Trust Events
Illustrated Public Lecture Series
Heritage Trust sponsors monthly illustrated lectures related to heritage buildings. Talks may focus on architectural history, the events and persons associated with a building or place, or other building-related topics such as restoration. Read more to find out what is coming up or call us at 423-4807.
Location:
NS Museum - Auditorium, 1747 Summer Street, Halifax.Admission:
Free admission and the Public is invited to attend.
Note: NS Museum parking lot is pay by the hour 24 hrs/day. Parking on the street is free in the evening.
Charles Burke Senior Archeologist of Parks Canada Presents:"I Often Wonder What Become of Her" Lectures take place at the Museum of Natural History, Summer Street, at 7:30 pm (see details at top of page). Admission is free
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Deborah Trask and Jeffrey Reed will discuss the historic house at Blockhouse Corner, which was moved in June of 2012. The move was documented by a film crew for the HGTV show ‘Massive Moves’, which aired in February 2013. They will talk about the history of the property, its surroundings and the structure.Deborah Trask spent 30 years on the curatorial staff of the Nova Scotia Museum before her retirement as Curator of Buildings & Operations, at which time the Board of Governors appointed her ‘Curator Emeritus’. Since then she started a museum consulting service and managed the Mahone Bay Settlers Museum for 4 years. Jeffrey Reed has served as the Coordinator of the Heritage Property Program, and as Standards and Guidelines Officer for the Province, including a period as the Nova Scotia representative on the National Standing Committee, which oversaw the creation of the second edition of the Standards and Guidelines. Lectures take place at the Museum of Natural History, Summer Street, at 7:30 pm (see details at top of page). Admission is free
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Acadian Wintertime Celebrations on Candlemas and Mid-Lent by Georges Arsenault The well-known Acadian folklorist and historian Georges Arsenault will give an illustrated talk on two ancient and popular Acadian winter celebrations. The first is known as Chandeleur (Candlemas) and takes place on February 2. The second, called Georges Arsenault has researched the origins of these joyful traditions and how they were observed in Acadian communities in Eastern Canada. Published by Acorn Press and translated by Sally Ross, the English titles of his two books on these winter festivities are: - Acadian Traditions on Candlemas Day: Candles, Pancakes, and House Visits - Acadian Mi-Carême: Masks and Merrymaking Candlemas Day was at one time an important religious and social festivity. Pancakes were the symbolic food of choice. In many Acadian villages, young men went from door-to-door collecting food either for a communal feast or to give to the poor. To celebrate Mid-Lent, people visited each other's homes dressed up in masks and costumes, as they still do in the Chéticamp region of Cape Breton. In some villages, a scary woman called the Mi-Carême distributed candies to good little children. In his presentation, Arsenault will trace the evolution of these traditions, highlight modern-day celebrations, and look at the role they still play in Acadian culture. Historian and folklorist Georges Arsenault was born in Abram's Village, Prince Edward Island and holds a B.A. degree in Political Science from Université de Moncton and a M.A. degree in Folklore from Université Laval. From 1977 to 1982, he was a cultural officer for the St-Thomas Aquinas Society and then became Visiting Professor in Acadian Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island for three years. From 1986 to 2003, he was the host of Radio-Canada's morning radio show for Prince Edward Island. He now works as a freelancer and lives in Charlottetown. He has been collecting songs and stories for many years and has published extensively on the folklore and history of the Acadians of Prince Edward Island. Among his main publications are: * The Island Acadians 1720-1980 * Acadians Legends, Folktales, and Songs from Prince Edward Island * Acadian Christmas Traditions * Acadian Mi-Carême: Masks and Merrymaking
For more information call 423-4807
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Looking Back to Plan Ahead: The geography of the Halifax Peninsula at the end of the 18th century and why it matters todayMike Reid is the Coordinator for the Coastal Research Network and a recent graduate of the Masters of Marine Management program at Dalhousie University. It has often been said that in order to properly prepare for the future, one must first understand the past. Join Mike Reid as he explains his use of historic maps to develop a picture of how the landscape of the Halifax Peninsula looked at the end of the eighteenth century. Mike will introduce some of the earliest detailed maps of the Halifax Peninsula as well as the cartographers who created them. He will then explore the advantages and pitfalls of using older cartographic data, and show how even two centuries later these historic images, combined with modern GIS technology can be used to inform modern planning and development strategies.
