, level 2 Queen Elizabeth II Library, 234 Elizabeth Ave, St. John’s, NL, A1B 3Y1
Contact: (709) 864-4349, archives@mun.ca
Access: Open to the public. Items from the collections may be viewed at the Archives and Special Collections reading room (located immediately behind the Centre for Newfoundland Studies service desk). New patrons will be required to register.
Website: http://www.library.mun.ca/asc/

Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Archives and Special Collections is a centre for the study of maritime history and contains manuscripts, personal papers, diaries, faculty papers and University departmental collections, Newfoundland government department records and Commission reports, scrapbooks, photographs and rare books that document aspects of Newfoundland society and the history of Memorial University. The collections highlight the themes of folklore, labour, religion, ecclesiastical and theological literature, health and nursing, literature, theatre, performing arts, women, post-Confederation Newfoundland politics and social organizations and activities. Memorial University of Newfoundland is comprised of four archives in four different locations, each specializing in a different subject area: Archives and Special Collections, Faculty of Medicine Founders’ Archive, Maritime History Archive and Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).

Notable faculty records include the Lord Taylor of Harlow collection (1920-1987) documenting his career in early clinical and psychiatry work and as University President (1967-1973). Harlow was also a Labour M.P. and policy advisor on National Health, Medical Director of Harlow Industrial Health Service and conciliator of the Saskatchewan Medical debate (1962). The Tony Williamson papers (1944-2004) include research for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (1959-1961) and bio-statistical research in James Bay for the Arctic Unit of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada (1964). Joyce Nevitt (1937-1993) was the first director of Memorial University’s School of Nursing (1965-1973).

Personal paper collections include Edward Roberts (1964-1996), particularly during the period 1964-1972 as Minister of Public Welfare and Minister of Health. The Tom Rideout political papers record the political career of Thomas Gerald Rideout (1974-1991) and are related to his involvement as member of the House of Assembly, Cabinet Minister, Premier, Immigration and Refugee Board, Meech Lake Accord and various renewable resource industries. The J.R. Smallwood collection consists of 61m of government documents and personal papers while he was Premier of Newfoundland (1949-1972). The collections include photographs, maps, engineering/architectural drawings, audio-tapes, posters, artefacts and over 5000 published volumes. Dr. Frederick Rowe was Member of the House of Assembly for Labrador (1952-1956), White Bay South (1956-1966) and Grand Falls (1966-1971) and Canadian Senate (1971-1987). The Myra Bennett (1941-1990) collection documents her role as a nurse and midwife in the community of Daniel’s Harbour. The records of Dr. Robert Ecke (1909-2001) highlight his medical practice in the U.S. and Newfoundland, military service as a frontier doctor, photographs and home movies. The F.W. Peacock papers (1891-1985, 2 boxes) are an important linguistic collection from the Moravian Missions on the Labrador coast, which highlight Labrador society, including the health of Aboriginal and Inuit populations. Mary Southcott was founder of the St. John’s General Hospital School of Nursing and her collection (1907-1929) consists of photographs, handwritten essays and notes about the pioneering days of nursing.

Memorial University Archives also has collections of various women’s organizations, education and health associations including the Association of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador (ARNNL), which as been arranged into twenty-two series. It was accepted as the 10th member of the Canadian Nurses Association in 1953. The Newfoundland Outport Nurses and Industrial Association (NONIA) (1925-1990) was established in 1924 by concerned citizens in St. John’s to provide nursing stations in the outports. In 1934 the nursing service of NONIA was taken over by the Newfoundland Government. The Grenfell Labrador Medical Mission collection contains 239 photographs, postcards and magazine clippings of the Grenfell Mission at St. Anthony, Newfoundland during 1920s. Other notable collections include the Jubilee Guilds of Newfoundland-Newfoundland and Labrador Women’s Institutes (1935-1991).

Memorial University Archives and Special Collections also has 45 online digital collections including various pamphlet, photograph, manuscript and rare book collections such as 100 Year Diary: A Chronology of Newfoundland History from 1879-1978, Labrador Inuit through Moravian Eyes and International Labour and Radical History Pamphlet Collection.

