July 30, 2004 Pictures Help put heritage in perspective

My belief in the importance of photographs in putting our heritage in perspective is indicated by the presence of photographs in almost every column I have written in Community Voices. My usual thousand words is augmented by the idea that a picture is worth a thousand words.  Volumes have been written on the history, art and significance of photographs. Today I want to give a bit of history and bring a different focus to some of my future columns. 

There have been many inventions that have changed our world – electricity, telephone, radio, movies, television, etc. etc. Photography as a business, a record, an art has provided jobs for thousands of people and enriched our lives.  When the Frenchman Daguerre found that he could get an image at the back of a box by using a lens this made the tracing of the image possible. In 1839 he discovered a chemical process where the light affected a wet plate of chemicals and created a permanent image. Later the wet plate was replaced by a dry plate and a forerunner of film was invented. 

Lenses were improved as was film and speed, and portability was added to the camera. A huge business developed over time and studios sprung up everywhere.  Photographers began to record people and communities, the landscape, disasters and war. Many of these photographs are the most valid record of some of these events. In the early days of the last century almost everyone could afford a camera and millions of black and white photos were developed.  Among my favorite archives is the National Air Photo Library in Ottawa which has thousands of photos of the way our world looked from the air decades ago and since. 

When someone discussed a way to take 24 photos per second and project them to make a scene appear to move at a regular rate movies were invented. With sound and colour we were on our way to the pervasive world of images we have today on the movie screen and T.V.  The microchip took photography to new heights and video cameras and digital cameras have almost put movie cameras and film cameras in jeopardy. 

There were many photographers in northern communities that helped preserve some of the faces and places in the area. Studio portraits using various backdrops and props are preserved in museums, family albums and books. When there wasn’t enough work the photographer lugged his gear into the lumber camps or mill to take group photos which were printed and sold back to almost everyone in the photo on his next trip.  Family groups in front of the pioneer home for production as post cards to send to relatives here and abroad helped them make a living. Many used a conventions that seem strange today like excessive over dressing or the touching empty chair for the missed dearly departed.  One photographer made numerous logging camp photos with the same layout in front of the cookhouse. The cooks were at the door, the teamsters and lumber men across the front and the foreman or owner out front (see photo from a previous column. Note the 2 men shadow boxing on the roof as in many other photos by the same photographer.) 

The Beaver magazine “Canada’s History Magazine” has an old photo on the last page in each of its monthly issues.  There is always a description of the photo to the fullest extent possible. I find them fascinating. I will provide some local photo with descriptions or in some cases a question as to whether anyone can identify the photo or its people. If anyone has a fascinating, informative old photo with details or otherwise call me or send me a laser copy (75 cents at Staples or elsewhere) – no originals. I would like to see them for possible publication. Give me your name, address and phone number. 

The 1934 Graduation class from the Sundridge Continuation School

A Photographic Mystery 

A woman in Toronto, who happened to be a trained archivist found and bought a family album of photos in a St. Lawrence Market shop recently. When she began to examine it she found 3 photos that included a Sundridge connection.  There were also a lot of photos of the North Bay Normal School presumably in the 1930’s or early 1940’s.  When I was in Toronto recently visiting my son she called having found our website and dropped by. Since then we have been playing detective. 

We scanned several of the key photos and I brought them home.  I took the Normal School photos to the Nipissing University Archives and looked at their collection of Normal School Year Books. There was usually one or 2 young people from Sundridge attending each year but I could not pin down the individual who might have owned the album that somehow ended up in a flea market stall. 

Many of the group photos of the teachers-in-training included an older person who appeared from year to year and was obviously a professor.  A little work identified this person as Miss Grace Morgan who retired about 1950. 

In reading a recent issue of the Nipissing University Review magazine I noted that the normal School Reunion Class of 1945-46 had established a scholarship for their beloved former teacher Miss Grace Morgan.  I contacted one of the students in the class who has many stories about the Normal School and Miss Morgan.  I hope to visit this retired teacher. 

Man and his dog on the steps of the old Sundridge Post Office

I contacted Denise Rogers the Librarian at the Sundridge/Strong Library to see if she could find some people who might identify some of the people and possibly locate the former owner of the album. I met former principal Sam Rennie who just turned ninety (Happy Birthday Sam) and France Therrien who is a genealogist with an interest in local history. Both were very helpful and we are getting close to an answer.  More about this later.  The photos are from the album.