Helen Creighton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Helen Creighton | |
| Born | Mary Helen Creighton September 5, 1899 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia |
|---|---|
| Died | December 12, 1989 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | folklorist, author |
| Employers | Rockefeller Foundation[1] Canadian Museum of Civilization[2], CBC |
| Known for | Collecting songs and stories in the Maritimes |
| Parents | Charles and Alice (nee Terry) Creighton |
| Website http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/creighton/[3] |
|
Helen Creighton (September 5, 1899 - December 12, 1989) was a prominent Canadian folklorist. She collected over 16,000 traditional songs, stories, and myths in a career that spanned decades, and published many books and articles on Nova Scotia folk songs and folklore. She has received numerous honorary degrees for her work and was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1976[4].
Contents |
[edit] Early Life
Born Mary Helen Creighton on Portland Street in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, she had one sister who suffered from a mental disability, and lived at Evergreen House on Newcastle Street for many years. She became very interested in folklore and the super natural. [5]
[edit] Song Collecting
In 1928, Helen returned to Nova Scotia in search of literary material, and met with Dr. Henry Munro, the Superintendent of Education for the Province of Nova Scotia. Dr. Munro showed Helen Sea songs and ballads from Nova Scotia by W. Roy MacKenzie and suggested Helen attempt to find more songs [6] She began to travel around Nova Scotia, collecting songs, tales and customs of Gaelic, English, German, Mi'kmaq, African and Acadian origin. Frequently, she had to walk or sail to remote regions to satisfy her interest, all the while pushing a meter long melodeon in a wheelbarrow. Among Creighton's many contributions was the discovery of the traditional "Nova Scotia Song", widely called "Farewell to Nova Scotia", which has become a sort of provincial anthem.
[edit] Rockefeller Grants
Between 1942 and 1946, Helen received three Rockefeller Foundation fellowships to collect songs in Nova Scotia.[7] The second and third of these fellowships was used to collect songs with equipment loaned from the Library of Congress.[8]. In July, 1943, she received
[edit] National Museum of Canada
Now known as the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Helen was on staff here from 1947-1967.[9]
[edit] Chronology of Important Events
Many of the dates found in this chronology can be found in supporting documents at Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1899 | Mary Helen Creighton was born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia |
| 1914-1916 | Attended Halifax Ladies College |
| 1918 | Joined the Royal Flying Corps in Toronto |
| 1920 | Ambulance driver, Red Cross Caravan, Nova Scotia |
| 1928 | Began collecting folklore and folksongs |
[edit] Songs from Nova Scotia
[edit] Songs from New Brunswick
She made rare excursions outside of Nova Scotia, notably to New Brunswick from 1954 to 1960 (Folksongs from Southern New Brunswick contains material from that period), however, she preferred not to collect in the places of fellow researchers such as Louise Manny.
[edit] Bibliography
- Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia (1932, republished 1966)
- Folklore of Lunenburg County (1950)
- Traditional Songs from Nova Scotia (1950)
- Bluenose Ghosts (1957)
- Maritime Folk Songs (1962, republished 1972)
- Gaelic Songs in Nova Scotia (1964)
- Bluenose Magic (1968)
- Folksongs from Southern New Brunswick (1971)
- A Life in Folklore (1975)
- Eight Ethnic Songs for Young Children (1977)
- Nine Ethnic songs for Older Children (1977)
- With a Heigh-Heigh-Ho (1986)
- Fleur de Rosier (1989)
[edit] Criticisms
Helen had little formal training in folklore and song collecting, and has been criticized for requiring academics to edit the published collections. While regarded as among the most significant collectors in North America, reviews of Helen's published volumes have drawn some criticism. Historian Ian MacKay (Quest of the Folk, McGill-Queens University Press, 1994 (http://mqup.mcgill.ca/book.php?bookid=1158) argues that Creighton was a product of her class and social upbringing, and that her folk collections were incorporated and co-opted as part of a broader movement that contributed to the commodification of "Scottishness" in Nova Scotian tourism literature in the late 1930s and later that defied class and historical realities. McKay argues that Creighton's work was used by the provincial government of Angus L. MacDonald (and by later governments and influential writers) to create a myth of "hardy fisherfolk" and "Nova Scotia rustics" that actually demean, commidify, and mythologize the realities of working-class lived experience in Nova Scotia. (See also http://www.getcited.org/pub/103384719)
[edit] Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia
Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia has been criticized for 'selective editing'.[10]
[edit] Maritime Folk Songs
Maritime Folk Songs, a record of 19 songs from Dr. Creighton's collection, was was criticized by some reviewers for its selection of songs .[11]
[edit] External links
- The Helen Creighton Folklore Society
- NFB documentary A Sigh and a Wish: Helen Creighton's Maritimes
- The Helen Creighton Collection Virtual Exhibit at Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management
[edit] Notes
- ^ MacGregor, N. & Croft. C. (2008).
- ^ MacGregor, N. & Croft. C. (2008).
- ^ NSARM (2008).
- ^ NSARM (2008); MacGregor, N. & Croft. C. (2008)
- ^ EverGreen House.
- ^ Creighton, H. (1975). p. 48.
- ^ MacGregor, N. & Croft. C. (2008).
- ^ Creighton, H. (2008). p. 133-135.
- ^ citation needed.
- ^ Wilgus, D.K. (1959), p. 200
- ^ Karpeles, M (1963, p. 149)
[edit] References
- Creighton, H. (1975). A life in folklore. Toronto, Montreal: McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
- Karpeles. M. (1963). Review of Maritime Folk Songs. Journal of the International Folk Music Council, 15, p. 149.
- McGregor, N. & Croft. C. (2008). Creighton, Helen. In Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Historica Foundation of Canada. Retrieved February 28, 2008 from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=u1ARTU0000839
- Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management. (2008). Helen Creighton - Archival Description. Retrieved February 28, 2008 from http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/creighton/description.asp
- Wilgus, D.K. (1959). Anglo-American folksong scholarship since 1898. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