Hours: By appointment, Monday to Friday
Location: Health Sciences Library, Room 1625, Health Sciences Centre, Memorial University
Contact: (709) 864-4917; medound@mun.ca
Access: Open to the Public; By Appointment only. Users wishing to apply for access to restricted records must submit a formal request to the Archive Advisory Committee. More detailed policies on restricted items and access to information are available at the Founders’ Archive.
Website: http://www.library.mun.ca/hsl/archives/

The Faculty of Medicine Founders’ Archive at Memorial University contains biographical and information files of faculty, provincial health care, personal paper collections, institutional record groups, architectural drawings and photographs related to the Faculty of Medicine.

Notable departmental collections include Faculty of Medicine Scrapbook and Student Photographs collections, tracing the origins of the medical school. The Scrapbook Collection (1967-1979) includes 18cm of textual material, 595 newspaper articles and 25 photographs, documenting the planning, construction, staffing, and administration of the Medical School at Memorial University and the Health Sciences Centre in which it operates. The Student Photographs collection (1973-1999) contains 98 photographs of Medical students and a small number of photographs of Nursing Students (1981-1982). The Health and Life Sciences Centre and Health Science Information and Media Services (HSIMS) collections document the formation and development of the Faculty of Medicine and the Health Sciences Centre in the form of plans, publications (April 1969), photographs, videotapes. The HSIMS Photograph collection (1960-1983; predominant 1968-1974) contains 135 photographs and visual material while the HSIMS Videotape collection (1976-1991) includes 62 videocassettes covering community activities, health education, outreach to youth and other HSIMS projects dealing with medicine and the provision of health care in Newfoundland and Labrador. Other notable collections include the Health Sciences Library collection (1966, 1971-2004), Memorial University Master Plans (1968-1986) and the Office of the Dean of Medicine administrative collections (1965-1980).

Private faculty papers include the papers of physician and professor Dr. James Barrowman (1960-1993),Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Canada) in 1977 for Gastroenterology and in 1979 for Internal Medicine. Others include Professor of Molecular Virology Dr. A. T. H. Burness (1960-1990), physician and Dean of Medicine Dr. A. R. Cox (1926, 1971-2001; predominant 1971-1987), Professor of Nephrology Dr. Henry Gault (1899-2002; predominant 1960-2002), Professor of Rheumatology Dr. John Martin (1933-2012; predominant 1950-1970), radiologist Dr. H. Bliss Murphy (n.d.), physiologist Dr. Brian Payton (1950-1993; predominant 1972-1993), physician, professor and first Associate Dean of Medicine Dr. Kenneth B. Roberts (1912, 1920-1989; predominant 1976-1989), physician and first Chairman of the Family Practice Unit at the Faculty of Medicine Dr. John Ross (1967-2006), physician, professor and former Provincial Minister of Health Dr. Augustus T. Rowe (2001), physician and first Dean of Medicine Dr. Ian Rusted (1902-2000; predominant 1953-2000) and Physiologist Dr. Jan Snellen (1935-2000; predominant 1966-2000).Another important collection is the Oral History Project (summer 2000), which contains 20 audio cassettes of 15 interviews with individuals involved in the early days of the Medical School at Memorial University.

Other private papers include the collections of physician and soldier Dr. Cluny Macpherson (1881-1991; predominant 1908-1966), involved with the St. John Ambulance Association, which led to the creation of the St. John Ambulance Brigade with three divisions in St. John’s. When World War I broke out, members of the Ambulance Brigade enlisted in the Newfoundland Regiment. Macpherson was appointed Principal Medical Officer and went overseas in March 1915, serving in France, Belgium, Egypt, Salonica, acting as an advisor on poisonous gas. Dr. Macpherson invented the gas mask (helmet) in 1915. His collections contain 50cm of textual material, 1 map and 21 photographs as well as a virtual exhibit of his notebooks. The collections of gynaecologist Dr. Francis O’Dea (1945-1977) include 6.5m of records.

