Xavier Junior College was founded in 1951 in Sydney Nova Scotia as a satellite campus of St. Francis Xavier University. Xavier Junior College was the first post-secondary educational institution on the Island of Cape Breton. It offered the freshman and sophomore years of many traditional university courses. The college was located in downtown Sydney, and throughout the years of its existence, it expanded to many different buildings in the downtown area. In 1960 the official name of Xavier Junior College was changed to Xavier College, this name would last until 1972 when the college would be renamed again to the St. Francis Xavier University Sydney Campus. In June of 1974, the college would amalgamate with the Nova Scotia Eastern Institute of Technology to form a new institution that offered traditional university courses but also offered new innovated courses for the modern world. This new institution was called the College of Cape Breton.
The St. Rita's Nursing School was established in 1924 and operated until 1933. It was re-established in 1955 at the 162-bed location opened in 1955 at the corner of Kings Road and Churchill Drive, overlooking Sydney harbour.
The Sydney Trades and Labour Council (TLC) was founded in 1908 as a chapter of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada. The organization acted as a forum for discussion and action on issues relating to union politics, wages and working hours; its local chapter membership included iron, steel and tin workers, carpenters, plumbers, mechanics and tailors. The Council's first president was J.R. Martin, M.J. Kelly acted as vice-president and P.M. Draper was the first secretary-treasurer. The Sydney Trades and Labour Council was disbanded by 1923.
The Canadian Federation of Women, a voluntary, non-profit, self-funded bilingual organization of over 100,000 women university graduate, was founded in 1919. CFW members are involved in public affairs, working to raise the social, economic and legal status of women, as well as to improve education, the environment, peace, justice and human rights.
After attending Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, Owen Fitzgerald moved back to Cape Breton in 1977 to start his own photography business, Owen Fitzgerald Photography Ltd. and and its successor Fitzgerald Digital Ltd. (Digital Outrider) which were in operation for almost three decades. In addition to the creation of thousands of images, the two companies published books, CD-ROMs, and e-Learning modules. Fitzgerald's photographs have been published by local news outlets as well as national and international publications such as MacLeans and TIME.
http://members.shaw.ca/kimberleyw/cbclubhalifax/club_history.htm
In 1975, North Sydney celebrated Bar 90, a week-long summer festival to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the town’s incorporation. Organized by the community-led Bar 90 Executive Committee, the festival was founded as a lead up to the town’s 100th anniversary celebrations in 1985 (Sampson and Currie, 65, 1985). The festival included different events and competitions that were held in the town, such as talent shows, a beauty contest, parades, barbeques, dances, concerts, races and other public events (Sampson and Currie, 65, 1985). After 1975, the number of years after the 90th anniversary of the town was added to the name of the town’s festival (For example, in 1980, the festival was named Bar 90+5). After the town’s centennial celebration, the festival was renamed Bar 90 Days. In 1995, North Sydney almost lost the annual festival after North Sydney was amalgamated into the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. With the help of local volunteers, the festival was saved. In 1996, it was re-named The North Sydney Bartown Festival. The festival continues to be held each year (Bartown Community Society, 2010). Prior to the Bartown Festival, North Sydney hosted an annual week-long festival named Old Home Week.
In 1876, the Western Union Cable Office owned and operated a rooming house in North Sydney for single employees. It was sold by the company sometime before 1888 and eventually became the Albert Hotel. (Gillis, 12, 2005). Years later, in order to fulfill the need for affordable housing, The Western Union Housing Plan Committee was organized by employees of the Western Union Telegraph Company in North Sydney, Nova Scotia in cooperation with the company. The Plan gave employees the right to apply for loans from Western Union so they could purchase homes. The committee, which was led by a Treasurer/Secretary accepted loan applications from employees and worked with the secretary and treasurer at Western Union’s headquarters to determine if they qualified for the plan.
The committee was also responsible for holding regular meetings to discuss new housing plans and to submit monthly reports to Western Union’s General Auditor about their loan accounts and the status of employee loans and insurance, and also to advise other Western Union Housing Plan committees at company sites in St. Pierre Et Miquelon and Hearts Content, NF. They also worked with Canadian Aladdin Company, a housing design firm that sold pre-fabricated homes to employees. The properties purchased by employees would belong to Western Union until the employee paid off their loan. If employees were still taking a loan from the company and they were transferred, they could either stay in the program and would be given a property in their new location or opt out of the program and lose their housing benefits. The program was intended for employees below the manager level that worked a certain number of years. The committee began in 1919 and existed until at least 1934.
