Tourism, Culture and Recreation
August 12, 2009

Community-Based Heritage Projects Receive Over $116,000

The Provincial Government today announced $116,513 in project funding to support community-based heritage projects designed to preserve, protect, and promote the history of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Honourable Clyde Jackman, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, said the funding, provided through the 2009 Cultural Economic Development Program (CEDP), will help enhance the province�s heritage resources by encouraging best practices in research, collections management, conservation, interpretation, and promotion.

"As a government, it is essential that we continue to support and invest in the province�s heritage sector," said Minister Jackman. "Each year, community-based heritage organizations throughout Newfoundland and Labrador work to collect and protect our historical treasures, and to share them with residents and visitors alike. Through the dedicated efforts of the many professional staff and trained volunteers, we are able to discover and learn more about our extraordinary history."

Minister Jackman noted a relatively new component of the CEDP program supports internships, which provide practical experience to students and recent graduates, thereby expanding the base of professional heritage expertise in the province.

Organizations approved, to date, for project funding under the heritage component of CEDP are:

  • Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) � $25,000 for two projects � $15,000 to develop project planning training for community groups interested in preserving and promoting their intangible cultural heritage, and $10,000 to provide for an internship with the Digital Archives Initiative at Memorial University.
  • Colony of Avalon (Ferryland) � $11,660 for three projects � $5,800 to provide a 10-week conservation internship in the conservation laboratory; $3,000 to conduct a comparative study of English colonization in 17th century Newfoundland and Ireland, and $2,860 to research and identify iron tools from the Ferryland archaeological site.
  • Winterton Heritage Advisory Board $10,000 to plan for a construction exhibit of the vessel Indeavour, the ship used by John Guy in 1612 to explore Trinity and Conception Bays, as part of the Cupids400 celebrations in 2010. The exhibit, in the Town of Winterton, will bring traditional boatbuilding skills to life, as the components of a full-size boat � the keel, stem, counter and main frames � are built in public view by a master boatbuilder.
  • Botwood Heritage Society � $9,600 to complete an archival collections management project that will increase the long-term preservation of the material and its public accessibility in the new Aviation Museum.
  • Basilica Cathedral Museum (St. John�s) � $7,389 to develop an exhibit entitled The Place of The Book which will highlight the Basilica Library�s unique collections and the importance of its place in the history of learning in the province. A digital exhibit will also be created to increase accessibility.
  • Burnside Heritage Foundation � $5,000 to produce a video presentation that will highlight the archaeological resources of the area and raise awareness of this significant site.
  • Branch Cultural/Historical Association $5,000 to digitize photographs and oral history collections related to the intangible cultural heritage of Branch.
  • French Shore Historical Society $5,000 to print a historical fiction entitled Gildas the cabin boy from Groix which is an international partnership between school children in Conche and Ile de Groix, France.
  • St. Lawrence Heritage Society � $5,000 to develop a comprehensive, online exhibit which tells the story of three ships involved in one of the worst disasters ever recorded in naval history. The exhibit is a partnership project with the Maritime History Archive at Memorial University and will focus on the story of the USS Truxtun, Pollux and Wilkes.
  • Town of Conception Bay South Heritage Committee � $4,500 to develop a booklet promoting the agricultural history of Conception Bay South. through farm buildings and stories.
  • The Rooms Corporation � $4,500 to provide a nine-week internship for an individual to research artifacts and documents related to the interpretation of political history at the Colonial Building in St. John�s.
  • Newfoundland Pony Society � $4,000 to research and collect historical information on the early history of the Newfoundland Pony in this province, prior to 1949, with a focus on how the pony arrived here and its early cultural connections.
  • The Landfall Trust � $3,960 to develop an interpretive panel at the entrance to the Landfall property in Brigus, which will highlight the significance of the area and the role it played in the history of Brigus.
  • Beothuk Institute � $3,400 to undertake a pilot project to extract DNA from previously collected Beothuk Indian bone samples at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa. This pilot project will determine the feasibility of a larger study which will compare the DNA of the Beothuk, Maritime Archaic Indians, Paleoeskimo and Thule with present day Innu and Mi�kmaq, to identify relationships and differences among different peoples.
  • Mizzen Heritage Society � $3,400 to document the photographs in their collection and ensure that they are preserved for future use and accessible to researchers.
  • Agricultural History Society � $3,000 to research the history of gardens from 1949 to the present. This will include a review of archival material, secondary sources, and possible interviews with gardeners.
  • Ferryland Historical Society � $3,000 to research the presence of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary in the Ferryland area.
  • Petty Harbour Maddox Cove Heritage Museum Association � $2,440 to undertake a conservation and collections management project in the museum. A professional conservator will clean and stabilize the artifacts prior to their entry into a collections management system.
  • Battle Harbour Historic Trust � $664 to enroll the organization�s volunteer business director in a distance education course, entitled Managing Archival Collections, offered through the University of Victoria.
  • Budget 2009: Building on Our Strong Foundation provided an additional $150,000 in new funding to the heritage component of the CEDP, bringing the total annual budget to $1.3 million and $1.5 million for the cultural component of the program, for a total of $2.8 million.

    CEDP projects are selected on the basis of economic impact, professional involvement, project objectives, partnerships and interpretive content. For more information on the guidelines, visit: www.tcr.gov.nl.ca/tcr/services_programs/cedp/heritage

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    Media contact:

    Heather May
    Director of Communications
    Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation
    709-729-0928, 709-697-5061
    heathermay@gov.nl.ca

    2009 08 12                                                    11:00 a.m.


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