For more information call 423-4807 |
Past Events 2012 |
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Thursday, September 20,
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Thursday, January 19
Tom Urbaniak
(Political scientist, Cape Breton University)
“Toward a Heritage Charter for Nova Scotia: A Practical Policy Agenda”
Conserving heritage places is about much more than “registering” buildings and holding random protests. It’s about good tax policy and smart incentives. It’s about making sure public infrastructure money does more good than harm. It’s about coordinating heritage objectives with housing, economic development, public health, and other policies and programs. Political scientist Tom Urbaniak will propose a Heritage Charter; it will be an outline for a practical provincial omnibus bill to make it easier to identify, retain, and re-use our sites, districts, and cultural landscapes. The point is to safeguard Nova Scotia’s identity, generate good local jobs, give a boost to struggling communities, and transfer to future generations the tangible products of centuries of accumulated wisdom.
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Tom Urbaniak, Ph.D., is a political scientist at Cape Breton University in Sydney. He was recently elected to represent Nova Scotia on the Board of Governors of the Heritage Canada Foundation. Part of his work has been at the intersection of heritage conservation, economic development, and housing. Tom’s books include Action, Accommodation, Accountability: Rules of Order for Canadian Organizations and Her Worship: Hazel McCallion and the Development of Mississauga. He is frequent media analyst on public affairs, giving interviews in English and French. Tom serves on the Cape Breton Regional Library Board and the board of Centre communautaire Etoile de l’Acadie. He is a member of the Canadian Polish Research Institute. One of the recent heritage projects for which he provided assistance and leadership is the revitalization of Sydney’s Polish Village Hall, owned by Canada’s oldest Polish community organization. Tom resides in the multicultural community of Whitney Pier, close to the site of the former Sydney steel plant.
Thursday, February 16
Laura DeBoer
(Urban archaeologist)
"A Tale of Two Buildings: The Archaeology of the Robertson Store and Albro's Brick Warehouse"
Both visitors and locals have come to know the Robertson Building on Lower Water Street
as a distinct piece of Halifax’s shipping and ship building heritage thanks to its preservation
and the partial reconstruction of its displays as a part of the Maritime Museum of the
Atlantic. The structure is the result of a union of two separate buildings used for different,
but related, purposes. Beginning in the spring of 2011, an archaeological building survey
has been conducted in order to generate both a record of the building as it exists in the
present, and a reconstruction of the building’s changes over time. This archaeological
approach provides focus on the material history of the building, its phases and styles, which
in turn delivers insight into those who have used and altered the building since its
construction.
Thursday, March 15
Royce Walker
(Chair, McNabs Island Advisory Committee)
What We Have Left Behind: Structures Built on McNabs Island
Late winter is the time to begin thinking about exploring McNabs Island and Royce Walker is our guide to the island lying off Eastern Passage. His topic is “What We Left Behind” and as you will see, this includes a variety of structures. Royce is a member-at-large of the McNabs and Lawlor Islands Provincial Park Advisory Committee and an enthusiastic guide to the hidden history of the island.
Among the indicators of past development are traces of the gardens developed by Frederick Perrin (of the Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce family) on the estate where he summered. His gardens were said to rival Victorian gardens such as the Public Gardens in Halifax.
Lectures take place at the Museum of Natural History, Summer Street, at 7:30 pm. (see details at top of page)
Thursday, April 19
Claire Campbell
(Historian, Dalhousie University)
Reuse, Reinvent, Relocate: How Canadian Cities Manage their Historic Properties
Decisions, and controversies, about urban heritage tends to centre on individual buildings and specific projects: their location, their façade, their silhouette, and sometimes, their meaning. There is often little sense of their situation, especially their relationship to the natural environment in which they were placed. But this relationship is crucial to understanding both the site’s historical significance and its reincarnated form and function.
This talk looks at how the downtown cores of Thunder Bay, Lunenburg, and Winnipeg were rearranged or recreated to accommodate popular ideas about Canada’s history and nature on the one hand, and urban renewal and economic growth on the other.