The founder of Photogelatine Engraving Company, Ltd. was Rowley Shillito Hooper (1887-1951), who was born in Dudley, England. He arrived in Canada in 1915 to fill the position of factory superintendent for Rolla L. Crain Company, Ltd., a large Ottawa printing firm. In 1917 he left Rolla L. Crain and established his own printing business. PECO was was incorporated in Ottawa on June 18, 1920. Hooper passed on June 16, 1951 and was replaced in 1952 by Robert D. Church as president and general manager. The company closed in 1954.
Sister Rita (Sister St. Clare Maureen) CND Clare was the eldest child of Donald and Mayme (Briand) Clare and grew up in Sydney, N.S.. She showed an interest in music from a young age and took private piano lessons as a child. Sister Rita continued her musical education while attending St. Joseph's School and then Holy Angels High where she was a choir member under the direction of Sister Mary Frederick. After her studies at St. Francis Xavier University, Sr. Rita received her diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Between 1965 and 1969, she also received a BSc in Music and Music Education and MA in Music and Music Education from Columbia University. She continued her studies in voice and music at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, the Saratoga Potsdam Choral Institute, New York, and the Voice Care Network, Collegeville, Minnesota.
She entered the Congregation in Montreal in 1952, returning to the Maritimes following her profession. She served in Mabou, Inverness, Antigonish, Newcastle, NB and Holy Angels Convent, Sydney. As a member of the Congregation of Notre-Dame (CND), Sister Rita Clare dedicated her life to service in the form of education and arts promotion and advocacy. For most of her professional career, she was an outstanding educator and administrator in Music and Fine Arts with the Cape Breton Victoria Regional School Board. Sr. Rita Clare is well-known for her role as director of the Holy Angels Chorale, Cape Breton Youth Choir and was founder and director of the Cape Breton Chorale. Under her leadership, the Cape Breton Chorale has been recognized nationally and internationally for its artistic excellence.
In 1972, Sr. Rita was named Woman of the Year by the Professional Women's Club of Sydney and in 1985 she was made an honorary citizen of Sydney. A few years later, she was recognized by the Province of Nova Scotia for her work during the Canada Games and in 1991, Sr. Rita Clare was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters Honoris Causa from the University College of Cape Breton (now Cape Breton University). This honourary degree identified Sr. Rita as a "leader in the Arts in Cape Breton and a foremost promoter of music education in Nova Scotia." Through the years, Sister Rita Clare has been recognized by various levels of government for her commitment to excellence and the cultural life of her community. In 2005, Sister Rita Clare was presented with the Jubilate Award of Merit presented by the Canadian Music Educators Association in recognition of significant contribution to Music Education in Canada.
Sister Rita Clare died May 30, 2017 in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Mrs. Beryl Markham was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1936 in her Vega Gull, The Messenger. She was forced to make an early landing at Baleine, Cape Breton, due to bad weather. Her destination was New York, which she made after staying in Louisbourg for a weekend.
Mary Catherine was born an raised in a Gaelic-speaking home in Margaree. She was the daughter of Hugh MacFarlane and Mary Ellen (Molly) Moran. She moved to Boston as a teen, and later served as a WAAC in the United States Navy during World War II. After the war, she married Albert Basler with whom she had 7 children; they grew up surrounded by Cape Breton music, with mom playing the piano and her brother, Alec D MacFarlane, playing the fiddle. In Boston, Kay was actively involved in the Gaelic Club, and performed Gaelic songs with them at folk music festivals in Newport, RI and Washington DC. After Albert’s death, she worked as a secretary at Blood Research Institute in Boston.
Kay later married Mick MacDonald of New Waterford, N.S., returning to Cape Breton. She worked at the Beaton Institute at Cape Breton University, recording native Gaelic speakers from Canada, the US and Scotland, and translating Gaelic publications. She hosted the CBC Cape Breton radio program “Island Echoes”, served as president of both the New Waterford Gaelic Society and the Gaelic Society of Cape Breton. She was a longtime member of the Cape Breton Gaelic Choir. After her retirement, Kay continued her involvement with Gaelic, teaching evening Gaelic classes for over 25 years and singing with and coaching the Gaelic choir. She served as a consultant on Gaelic to several Cape Breton musicians and frequently fielded calls from Canada and the US for help with a needed Gaelic phrase or translation. In 2009, Kay was awarded an honorary doctorate by Cape Breton University for her contributions to promoting, preserving and teaching the Gaelic language.
