Coastal Women in Pre-Confederation Newfoundland and Labrador documents women's experiences in outport communities prior to 1949. Interweaving archival photographs and documents, the exhibition highlights women's central roles in community life: making fish, keeping gardens, raising children, creating crafts, supporting churches, schools and community organizations. The exhibition also illustrates women who worked as teachers, nurses, retail clerks, bookkeepers, telegraphers, post mistresses, midwives, and domestic servants in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

                                               
                                                             Image: VA 6-35
 

Photographer Edith S. Watson (1861-1943) spent the bulk of her life traversing and photographing North America. Her travels and images spanned the length of the eastern seaboard, however she focused her lens on rural Canada, and in particular, Newfoundland and Labrador. Her images were published in the New York Times, Toronto Star, MacLean’s and Saturday Night among other magazines and newspapers.

Her landscape photography is a testament to her keen sense of composition. Her subjects were very often women and she captured her female models in moments of reality that might otherwise have been overlooked. Edith Watson was a true documentarian who captured a sense of time and place in Newfoundland and Labrador through the eyes and lens of the outside world.

Produced in partnership with St. John Ambulance - Newfoundland and Labrador Council - and in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the St. John Ambulance in 2010, this exhibition by The Rooms Provincial Archives Division features archival records relating to the St. John Ambulance, its operations and activities throughout 20th century Newfoundland and Labrador history from a collection of St. John Ambulance records recently donated to The Rooms Provincial Archives Division from St. John Ambulance. Exhibition highlights include textual records, photographic images, artifacts as well as medals and other artifacts relating to the proud 100 year history of the St. John Ambulance and its members, past and present. These wonderful artifacts include examples of the training materials; the work of the organization during wartime overseas and during special events within Newfoundland and Labrador; and the work of the St. John Ambulance to assist with the Newfoundland sealing disaster of 1914.

The exhibition also draws upon St. John Ambulance - related accessions and materials collected by The Rooms Provincial Archives over the past 30 years, as well as material from government records collections, albums, sports related collections and reference library material. In addition to appearing in this exhibition, these records are now fully described and available to the public for research and study.

The Rooms Provincial Archives is pleased to present its latest exhibition - Storefront. Storefront is based on the holdings of the Still Images Collection of The Rooms Provincial Archives Division and features historic images of storefronts predominantly from the Water Street area of St. John's, ranging in date from the 1890s to 1955.

The Still Images collection of The Rooms Provincial Archives Division contains over 400,000 images, representing subjects and photographers from around Newfoundland and Labrador. The images for the Storefront exhibition show long-gone scenes from the daily work of shops and the shop owners who ran them. They offer a glimpse into the historic business practices of these businesses, the products sold, architecture and advertising techniques used at the time.

Storefront appears in the Level 2 vitrine exhibition area of The Rooms and will be on display until summer 2010. Digital reproductions of the images featured in Storefront and other images from The Rooms Provincial Archives Division may be obtained by contacting the Archives by telephone at 709-757-8030 or by visiting: http://www.therooms.ca/archives/still_images.asp

For more information about the exhibition or the photographic holdings, please contact:

Sandra Ronayne
Archivist - Still and Moving Images
The Rooms Provincial Archives Division
757-8087
sandraronayne@therooms.ca 

Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives Division, E 7-8, M. Connors: Wholesale and Retail Druggist [192-?: scanned from glass negative], Provincial Archives photograph collection. Additional information: M. Connors was established in 1878 at the corner of Water Street and Queen Street, St. John's. The firm terminated (amalgamated) in 1928 following the death of M. Connors

Newfoundland's unspoiled wilderness and unique character made it a popular destination for tourists looking to travel on island cruises and "The Trouter's Special" during the 1940s. When world-renowned angler Lee Wulff unlocked the well-kept secrets of the island's hunting and fishing, Newfoundland was realized as a true sportsman's paradise. Enjoy our display of new archival material including travel photographs, brochures and advertisements, and find out why vacationers nicknamed us "The Gilbraltar of North America".