Showing 26 results

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Murray, Christl

  • AR-002
  • Person

Christl Murray (née Tiefenbacker) attended Mount Saint Vincent Academy from 1948 to 1951. From November 1948 to June 1950, she was a boarder, and from September 1950 to June 1951 she was a day student.

Dewar, Kenneth C.

  • AR-003
  • Person
  • 1944-

Ken Dewar grew up in Edmonton and taught at the University of Victoria, Wilfrid Laurier, and Carleton before coming to the Mount in 1982. He also owned a bookstore for a number of years in Elora, Ontario. He retired in June 2011 and was awarded Professor Emeritus status in the Department of History.

Wills, Dorothy

  • AR-006
  • Person
  • 1933-

Born in Dominica, Dr. Dorothy Abike Wills (Green), B.Sc., M.S.W., M.A., PhD., LL.D.,DHL (Honoris Causa), C.M., graduated from Mount Saint Vincent College in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science, later obtaining additional degrees at McGill University, Concordia University, and California's Pacific Western University. Dr. Wills went on to become a social worker and educator and spent much of her career dedicated to social justice for racial minorities.
In June 2000, she retired as the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Technologies at Vanier College, Quebec. She served as a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Convention Refugee Determination Division, for six years. An Educator in the areas of Business Education, Social Work, and Andragogy (the method by which adults learn), she has taught at the High School, CEGEP and University levels. She has been named to Federal, Provincial and Municipal Committees; and has had extensive involvement in various Black Community organizations. She is the recipient of several awards, including the Mount Saint Vincent University Alumni Jubilee Award of Distinction, an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from both Concordia University (1989) Dalhousie University (1996), an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Mount Saint Vincent University (2007), the Order of Canada (1989), the Martin Luther King Junior Award of Excellence, the Ministers Award for Excellence in Race Relations, and, has been named Woman of the Year by Salon de la Femme du Quebec.

Davison, Blossom

  • AR-007
  • Person
  • 1903-unknown

Lena Florence Bennett Davison was born in Halifax on April 14th 1903 to Robie, a lumber merchant, and Celina Davison. She was known to all her friends and peers as Blossom, a name her father gave to her because he thought she was pretty like a flower. Likely, this name also helped distinguish herself from her mother Celina who was also known as ‘Lena’, for short. She had a brother named Ronald.

Blossom was a student at Mount Saint Vincent Academy, graduating in the class of 1921. During her time at the school, Blossom was recognized as an accomplished musician. She was the star violinist at the May 1921 Recital, though she also excelled at the piano. Blossom was also a great athlete, and won the top prize at the school’s 1920 tennis tournament.

When Blossom was 18 years of age, census records note that her family sometimes used the last name ‘Davis’.

When Blossom married, she took the last name Agnew.

Smith, Laura

  • AR-008
  • Person
  • 1952-2020

Laura Smith was raised in London, Ontario. She first became interested in music at 19 years old when she began teaching herself to play the piano and guitar. Laura had already been writing poetry for some time and began putting these pieces to music. During these early years, she performed songs at Smale’s Pace, a coffee house in London, Ontario where she also worked as a waitress.

In the 1970s, Laura moved to Toronto where she remained for nearly a decade. During this period, she was able to pursue self-study opportunities at the Royal Conservatory of Music and at York University where she took the Jazz program. She also continued to write songs and supported herself by working in various secretary, clerk, and personal assistant positions. Many of these part-time and summer jobs were with theatre, talent and production companies, instilling an interest in musical theatre.

In 1984, Paul Cranford, a friend who was a lighthouse keeper and fiddler invited her to live with him in Cape Breton Island for a change of pace. For the next four years, Laura lived in the communities around St. Anns Bay, working as a cook at a silviculture camp and performing at cèilidhs and with a local theatre group. She was on the Board of Directors for Theatre 200 which was based in Sydney, NS.

Laura eventually decided to move to Halifax, a move that propelled her musical career. She regularly played at the Flamingo Club (later known as Pub Flamingo) on Gottingen St. on Monday nights, and with the support of the CBC recorded Elemental in 1989 which was rereleased as her debut self-titled album in 1992 under a different label. She recorded and coproduced her second album, b’tween the earth and my soul with her partner David Hillier. It was released in 1994 to critical acclaim and brought on several radio and television appearances as well as a national headline tour and festival performances. A third album, it’s a personal thing was recorded in Hubbards and released in 1997. A compilation album was released in in 1998 after which Laura took a break from recording music, her next album Everything is moving releasing in 2013.

Laura has been nominated and has won numerous awards for her music, including two East Coast Music Awards, two Juno nominations, a Gemini award and an additional six ECMA nominations. In 2003, Laura received an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Mount Saint Vincent University. Throughout the 2000s, Laura continued to perform music and theatre and at one point pursued a Music Therapy degree but had to drop out due to health reasons.

Laura Smith passed away from cancer on March 7, 2020 in Mahone Bay, NS.

O'Neill, Patrick

  • AR-009
  • Person
  • 1940 -2006

Patrick O'Neill was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1940. He married Mora Dianne O'Neill in 1967 and had two sons, St. John and Brendan. O'Neill obtained a Bachelor of Arts in History from St. Jerome's College, University of Waterloo in 1967, a Master of Arts in Theatre from the University of South Dakota in 1969, and a Ph.D. in Theatre from Louisiana State University in 1973.