Kay was a long time member of St. Leonard Parish New Waterford. Her strong faith provided the bedrock upon which she lived her life. She was a dedicated member of the Mount Carmel Parish CWL, and also sang in the choir.
Obituary taken from INMEMORIAM.ca
Thomas Kitchin was an engraver and map-maker from Southwark, England. Kitchin was apprenticed to Emanuel Bowen in 1732 and in 1773 appointed royal hydrographer to King George III. He produced John Elphinstone's map of Scotland (1746), Geographia Scotia (1749), and The Small English Atlas (1749) with Thomas Jefferys. The Large English Atlas (with Bowen 1749–60) was an attempt to cover England at large scale. He produced 170 maps for the London Magazine (1747–83). He died in St Albans in 1784.
Hugh Cameron was born at Antigonish, Nova Scotia in 1836. He practiced medicine in Mabou for many years and represented Inverness County in the House of Commons from 1869-1872 and 1882-1896, and in the Nova Scotia Legislature from 1879-1882.
Joseph Bernard, marquis de Chabert was a French naval officer, geographer and astronomer. He was commissioned in 1750 to go to North America to correct the maps of the coasts of Acadia, Isle Royale and Newfoundland. It was during this trip that Bernard visited Louisbourg and established an observatory. He documented his findings in the publication "Voyage fait par order du Roi en 1750 et 1751".
Gerard van Keulen was the son of Johannes van Keulen, a Dutch cartographer who started a publishing and book selling business in 1681. Gerard took over control of the firm in 1714 and continued to add to the company's vast body of cartographic work.
James Mariner Smith was born in 1859, the son of William and Susanne Smith. He married Isabel Jane Ross, the daughter of John M. and Armenia Ross, of North East Margaree. Smith founded a small business at Port Hood and later, presumably following his marriage, at North East Margaree, where he established a general store and perhaps a hotel, and acted as agent for the Glendyer Mills factory (est. 1848), which produced cloth. Smith and Isabel had seven children and he died in 1934.
Albert Almon was born at Glace Bay, Nova Scotia in 1872. He married and had five children: Patrick, Joseph, Cleophas, Mary and Annie. Almon was a self-taught plumber and owned his own business in Glace Bay. An amateur historian, he earned him an honorary Masters of Arts degree from St. Francis Xavier University and recognition from Pope Pius XII. He died in 1960.
Douglas Neil Brodie was born on 15 January 1872 at Halifax, Nova Scotia, the son of Neil MacNeil and Margaret (Carroll) Brodie. He received his early education at the Halifax Academy. In 1901 he married May, the daughter of alderman D.H. Campbell. In 1900 Brodie moved to Glace Bay, Nova Scotia where he established a printing shop. Brodie later became a director of the Glace Bay Credit Union, served as a Corporal in the 63rd Rifles, and was elected to the Legislative Assembly for Cape Breton East as a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), 1941-1945. He died at Glace Bay on 14 September 1954.
Joseph Campbell was a Big Pond farmer, Justice of the Peace, and county councillor. He died in 1973.
Judge Andrew D. "Hump" Campbell was born at Red Islands, Nova Scotia, in 1890. His family moved to Reserve Mines when he was young. He was a lawyer, a juvenile court judge, and a popular sports figure in Cape Breton. He died in 1942.
John William Howie was born in Cape Breton, the son of Alexander and Catherine (Blackett) Howie. His first wife was Rebecca Archibald. He was remarried after her death to Harriet Amelia Addy of Aylesford, Kings County on 23 September 1875. The couple had four children: Susan Kate, Emily Jane, Lavinia Ella and Fredrick. Howie was ordained as a Methodist preacher on 1 July 1861. He served as the first minister of the Gabarus, Gull Cove, Fourchu and later on Louisbourg circuit of the Methodist Church. Howie died ca. 1910.