Lectures take place at the Museum of Natural History, Summer Street, at 7:30 pm. (see details at top of page)
Thursday, May 17
Jeffrey Reed
(Heritage Consultant)
Over the last century the scope of value for heritage sites has moved from single architectural monuments of world importance to the intangible attributes of cultural landscapes. The speaker will examine this development and the implications for deepening and widening of what are now layered and complex understandings of the heritage we have received and which we may choose to protect and hand on to succeeding generations. Hearers will be challenged to consider the degree of cultural complexity which should be represented in the built and cultural environment, identified and protected in our communities: what pages are missing from the ongoing diary of peoples and places.
Lectures take place at the Museum of Natural History, Summer Street, at 7:30 pm. (see details at top of page)
Thursday, June 21, 2012 at 7:10 pm Annual General Meeting and at 8 PM Jim Bremner’s talk about "J.F.W. DesBarres's Castle Frederick."
Located in Falmouth, Hants County, Castle Frederick has been the subject of a number of archaeological investigations over the past two decades and is considered to be an area of archaeological significance in Nova Scotia (including evidence of First Nations and pre- and post-Deportation Acadians). The site is best known for its association with J.F.W. DesBarres (1721-1824), soldier, cartographer-hydrographer, and colonial administrator who lived at Castle Frederick from 1764 until 1774. He controlled thousands of acres of land in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. His estate included a large Manor House and an observatory, perhaps one of the first in North America, built in 1763. Equipped with some of the most advanced astronomical devices of the time, the observatory was important as a location for the calibration of his survey instruments and DesBarres used Castle Frederick as a base of operations for his famous series of coastal maps entitled the Atlantic Neptune. Jim Bremner is a direct descendant of DesBarres and owner of Castle Frederick Farms, located on part of what was once a much larger estate.
Lectures take place at the Museum of Natural History, Summer Street, at 7:30 pm. (see details at top of page)
Please note:
* The June lecture begins at 8 PM, following the Annual General Meeting at 7:10 pm.
2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011at 7:30 pm
"Nothing Happened Over There: Researching Prince's Lodge, Birch Cove and Rockingham."
Our second lecture of the season will be Sharon and Wayne Ingalls' illustrated talk "Nothing Happened Over There: Researching Prince's Lodge, Birch Cove and Rockingham." Sharon and Wayne recently published "Sweet Suburb", a local history that documents the many significant events that took place along the western shore of Bedford Basin. You will learn about the impact of duc d'Anville's fleet on the Mi'kmaq and on the founding of Halifax in 1749. The authors will also speak about a forgotten army camp at Birch Cove for British soldiers defeated in the American War for Independence. In addition, the stories and tales that have grown up around Prince's Lodge will be discussed.
Copies of the book will be available for $35 (cash or cheque).
2011 Winter Lecture Series
Thursday, January 20 at 7:30 pm
Paul Bennett ~ Endangered Schoolhouses: The “Palace Schools” of
Victorian and Edwardian Nova Scotia
Monday, February 21 at 7 pm*
Sara Beanlands ~ The Life and Legacy of the Rev. Dr. Andrew Brown
*Please note: This talk takes place at 7 pm at St. Matthew’s United Church, Barrington Street.
Thursday, 17 March at 7:30 pm
Graeme Duffus ~ History of Masonry and Architecture:
Stirling, Cobb, and Duffus
Thursday, 21 April at 7:30 pm
Iris Shea ~ The Pool House in Jollimore:
Uncovering the Mystery of this 19th century house, its Original Location and Owners
Thursday, 19 May at 7:30 pm
Conrad Byers ~ The Role of Building Civic Pride through Buildings Thursday, 16 June at 7:10 pm
Annual General Meeting
(Lecture to follow at 8 pm)
Andrew Powter ~ An Illustrated Presentation on the Painted Rooms of
Nova Scotia
2010 Fall Lecture Series
Thursday, 16 September at 7:30 pm
Dr. Allan Marble ~ “Would you like to live in these Houses?”
Thursday, 21 October at 7:30 pm
Dr. Ian Cameron ~ “Lawlor’s Island: the Quarantine Story”
Thursday, 18 November (Time and place TBA)
Annual Dinner
Speakers: Elizabeth and Philip Pacey ~
“Travels with Charley’s Office: Keeping a Nova Scotia Landmark”
Thursday, 20 January, 2011 at 7:30 pm
Dr. Paul Bennett ~ “Palace Schoolhouses in Nova Scotia”
Special Lecture and Performance
Saturday, September 11 at 7:30 pm St. John’s Anglican Church, Lunenburg
Tickets $15 ($5 students at the door).
