Tag Archives: Memorial University

New Memorial University Campus Opened

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

October 9th, 1961

Provehito in Altum (Launch forth into the deep)

On October 9th, 1961, the Elizabeth Avenue   campus of Memorial  University of Newfoundland  in St. John’s was formally opened. Attending the opening  were  a number of well-known dignitaries including Prime Minister  John Diefenbaker, Premier Joseph Smallwood, Lord Thomson of Fleet and  Eleanor Roosevelt.

Mrs. Roosevelt, the widow of the President of theUnited States of America, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was the official emissary of the President of theUnited States, John F. Kennedy.  Mrs. Roosevelt formerly passed over to the Board of Regents and the Senate, the new campus of Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Thousands of school children from all parts of the province took part  in the parade up Elizabeth Avenue.

Memorial Universitybegan as Memorial University College (MUC), which opened in September 1925 at a campus onParade StreetinSt. John’s.

Upon opening MUC offered the first two years of university studies, the initial enrollment was 57 students, rising to a peak of over 400 in the 1940s.

The college was established as a memorial to the Newfoundlanders who had lost their lives on active service during the First World War. It was later rededicated to also encompass the province’s war dead of the Second World War.

The post-Confederation government elevated the status of Memorial University College to full university status in August 1949, renaming the institution to Memorial University of Newfoundland.  The enrollment in MUN’s first year was 307 students. In 1961, enrollment increased to 1400.

Recommended Reading:  Dr. Mel Baker, ‘Celebrate Memorial: A Pictorial History of Memorial University of Newfoundland’ (St. John’s Newfoundland: Memorial University Press © 1999)

Malcolm MacLeod. ‘A Bridge Built Halfway: A History of Memorial University College, 1925-1950.’MontrealandKingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1990.

Recommended to View: http://collections.mun.ca/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/mun_opening&CISOPTR=0&CISOBOX=1&REC=2

Recommended Website:  http://www.mun.ca/

The foundation for The Rooms Provincial Archives

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

March 10, 1879

The Rooms – Home to the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labardor

The idea of an archive to house the history of this  province of Newfoundland and Labrador  (then a colony) was first suggested in March 1879.

On March 10, 1879 the editor of the St. John’s newspaper “The Temperance Journal” wrote

“let us have a bureau of history and statistics, where files of all our local newspapers shall be kept throughout the year for reference and then bound in yearly volumes. Where tables of our imports and exports, shipping, agriculture, and mines shall be kept, where meterorological registrations, and registers of births, marriages and deaths shall be kept.”

The Editor had some very definite ideas including suggesting a budget.  He wrote

“Cost not to exceed three hundred per annum, including office rent, and everything.”

He also had some very particular ideas about the salary of the person who would take on the position. The Editor wrote

“Application for any “rise” on the part of the incumbent to be equivalent to instant dismissal.”

It would be some time before the voice of this local newspaper Editor would be heard. The responsibility for the safekeeping of these records was not delegated until 1898 when responsibility was given to the Colonial Secretary.

It was not until 1956 that a grant from the Carnegie Foundation of New York allowed a group of academics at Memorial University of Newfoundland to begin to collect, organize and describe various collections of historic government records.

In 1959 the Provincial Government passed the Historic Objects, Sites and Records Act which established the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL). At that point the records were transferred to PANL  located in theColonialBuilding onMilitary Road.

In 2005 the Provincial Archives Division was established in The Rooms.

Recommended Arccival Collection: From the luxury of your home explore some of the archival collections that are held at The Rooms Provincial Archhives.  Read More:  http://www.therooms.ca/archives/  

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