George Mercer Dawson was born in Pictou and lived in Nova Scotia. In 1868–69 Dawson attended McGill College. He next attended the Royal School of Mines in London, England. The school was organized and staffed by the Geological Survey of Great Britain to promote along scientific lines the development of the mineral wealth of Britain and its colonies. Dawson gained intensive training there in, natural history, palaeontology, chemistry, mining and metallurgy, and applied mechanics, from some of the best authorities in these fields. In the summer of 1872 he contracted with several businessmen to assay coal and iron ores in Nova Scotia and taught chemistry at Morrin College, Quebec. When a position became available on the Geological Survey of Canada that year Dawson served as naturalist and geologist on the international boundary survey from Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains, becoming assistant director in 1883. In geology and geography Dawson offered an outstanding contribution to the primary task of mapping and naming surface features in complex terrain. He included systematic ethnological inventories in his geological surveys, intending his reports on native peoples to advise government in the formulation of policy. His Sketches of the past and present condition of the Indians of Canada (1879) surveyed the distribution and declining numbers of aboriginal peoples in the light of the apparent inevitability of political dominion in the west by European Canadians.
Antonio Zatta was a prominent Italian map publisher of the late 18th and early 19th century. His firm, based in Venice, produced maps that mark an important transition from 18th to 19th century cartographic styles. He updates and redefines the traditional title cartouche by replacing the mythic elements common to the 17th and 18th century with more representative images. His most important work is the four volume Atlante novissim.
The Congregation of Notre Dame (C.N.D.) have lived and worked in many Cape Breton communities including Louisbourg, Arichat, Port Hood and Sydney. Their first school was opened at the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1726; the Sisters were taken prisoner during the first siege of the Fortress in 1744 and sent to France. They returned in 1748 to continue their work and were forced to leave for a second time in 1758 during the second siege of the Fortress. In 1856, nearly one hundred years later, the Sisters of the Congregation returned once again to Cape Breton but this time they settled in the remote Acadian village of Arichat, on Isle Madame (Scott, p. 74). The C.N.D. taught school in Arichat from1856 to 1900 when the school closed, and had a presence in Port Hood beginning in 1884.
The building of the Sydney convent was financed by the contributions of parishioners across eastern Cape Breton and built by a local contractor, John Morely. On November 23, 1885, three Sisters arrived in Sydney and took up residence at Holy Angels Convent. The Superior-General of the Congregation de Notre-Dame responded to a request by local pastor Fr. Quinan for help to begin educating local youth and sent Sister St. Domitilla as superior, St. Helen of the Cross as the music teacher, and Sister St. Mary Alexis to Cape Breton. The three Sisters were joined in December by Sister St. Margaret of the Cross, the first English speaking teacher at the school, and instruction at the new private institution began in early 1886, after the first boarders arrived on January 2nd. The attendance grew steadily during the first few years of operation, yet the school suffered from financial instability at times.
In December of 1892, Holy Angels opened as a public school due to a need for financial support from the province and municipality to keep the school open. As a result, the administration of the institution shifted and Mr. MacKeen, Principal of Sydney Academy, School Inspector MacNeil and Protestant School Commissioners were appointed. The school continued to grow in the early years of the twentieth century, both in terms of student enrollment and curriculum development. In 1906, the foundation of the new building began, located on the northern part of the property. In September 1907, the superintendent of Sydney Schools declared that all senior students of Holy Angels would have to transfer to Academy to finish their instruction. The convent school would no longer offer senior courses. As a result, Holy Angels was again designated a private institution. By the year of its golden jubilee, Holy Angels had grown from four Sisters to twenty-eight. Sister St. Margaret of Scotland was installed as principal in 1936.
The school fluctuated between being a public and private institution during the first half of the twentieth century, but with the opening of the high school in 1953 it became a near-permanent fixture in the local public school system. From 1959 on, Holy Angels High School, as a part of the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board (CBVRSB), accommodated Grades 10 to 12 and serviced female students from across Cape Breton Island. All courses offered at Holy Angels High School were developed by the Nova Scotia Department of Education and the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board leased the school building from the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre-Dame. Some of the programs at the school included the Nova Scotia International Student Program, a French Immersion Program, the Duke of Edinburgh Program, the Options and Opportunities Program, and the Creative
Art Certificate Program. The CBVRSB announced on October 28, 2010 that it would close Holy Angels High School, as the Sisters of the C.N.D. had decided to sell the school and convent properties. The last class was graduated in Spring of 2011 and remaining students were transferred to other CBVRSB schools. The Convent and School buildings were sold to New Dawn Enterprises Ltd., and the Sisters relocated from their Convent home.