A Celebration of Music in Historic Churches
Gordon Callon, Adjunct Professor of
History and Musicology at Acadia University
will lecture on
English Theatre Songs from Robert Johnson to Henry Purcell followed by
music by Byrd, Johnson, Wilson, Wm Lawes, Purcell, and Draghi
17 June, 2010. 8:00 PM (FOLLOWING the AGM which begins at 7:10 PM)
Speaker: Marilyn Gurney
Topic: “The King’s Yard”
20 May, 2010, 7:30 PM
Speaker: Brian Robinson
Topic: “History of Fortified Towns - Halifax’s Fortified Heritage"
15 April, 2010, 7:30 PM
Speaker: Garry Shutlak
Topic: David Stirling’s Houses
18 March, 2010
Speaker: Father Maurice LeBlanc
Topic: “Acadian Painting in Acadie”
Fr. LeBlanc will discuss the evolution of painting by Acadians, beginning at the end of the 19th century, up to the establishment of a Department of Fine Arts at l‚Université de Moncton in 1963. Father LeBlanc is a graduate of l‚Université Sainte-Anne and Gregorian University, Rome. A retired professor of Art History and Artistic Director, he lives in West Pubnico, where he enjoys painting and choral music. The talk is one in a series of free public lectures held by Heritage Trust of NS. Everyone is welcome.
18 February, 2010
Speaker: Arthur Irwin
Topic: “A Chapel with a Wonderful Personality”
St. Margaret’s Anglican Church in Laurie Park
Energy Consultant and CBC Radio Noon expert Arthur Irwin will speak about St. Margaret's Church in Oakfield at the Nova Scotia Museum on Summer Street at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18.
St. Margaret’s of Scotland Church was built by an Englishman, Lieutenant General John Wimburn Laurie. He arrived in Canada in 1861. In 1865 he purchased 800 acres in Oakfield and established one of our earliest communities. He brought twenty families from England. This beautiful structure was built from the pine logs on the estate for the family and servants, modelled after the Old English tradition. The chapel was one of the first buildings to be erected which was followed by a school, post office, stable, sawmill, stage coach inn, railway siding and two quarries. Three generations of Lauries are buried behind the Chapel.
In October, 1999, Arthur Irwin was asked by the Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia, to assist in the planning process to make the building more energy efficient. Mr. Irwin has dealt with several hundred historic structures throughout his career but this example of a wonderful “Historic Gem” had a special significance and presented a number of interesting challenges as he upgraded the energy efficiency of this unique structure.
The original oil lamps are still hanging from the high ceilings, a leather bound bible on the lectern inscribed “Oakfield Church 1868”. A beautiful stained glass window behind the Altar remains intact.
"Simplicity, warmth and a quiet elegance produced from the surrounding stately pines caught my attention," says Mr. Irwin. "I visualized an imaginary sign stating, 'Do not disturb' hung across the dark stained interior wainscoting which reminded me to prevent any signs of man made footprints.”
All of the exterior walls have been upgraded, insulated, windows replaced and a new heating system installed. The “Chapel In The Pines” will hopefully stand for another 130 years, respecting our forefathers contribution to our heritage !
The meeting is open to the public, free of charge and is sponsored by the Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia. Light refreshments will be served.
Presentation of Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia Built Heritage Awards
Date: February 15, 2010
Time: 3:00 – 5:00 PM (Presentations begin – 3:30 pm, Reception to follow)
Location : Halifax City Hall (Halifax Hall) Argyle St. Halifax ...more
21 January, 2010
Speaker: Peter McGuigan talk about "The early history of St. Mary's University (1802-1952)"
at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 21, in the auditorium of the Nova
Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer Street, in Halifax.
The evening is sponsored by the
Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia.
The public are invited to attend.
Past Events 2009
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
Annual General Meeting at 7:10 pm
Guest Speaker: Jonathon Fowler
Interpreting Acadian Houses in the Pre-Deportation Period
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
Struggle to Open, Struggle to Survive: St. Mary's College 1802-1952)
Peter McGuigan
Workshops
TBA
Walking Tours
TBA
Open Houses
TBA