The Archive also includes collections from various health organizations including General Hospital Development Plan (June 1969), Centre for Offshore and Remote Medicine (MEDICOR) (1945-2008, predominantly 1965-2008), Newfoundland Medical Association (1926-1981, predominant 1965-1981), Newfoundland Medical Board (1894-2006) and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (1959-1999).

There are also thirteen Digitized Collections which include photographs, bulletins, reports, studies and publications such as Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association Publications (1958-2008), Memorial University Medical Library Photographs (1969-1979), Lung Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Publications (1943-1986) and Association of Newfoundland Labrador Archives Bulletin. There are also various Virtual Exhibits including Dr. Cluny MacPherson’s notebooks and The Early Days of the Medical School at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Location: Henrietta Harvey (Mathematics) building, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Contact: 709-864-8428; mha@mun.ca
Access: Open to the Public. See Fee list for information costs of reproduction.
Website: https://www.mun.ca/mha/

The Maritime History Archive contains documents relating to the history of maritime activities in Newfoundland and Labrador and the North Atlantic world. Its collections include private papers, photographs, crew lists and logbooks, vessel registers, mercantile, parish, shipping lists and seafarer records, ship captain records, company records, shipwreck records, merchant and shipowner papers, newspaper collections, letterbooks, diaries, fishery and trading records, manuscripts, periodicals, genealogy, settlement and family history and student research papers.

Notable private papers and personal collections include the Dr. Keith Matthews papers, founding member and former chair of the Maritime History Group. This collection contains documents relating the early fisheries and settlement of Newfoundland and the individuals involved in its economic and political life. It includes 1,100 photocopies of documents relating to early modern Newfoundland (1500-1800) collected by Matthews from British archives. Philip Templeman Limited Diary (1914) documents matters of shipping movements, weather conditions, fish catches and occurrences such as the S.S. Newfoundland Sealing Disaster (1914) and the sinking of the Empress of Ireland (May 1914). Templeton created one of Newfoundland’s most successful fish merchant firms in the late 19th century. The William Button Diaries (1908-1925) and M. Button & Sons collections (1892-1964) document the operations of the M. Button & Sons general store since 1893, which grew to include a lobster canning factory, cod-liver oil factory, saw mills, several wharves, stages, and other auxiliary buildings. Manager William Button’s personal 13 volume diaries chronicle daily life around the business, community and home.

There are also notable parish record collections, shipping agreements and crew records. The English Parish Records Collection (1269-1930) contains 97 reels of microfilm of many parishes in the South West of England and the Irish Parish Records Collection (1671-1900, 41 reels of microfilm) focusing on areas which supplied crews for the Newfoundland fishery. Lloyd’s Captains Registers (1851-1948, 60 reels of microfilm) contains an alphabetical list of certified masters, giving place and date of birth, the port and date of examination, the names of the ships of the British mercantile marine. The Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, Agreements and Account of Crew collection (1863-1938, 1951-1976) contains 6,439 metres of textual material including crew lists for passenger, cargo and fishing vessels. Agreements include accounts of apprentices on board as well as records of births, deaths and marriages of crew and passengers. Official logbooks accompany many of the crew agreements up to 1874, containing information on medical and disciplinary matters.

Maritime History Archives also houses the records of over sixty businesses and private agencies involved in the Newfoundland fisheries, represented by the mercantile records collection. The Newfoundland Associated Fish Exporters Limited (NAFEL) (1947 to 1970) was the sole agency for the export and marketing of Newfoundland salt codfish. NAFEL was incorporated in 1947 as a cooperative marketing agency having the sole right to market all salt fish produced in Newfoundland and Labrador. Membership was made up of all the producers of salt fish in Newfoundland. The collections contain 79.6 metres textual material, 24 maps and 34 photographs. Other association records include Portugal Exporters Group Limited (1936-1947), Spain Exporters Association Limited (1942-1947). Other prominent Newfoundland company records include Harvey & Company Limited (1885-1934), one of Newfoundland’s most successful business enterprises and J.W. Hiscock Sons Limited (1907-1982, most prominent 1940-1980), the last of the old fish merchant firms engaged in the production and export of salt fish.

