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The Waldren Studios: Images of Nova Scotia 1870 – 1940

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Dalhousie University Archives is the owner of a fascinating collection of 45,000 glass plate, film negatives, and prints from the Waldren Studios of New Glasgow and Antigonish. The Archives has made this rich collection accessible online.

The majority of the photographs are in the form of glass photonegatives. Approximately 90% of these are portraits, nearly all of which are identified and dated (the subject in this photo, dated 1895, is Mrs. E. Storey of Halifax). Many of the remaining photos are local scenes, a few of which were taken in New Glasgow before the fire in 1874 which devastated the town. The photos show coal mining, shipbuilding and other local industries in action. Portraits of family groups, sports teams, social clubs and school groups are also well represented.

Explore the Waldren Studios Digital Collection now!

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Bike Week Photo of the Day #5

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More freebies for cyclists today!  Today’s schedule of events includes 1 hour of free bowling at HRM Bowlarama locations (from 4-8) and a free yoga class for cyclists at Moshka Yoga Halifax (1512 Dresden Row).  Ride, free yoga, ride, free bowling.  What’s not to like?

Bike Week will continue throughout the weekend – tomorrow is jam-packed with events and activities – but our Photo of the Day series wraps up today.  What better way to close out an exciting week of cycling activities than this pair of photographs of a bicycle high wire act at a local carnival:

Bicycle high wire act at a Bill Lynch Show. Photograph from an album in the Bill Lynch fonds (MS-4-218)

Bicycle high wire act at a Bill Lynch Show. Photograph from an album in the Bill Lynch fonds (MS-4-218)

Yep.  That really happened!  Safe and happy cycling everyone.

Bike Week Photo of the Day #4

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If all this riding has your bike chain in a knot, MEC and the Halifax Cycling Coalition are hosting another commuter maintenance station on the Dartmouth side of the MacDonald Bridge.  If you’re just tuning in for the photo of the day, we have another bicycle safety week photo for you!

Bicycle Safety Week. Photograph from the Wamboldt-Waterfield Photography and Clark Photographic fonds (MS-4-250, Box 22, File 17)

Bicycle Safety Week. Photograph from the Wamboldt-Waterfield Photography and Clark Photographic fonds (MS-4-250, Box 22, File 17)

Look at all those bicycles!  We’ll wrap up the Bike Week Photo of the Day tomorrow with one you won’t want to miss.  Hint – the cyclists are teetering!

Bike Week Photo of the Day #3

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Bike Week organizers know that cycling to work can make you hungry!  That’s why today’s schedule of events includes a free commuter pancake breakfast from 7-9.  The breakfast will be held at two locations: the Dartmouth side of the MacDonald Bridge (near the bike lane!) and at MEC (1550 Granville Street).  Don’t forget to bring your own mug and plate!  Today is also HRM School Bike Day, where schools are invited to promote cycling through school-wide events.

Our photo of the day was found among the papers of a steamship agency of all places.  We’re not sure why the company copied this old photograph, but we’re grateful they did!

First bicycle club in Nova Scotia, 1893. Photograph from the Pickford and Black fonds (MS-4-50, Box PC3, File 55).

First bicycle club in Nova Scotia, 1893. Photograph from the Pickford and Black fonds (MS-4-50, Box PC3, File 55).

Bike Week Photo of the Day #2

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If you missed out on yesterday’s bike tune-up and clinic, don’t worry!  Today’s schedule of events includes a “commuter maintenance station” sponsored by MEC and the Halifax Cycling Coalition.  You can also take part in a Bike, Boat, and Yoga event at the Saint Mary’s Boat Club and a panel discussion on cycling infrastructure at the Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building.

Today’s photo of the day brings us back to the 1970s when bicycle safety week was an annual event in local schools:

Bicycle Safety Week. Photograph from the Wamboldt-Waterfield Photography and Clark Photographic fonds (MS-4-250, Box 51, File 75)

Check back tomorrow for a photograph of the first bike club in Nova Scotia!

Bike Week Photo of the Day #1

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Bike Week is in full swing!  Today’s schedule of events includes a free bicycle tune-up and discounted coffee (20% off!) at Java Blend, a screening of the cycling documentary Take a Seat at the Potter Auditorium, and a bike repair clinic at the Dalhousie Campus Bike Centre.
Here is our first Bike Week photograph.  This unidentified group of people cycled down to the beach (possibly in Dartmouth?) to see this shipwreck.
Posing with bicycles near a shipwreck

Unidentified group of people posing with bicycles near an unidentified shipwreck. Photograph from the Private Photograph Collection (PC-8)

Check back tomorrow for another photo!

HRM Bike Week!

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We’re super excited about HRM Bike Week, which kicks off tonight with a party at the Seaport Farmers Market.  To help the Dalhousie community get into the swing of things, Archives and Special Collections has selected a handful of photographs of bicycles from our photograph collection.

Next week, we’ll post a Bike Week Photo of the Day to show some of the many ways bicycles have been used throughout Nova Scotia.   If you’re looking for some historical perspective on cycling in Nova Scotia, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.  Our oldest photo is from 1893!

Stay tuned for the photos.  And if you’re looking for info on what’s going on around town, check out the Bike Week Schedule of Events.  Happy cycling!

Captain Roome Had a Brother Named Richard

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Did you see the recent story in the Chronicle Herald about a set of World War One-era love letters found in a wall of a home in Dartmouth?  The letters were written by a young Captain Roome to his beloved “Little Girl,” Annie Belle Hollett, the woman he would one day marry.   The story quickly made international headlines.

But what wasn’t part of the story was that Captain Roome had a brother who also served in World War One.  Richard Edward Graham (a.k.a. “Reg”) Roome was studying at Dalhousie when he left to join the 2nd Heavy Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery in 1915.  Roome toured throughout the Middle East during World War One and went on to become a Brigadier in the Canadian Army.  He helped train artillery troops in Debert, Nova Scotia and Tracadie, New Brunswick and was instrumental in the creation of the CanLoan program that saw Canadian infantry officers loaned to the British Army in World War Two.

Brigadier Roome donated his military and personal papers to the Dalhousie Archives and Special Collections in the 1970s.  The fonds contains a wealth of information about Roome’s involvement in World War One and World War Two, including diaries, correspondence, and some remarkable photographs of his travels through the Middle East and duties as a Brigadier and Deputy Adjutant General.

Here’s a photo of Richard Edward Graham Roome (left) taking a fishing break with Major Keen (right) at the Canadian Army artillery camp at Tracadie, New Brunswick:

Brigadier Roome and Major Keen fishing at the Canadian Army artillery camp at Tracadie, New Brunswick [Canadian Army Photo]. Richard Edward Graham Roome fonds (MS-2-252) Box 2, File 9

We’re working on getting a more detailed description of Brigadier Roome’s papers posted to our website, but in the meantime, his fonds is available for viewing in the Archives and Special Collections Reading Room on the 5th floor of the Killam Library.  Drop on by!

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