The many unsung heroes at St F.X., in Antigonish and the surrounding area, were celebrated at the official launch of The People’s Photo Album, a book documenting the history of the community.
The People’s Photo Album, a tribute to Extension 90, traces the genealogy of numerous community members and groups throughout history. Their contributions and legacies were celebrated Dec 9. at the CACL and Royal Canadian Legion building.
The official release of the People’s Photo Album also served as a tribute to the St. F.X. extension department on its 90th anniversary.
"Dr. Moses Coady was the first director of the extension department in 1928. The photo history charts the Antigonish Movement. The theme of the kitchen meeting was central to the work of the extension department and also shapes the album," Dorothy Lander, author of the book, said. "We couldn’t begin to honour all of the contributors and unsung heroes in the album, but we wanted to give everyone a sense of what and who they could expect to see in their album."
Those celebrations included many of the families who have benefitted by the community building ethos that underpins the Antigonish Movement.
"We believe the album fulfills healing, and honours the heroes of the extension department," John Graham-Pole, second author of the book said, during the launch. "Small stories emerged from the photos that 150 of you contributed."
Lander said the People’s Photo Album is a combination of a history and genealogy of the St. F.X. extension department and the Antigonish Movement it embodies, examining the lives of four generations of the Antigonish Movement, from the 1920s, to contemporary times.
Lander said the book traces the origins of "family dynasties of social justice." The names of the families who are the subjects of the book – Coady, Fleuren, van de Wiel, Nunn, MacDonald, Tompkins, Phee and the Sisters of St. Martha – are ones that go right back to the roots of the Antigonish Movement, and are deeply integrated in the history of the community. Members of those families are the ‘unsung heroes’ of the community.
"For example, Kristel Fleuren-Hunter, head librarian of the People’s Place Library, appears on a photo page that includes four generations of the Fleuren family, who are in this community because the extension department recruited Dutch families to live and work at the Mount Cameron experimental farm in the 1950s," Lander wrote in an email to the Casket after the book opening.
"We’re not aware of another history or genealogy that explicitly celebrates the movement’s underpinnings of service and art making," Lander said at the book launch. "The recorded histories of the St. F.X. extension department and the Antigonish Movement emphasize the foundations in social and economic cooperation and adult education. Every one of our unsung heroes is a lifelong learner and co-operator."
As part of the unveiling, Lander presented some of the photos in the book, and shared some of the stories surrounding those photos.
Some of the people featured in the book, and whose families were featured in the book, were present at the launch, such as John Prosper, who spoke about summers in Antigonish and working as a choir leader at Immaculate Conception Church in Heatherton; Adam Tragakis, who provided the book’s cover art and William "Willie" Westenenk, who spoke about his work as a groundskeeper at St. F.X.
Chantal, John and Sylvia Phee spoke about the history of their family in relation to the Antigonish movement, referring to the Martin Street housing cooperative, and the accomplishments of Mary Agnes Phee, a housekeeper at St. F.X, and how those legacies had an impact on their families and lives.
The photos and historical material in the book revisited important historical moments from the movement for gender and pay equity at St. F.X., right up to the diligent work of today’s student union today. It also looked into many ways the movement has influenced the surrounding Antigonish area throughout history.
As a way to spread the history and show respect to people whose families and legacies are mentioned in it, copies of the People’s Photo Album were presented to numerous members of the community and groups.
"It’s an outrageously expensive book because of all the colour photo reproductions – over 800 photos in the album – so we sought out donors to place the album in public places," Lander said.
The East Coast Credit Union donated four copies to the Sisters of St Martha, the Dr. John Hugh Gillis Regional High School, St. Andrew Junior School, and East Antigonish Education Centre.
The Town of Antigonish donated two albums to the St. F.X. Student’s Union and L’Arche. The Municipality of the County of Antigonish donated copies to Paqtnkek Mi’kmaw Nation and the office of the county. The Coady International Institute and the extension department donated copies to the Sisters of St. Martha. The Heritage Association of Antigonish donated three albums to the Marie Michael Library at the Coady International Institute, the Native Council of Nova Scotia and the Antigonish Heritage Museum. The St. F.X. Department of Adult Education donated copies of the album to the Angus L. Macdonald Library and the St. F.X. archives.
While Lander is the official author of the People’s Photo Album, she noted that the project was a very co-operative one. She expressed gratitude to more than 150 contributors, "who got into the spirit of the project and dug into their family photo albums, scrapbooks and other memorabilia."
The book contains a series of photos, both black and white and in colour, as well as yellowed newspaper clippings and handwritten letters, all helping to piece together the rich tapestry that exists in the community, and how the St. F.X. extension department and the Antigonish Movement have been integral parts of it.
"I have been working on it for about a year – though it feels longer. I absolutely would not have had the courage to take on this project without the support and editing counsel of my husband, John Graham-Pole, who is rightly named as the second author," Lander said.