O'Neill was a leading scholar in Canadian theatre history and published extensively. In 1995 he received the Richard Plant Essay Prize from the Association for Canadian Theatre Research. In 2002 he received an Award for Research Excellence from Mount Saint Vincent University. In 2004 he received a Fulbright Research Fellowship, awarded by The Department of State, Washington.

O'Neill worked as an Assistant Professor (1972-1975) at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and as an Assistant Professor (1975-1980), Associate Professor (1980-1993), and Professor (1993-2006) at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He also worked as a Visiting Fellow (1982-1983) at Royal Holloway College, at the University of London, and as an Associate Professor, Part-time (1987-1991) at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

During his time at Mount Saint Vincent University O'Neill served in numerous positions, including Director of Research and International Liaison Officer (2002-2004), Coordinator, Speech and Drama (1975-2002), and as a member of the University Senate (2002). O'Neill also served on numerous committees, including the University's Tribute Committee (1999-2006), University Review Committee (1998-1999), and the Exceptional Service Awards Committee (1998-2006). Patrick O'Neill was also involved with various drama presentations. In addition to his work at the University, O'Neill served as a member of the Nova Scotia Innovation Trust (2002-2004), as a member of the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation (2002-2004), as a Maritime Representative (1998-2000) and Treasurer (1982-1984) for the Association for Canadian Theatre Research, and as a member of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Research Committee for Architecture, Fine Arts, Drama (1993-1995). O'Neill also served as a parliamentarian for the Registered Nurses Association of Nova Scotia (1984-1998) and the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia (1996), as well as an External Reviewer for SSHRC applications (various years) and as an External Examiner for a University of Toronto Ph.D. thesis, a McGill University M.A. thesis, and a University of Saskatchewan M.A. thesis. O'Neill died in Ireland in 2006.

Cormier, Helen Agnes

  • AR-010
  • Person
  • 1895-1972

Helen Agnes Kelly was born June 11, 1895 in Halifax. She was the 10th of 11 children born to John F. and Mary Kelly. Her father was the founder of Kelly's Ltd. and former Deputy Mayor of the City of Halifax. Helen Agnes was a student at St. Patrick's school before coming to Mount Saint Vincent Academy in 1913. She graduated from the Mount in 1916. She was later a president of the Alumnae Association of Mount Saint Vincent from 1930 to 1932.

During her time at the Academy, she was known among her peers as a gifted student of theology and won a good medal in this discipline in 1915. She was proficient in gymnasium work and was particularly talented during debates, her friends describing her as knowledgeable on many topics and able to express herself clearly and accurately.

Helen passed away on January 29, 1972 in Halifax.

Wright, Ruth Noonan

  • AR-012
  • Person
  • February 1, 1932 - January 19, 2017

Ruth Noonan Wright was born in Halifax on February 1, 1932 as Ruth Noonan. Noonan Wright and her sisters attended Mount Saint Vincent Academy, a girls educational academy run by the Sisters of Charity, a Catholic denomination of nuns. The Academy was non-denominational, but while attending the school, Noonan Wright (born into a Protestant family), adopted the Catholic faith. After graduating from the Academy in 1953 she took steps toward becoming a religious sister but stopped short of taking vows; she remained involved in the Catholic Church until the end of her life.

Noonan Wright returned to Mount Saint Vincent University in 1972 to study Home Economics. She graduated in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics and went on to teach Home Economics in local schools, including Halifax West and Bloomfield. She was also an artist who sold her work at the Nova Scotia Art Gallery. Noonan Wright died on January 19, 2017.

LeBlanc, Suzanne

  • AR-014
  • Person
  • 1956-

Suzanne LeBlanc was born in Moncton, N.B. in 1956 to an Acadian father and American mother with ties to Aberdeen, Scotland. She completed her primary education in French and her high school education in English. In September 1974, Suzanne began her studies at Mount Saint Vincent University where she majored in English and minored in History and French. While at the Mount, Suzanne was the secretary for the university choir, led by Sister Margaret Young. Suzanne remained the choir secretary until she graduated in 1977 but continued to have a life-long passion for classical music.

Suzanne continued her studies at McGill University, graduating with a Master’s in Library Science in 1979. Soon afterwards, she was hired by the Bank of Canada in Ottawa, working primarily in the library but eventually on specific projects concentrating on metadata and digital information in the organization. The metadata standard she created is still largely used at the organization to this day. She had a long and illustrious career with the Bank of Canada, retiring in 2012.

McGowan, Catherine Sarah

  • AR-023
  • Person
  • 1939-1948 (Creation)

Catherine Sarah McGowan, daughter of J.W. McGowan, attended Mount Saint Vincent Academy and was later a student at Mount Saint Vincent College, Halifax, Nova Scotia in the 1940's. In the summer of 1946 she was given the opportunity to work as a junior dietician in the Convalescent Hospital in Montreal, Quebec. In 1948 McGowan graduated from Mount Saint Vincent College with a Bachelor of Science. In 1949 McGowan was employed at the Department of Agriculture doing demonstration work in foods. Catherine later joined the Sisters of Charity and took the name Sister Catherine Joseph Marie. By 1997 Sr. Catherine was running daycare centres--the Jardin de los Ninos, and Centre Elisabeth Seton, and continues to work in the Dominican Republic.

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