There are also various Digitized records and Virtual Exhibits which include advertisements, personal collections, company collections, diaries, photographs and crew lists. Some of the Twenty-Six notable exhibits and digitized collections include Coastal Women, Fishermen’s Protective Union (1908-1945), Titanic-Related Documents, Haystack Photograph Collection, Resettlement Photograph Collection, Job Photograph Collection, documenting the Job family who created one of Newfoundland’s most successful and lasting mercantile empires and the Mercantile Navy List and Maritime Directory (1868-1938). The Archive also holds approximately 75 percent of the surviving crew lists (also called crew agreements) and official log books of British registered vessels for the periods 1857-1942 (predominantly 1863-1938) and 1951-1976. The crew lists and logbooks for voyages terminating in the years 1857-1942 can be searched using their online Crew Index Search. The crew agreements for the years 1951-1976 have not yet been indexed. The Public Photo Catalogue Search also contains over 16,100 records of photographs from the more than 19,400 held at the Maritime History Archive. There are also three Databases containing information on British and on Newfoundland and Labrador seafarers: 1881 Crew Lists Database (1881 crew lists of British registered vessels), Newfoundland and Labrador Crew Lists Database (registered vessels from 1863 to 1942) and Merchant Seamen- Commissioned Fleet Auxiliary, 1914-1920 Database.

Hours: Monday to Tuesday, Thursday to Friday, 10:00am-12:00pm and 1:00pm-4:00pm
Location: Department of Folklore, Room ED4038, G.A. Hickman Building, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Contact: (709) 864-8401; munfla@mun.ca
Access: Open to the Public; Appointments are encouraged for extensive research. MUNFLA also offers various guidelines for readers as well as bibliographic citations guidelines. There are also various forms for researchers to consult for access to materials housed at the Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive.
Website: http://www.mun.ca/folklore/research/munfla/

Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive houses an extensive collection of Newfoundland and Labrador folksongs and music, folk narratives, oral history, folk customs, beliefs and practices, commercial recordings, radio broadcasts, and recordings of local theatrical performances.

The Folklore and Language Archives contain various collections related to health and traditional health systems in Newfoundland and folk medicine, remedies, and belief practices of various ethnic groups. Much of this information can be found in the form of manuscripts, interviews and taped recordings (1980s-90s). Some notable private collections include the Arlene Sitler Woods/Captain Jack Dodd collection (1975-1978) containing folksongs, folktales, weather lore, folk medicine legends and other proverbs and seafaring stories of fisherman and sailor Captain Jack Dodd. The Marjorie Stoker collection (1963, 1966-68) contains 53 audio recordings and 144 photographs, oral and folkloric history related to Mi’kmaq culture and other interviews with local residents. As a teacher, Stoker worked extensively with the academic upgrading program at the Waterford Hospital. She was also active in various women’s and human rights groups including the Status of Women committee, National Action Committee on the Status of Women and National Council of Women.

The Archives also contains records of local organizations, including the Royal Canadian Legion collection (1944-1968). The Royal Canadian Legion undertook a project in 1984 to commemorate its Diamond Jubilee that involved interviewing Legionnaires from 245 Branches of the Royal Canadian Legion across Canada. The records at the Folklore and Language Archives contains 29 audio cassette copies, 4 video cassette copies, 6 photographs and a diary of interviews with Newfoundland members of the Royal Canadian Legion. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Historical Society collection (1988) contains 30 audio cassettes of interviews with members and senior and retired members of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. The Centre D’Études Franco-Terreneuviennes (CEFT) collections (1975-1997) include 20 metres of textual records, 1222 photographs and 833 audio recordings of folklore fieldwork regarding French Newfoundlanders, which was undertaken by director Dr. Gerald Thomas. Also included are the administrative files of both CEFT and the Folklore Studies Association of Canada (FSAC) including the official CEFT-MUNFLA forms for collection and retrieval of material, bibliographies and questionnaires used for teaching and research.