Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm; Wednesday, 8:30am-8:00pm; Saturday, 10:00am-3:00pm. See “Hours” for more details.
Location: 6016 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 1W4
Contact: 902-424-6060, archives@novascotia.ca
Access: All visitors and researchers are required to register at the Lobby Reception Desk. Those intending to conduct research will be issued a Researcher’s Card, which must be worn at all times while in the building. Registration is a brief process which includes reading the Information and Procedures For Researchers, filling out and signing a Researcher Registration Form, and providing appropriate personal identification such as a driver’s license, or other photo or address-bearing official identification.
Website: http://archives.novascotia.ca/
The Nova Scotia Archives contains more than 18,000 linear metres of textual records, 500,000 photographs, 500,000 architectural drawings, 100,000 maps, 16,000 sound recordings, 6,000 video cassettes, 9,000 film reels, and 11,000 paintings and drawings.
The Nova Scotia Archives has a strong collection of material related to the history of medicine. In addition to the records of the various government departments, and their subordinate agencies such as the Provincial Medical Board of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Dietetic Association, the Nova Scotia Archives contains extensive collections of many private organizations in the field of health and medicine. The records of the Medical Society of Nova Scotia (1854-present) occupy 29 linear metres of shelf space. The Nova Scotia Hospital fonds (1856-present) occupy 6.1 linear metres of shelf space and include admission records, case books, medical superintendent’s correspondence, and commissioners’ report books. Other materials include: the Public Health Association of Nova Scotia fonds (1970-present); Victorian Order of Nurses, Halifax branch fonds (1898-present); Victorian Order of Nurses, Pictou Town and District branch fonds (1923-present); St. John Ambulance, Nova Scotia Council fonds (1892-present); Canadian Mental Health Association, Nova Scotia Division fonds (1908-present); and the Halifax Visiting Dispensary fonds (1855-1966). Physical and mental disability is a particularly strong area in the Archives’ collections related to the history of medicine. The Archives contains the Canadian Association for the Mentally Retarded, Dartmouth Branch fonds (1956-present); the Canadian Council of the Blind (Maritime Division) fonds (1949-present); Halifax School for the Blind fonds (1871-present); and the Halifax School for the Deaf fonds (1856-present).
The Halifax Relief Commission fonds (1918-1976) is comprised of 58.9 linear metres of textual records and other material documenting the relief efforts coordinated by the federal government following the Halifax Explosion of 6 December 1917 when the Norwegian vessel Imo collided with the French munitions ship Mont Blanc in Halifax harbour. The resulting explosion destroyed the city’s north end, killed nearly 2,000 people, blinded or maimed 9,000, and left 25,000 people homeless. The Halifax Relief Commission fonds includes pension claims case files from 1918 until the commission was dissolved in 1976 and responsibility for administering pensions was transferred to the federal Canadian Pension Commission.
The Helen Creighton fonds contain textual records, graphic material, sound recordings, and moving images created and accumulated by Helen Creighton during her 60 year career documenting the folklore of Nova Scotia’s diverse ethnic groups.
The Archives’ website contains a section of online resources on various topics such as Nova Scotia’s Gaelic heritage; First World War soldiers’ correspondence; census returns, assessment, and poll tax records, 1767-1838; the Acadian Deportation; and historical maps of Nova Scotia. These pages include digitized archival material, online exhibits, resource guides, and databases. The African Nova Scotian Diaspora page contains over 500 digitized and fully searchable government documents related to African Nova Scotian immigration and emigration, 1791-1839. The Mi’kmaq page contains a detailed resource guide describing the archival holdings related to Nova Scotia’s First Nations people. Halifax was the centre for recovery efforts for victims of the Titanic disaster in April 1912. Within days of the disaster, two Halifax-based ships were chartered to recover bodies from the wreckage. 337 bodies were recovered from the Atlantic Ocean. 128 were buried at sea and 209 brought to Halifax. Of these, 150 were buried at cemeteries in Halifax. The RMS Titanic Resource Guide includes digitized copies of the passenger list from the Titanic; the diary of Clifford Crease, who served aboard one of the recovery ships; fatality reports for the bodies recovered from the disaster; and British newsmagazines from April and May 1912.