The Maritime History Archive (MHA) has been called “the world’s largest archive of working people.”
The archive collects and preserves documents relating to the history of maritime activities throughout the North Atlantic world.
In recognition of the MHA’s impact, and as a unique way to promote the archive, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences has published a 2018 Heritage Calendar. You can see a sample of some of the calendar images in the photo essay below.
1/ March
Horses hauling logs to the paper mill at Grand Falls, circa 1920.
2/ May
Members of the Job family and friends on fishing trip at Placentia, 1902.
3/ September
A busy day at the Job Brothers Premises on the north side of the harbour at St. Johns, 1907.
4/ Calendar cover
The Neptune, a wooden whaling and sealing ship built in 1873 in Dundee Scotland, in St. John’s harbour.
The 12-month wall calendar features seasonal archival photos, carefully curated by Heather Wareham, MHA archivist, and examples of unique Newfoundland and Labrador holidays, such as Tibb’s Eve and Memorial Day.
“Newfoundland has long been governed by ever-shifting ocean currents,” writes Megan Gail Coles, author, playwright and native of the Great Northern Peninsula, in the calendar’s introduction, which help to put the images in historical and cultural perspective. “Here, all manner of living must reckon with the weather’s unpredictable nature.”
Creative and academic collaboration
A collaboration between the MHA, ISER Books and the HSS dean’s office, the calendar will be sold at bookstores and retail stores across the province for $20.
It is also available on campus at the Maritime History Archive (downstairs in the Henrietta Harvey (Math) building) on the St. John’s campus and online.
All proceeds of calendar sales will go towards supporting the work of the Maritime History Archive.
NOTE: This story was previously published on July 4, 2017.
