News release

Nova Scotia Archives Celebrates National Mining Week

Tourism, Culture and Heritage (Dec. 2003 - Jan. 2011)

The Nova Scotia Archives has launched a comprehensive new Internet resource to coincide with National Mining Week celebrations, May 8-14.

Men in the Mines uses archival material to explore three centuries of mining activity in Nova Scotia, from the discovery of coal at Port Morien, Cape Breton Co., in 1720 to the Westray Explosion in 1992.

"Mining and its related industries employ thousands of men and women in Nova Scotia and contribute enormously to the province's economic development and prosperity," said Judy Streatch, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage. "This new resource is a testament to the significance of our mining heritage within the national story."

Hundreds of historical photographs, personal documents, government records, documentary artworks and published items have been digitized and made available online as a tribute to the province's mining industries and to the men, women and children who have lived the mining life.

The new website explores traditional mineral resources such as coal, gold, iron and salt, as well as Nova Scotia's gypsum, sandstone and slate quarries. Life above ground is documented through photographs and records of the people who worked in the mines, the families who supported them, and the rich community life that sustained them.

The province's mining disasters are recalled through photographs and contemporary published accounts -- rarely-seen items that tell the stories behind catastrophes such as the Drummond disaster in Westville, 1873, the Dominion No.12 explosion in New Waterford, 1917, and the three Springhill disasters of 1891, 1956 and 1958.

The most heavily visited area of the new website will likely be a fully searchable fatalities database containing 2,500 names for the years 1838-1992 -- the most complete list yet compiled of information on fatal accidents in Nova Scotia's mines and quarries.

Men in the Mines was developed with assistance and content from the Museum of Industry in Stellarton and the Beaton Institute at Cape Breton University, in Sydney.

The new resource is presented in both official languages, and was funded in part by the Canadian Culture Online Program of Canadian Heritage, via the Library and Archives of Canada and the Canadian Council of Archives.

Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management acquires, preserves and makes available the province's documentary heritage. Men in the Mines: A History of Mining Activity in Nova Scotia, 1720-1992 is available on the archives' website at www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/meninmines/.