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The Archives - started by Anna Hamilton20th - 21st Centuries. 1919-2002
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Canada
Credits:North Shore Archives
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The Archives, Sunrise Trail Museum, the Brule Fossils, The Anna Swan Museum,and the Roy Kennedy Collection made the decision to move to the Creamery building - to come under one roof where they would be joined by the Creamery exhibit. A Board was formed with representatives from the different groups - there have been the occasional heated moments, but the Board works well together, realizing the importance of co-operation.The archives started in a small way when Anna Hamilton (1919-2002) began collecting materials. She got two friends to help in the search for papers, documents and books, by visiting people in the community. They made notes and organized material. In the late 1960's and early 70's their collection was taken to the top floor of the Fraser Cultural Centre where it was stored in boxes by the year. Often Anna took work home, where she could be found in her kitchen surrounded by papers of all kinds. She and a friend once visited a former sea captain's house where they peeled the wallpaper from the walls in order to see and photograph the intricate designs along the edges of the walls. They went to Truro for archival meetings and once all three went to the archives in Halifax.
The demands required in the maintaining of archival information were difficult to meet and anyway as in so many small centres, even today, money was not available for the purchase of acid free containers.
Meetings were held once a month and in the winter some of the materials were taken home to keep them dry and safe. Interest grew and other volunteers came to help and eventually others took over the management
A government grant at one time enabled students to be employed to assist. in the search for sources and to organize them.
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The Lillian Fraser property20th Century. 1900 - 1950
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Canada
Credits:North Shore Archives
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So it was here, on the second floor of the former Lillian Fraser House, that the Archives found a home - rent free, although funds were given to the Cultural Centre to help with heating. But conditions were not ideal for the storing of original paper materials.5
One time home for the North Shore Archives21st Century. 2012
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Canada
Credits:S.Brinkhurst
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Looking a little different today, this space on the second floor is where the Archives took up residence for a number of years.1981 saw a meeting at the Sunrise Trail Museum, where a committee was formed for the express purpose of caring for the archival materials.
In 1985 the Archives was registered as the North Shore Archives, thereby needing suitable and adequate space. Some storage cabinets were built to house some of the rapidly accumulating information - photographs, newspaper clippings, maps, books, manuscripts and genealogy records, school registers, letters, wills, ledgers, deeds, cemetery records and microfilm of the 1871,81,91 census.
With so much of the work being undertaken in various homes there was a possible risk of borrowed materials being mislaid or lost amidst a mass of other papers.
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Work progresses around the Archives21st Century 2007/8
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Canada
Credits:Creamery Square Project Office
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Once work started on the Heritage Centre, the Archives moved again in the early 2000's . Katimavik students were given the task of moving the boxes of materials from the Fraser Cultural Centre to the Creamery building.. Once here the Archives at one time occupied a former refrigerated butter store-room and then moved from place to place as the construction work went on round them. At one stage they were surrounded by plastic sheeting as seen here on the right!Formal meetings were held at the then Creamery Square Project Office, on Main Street. Tatamagouche.
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Public and work room in the Archives26 October 2012
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Canada
Credits:North Shore Archives
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Eventually permanent space became available, and the archive materials moved again. In the sorting process and re-organizing, things appeared that the Archives did not know thay had!One of the three rooms for the Archives. This has computers and is a work area for anyone interested in research or genealogy
The volunteers who work in the Archives are all enthusiastic, and meet once a week regularly all year round. There are many calls on their time from people across Canada, the United States and Europe requesting information on family histories,- some people make appointments and others just drop in, hoping there will be someone available to help them. Students, both local and from far away, often require project assistance.
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Reference room and computer room in the Archives26 October 2012
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Canada
Credits:North Shore Archives
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A second room with computer, office space and shelves currently for genealogical records and reference booksThere is a problem in the winter, and some means has to found of warming the Archives and not the rest of the building - at the moment three small but efficient heaters are probably cheaper than running the oil furnace. In summer it becomes extremely hot as there is no through air ventilation. Fans and air conditioners are expensive to run. It might be that a window blocked for some reason in the original design, could be re-opened and allow the passage of fresh air.
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Stacks room - for storage of materials26 October 2012
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Canada
Credits:North Shore Archives
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The Stacks room for storage of important material which is now boxed and clearly labelled. Research into people and events in the past history of Tatamagouche is on-going, and computer records kept up to date.There is storage for general Archival items on the ground floor, in one of the former refrigerator rooms of the Creamery
The Archivists are an enthusiastic group. They prefer to have requests for visits by appointment especially in the winter when the building is closed to the public - but the summer often sees some of them helping with request from the casual visitor who drops in on the offchance there will be help available.
Student help in the summer is greatly appreciated especially with computer work, enabling many photographs to be sorted and stored safely and discs made. Meanwhile there is frequent communication with other museums and organizations.
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