Archival Moment

February 28, 1865

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives . IGA 13-62 Sir Wilfred Grenfell

In an interview with a Grenfell worker in St. Anthony in 1934 the worker was asked if she had found Labrador a healthful climate. She replied:

“Yes, BUT there is one thing that we all get, something incurable, which gets into your system and keeps returning , but it is never fatal. It is called “GRENFELLITIS” and its most dangerous symptoms is lasting enthusiasm for the North.”

There has been a number of episodes of “Grenfelltitis” that have overtaken  individuals over the past number of years and the only cure for “Grenfelltitis”   is a good exhibit to speak to the history of the work of Grenfell in our North.

Recommended Archival Collection: The records of the International Grenfell Association (IGA) were donated to the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL) by IGA representatives in June 1985. http://www.exhibits.therooms.ca/panl/exhibits/  

Recommended Reading: The Grenfell Obsession an anthology [edited by] Patricia O’Brien St. John’s, Nfld.  Creative Publishers, 1992.