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Sir John Coape Sherbrooke Heritage Award - 2007
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2007 Sir John Coape Sherbrooke Heritage Award
Two individuals who have played a significant role in the development of the Sherbrooke Village restoration were honoured on June 23, 2007 the 4th edition of the Sir John Coape Sherbrooke Heritage Awards.
In 2007,we honored Mrs. Jennie Cruickshank (posthumously) & Dr. John Grant.
Mrs. Jennie Cruickshank
Jennie Cruickshank knew that Sherbrooke had a history to tell. She knew that the Sherbrooke of 1964 was an enduring illustration of the Sherbrooke of 1864 - a town that stood the test of time, a physical and historical preservation, an inheritor of Nova Scotia’s rich cultural heritage. Jennie Cruickshank, with her exuberant pride of home and the sincerest appreciation of her community’s story, was determined to see the revival of her unassuming town’s not so commonplace past.
It was this sense of pride and community that led Jennie to take interest in the grass-roots community movement to create a restoration in Sherbrooke. From that first citizen’s meeting in December 1964 at the Royal Canadian Legion that discussed the possibility of the development of a cultural attraction, to endless letters and correspondence with provincial government officials as secretary of the Sherbrooke Restoration Commission, Jennie’s commitment and dedication to the fruition of Sherbrooke Village has brought the Restoration to its current reality. Sherbrooke Village is now the largest site in the NS museum family, the premiere tourist attraction on the Eastern Shore, a key community employer, the heart and core of the Sherbrooke community and a unique and authentic representation of the Nova Scotia experience.
Reading through the letters upon letters of correspondence Jennie drafted to provincial government officials, we see her perseverance and dedication with the restoration project, and her ambition to rally and persuade the local community and the provincial powers to realize the potential of Sherbrooke Village. Jennie’s characteristic ‘gumption’, her hard work and her determination pervade her life story. As the first woman president of the Maritime Branch of the Canadian Postmasters’ Association, and, subsequently, national vice-president, Jennie lobbied to improve wages and working conditions for post office employees. A Sherbrooke post-mistress for 33 years, Jennie began her career as a wireless operator with Western Union Telegraph, and later as a school-teacher for 8 years. In Jennie’s résumé, however, you’ll find a lengthy list of jobs that received no recompense or seniority. Foremost a mother and wife, Jennie’s family was her priority and focus. A woman who was devoted to serving others, Jennie Cruickshank volunteered tirelessly throughout the church and community. From President and Secretary of the Sherbrooke Women’s Institute, to Cub Leader, to school trustee, to 69 years service for the St. James Presbyterian Church as choir member and organist, to visiting residents in the local nursing home, Jennie exemplifies the values of dedication, compassion and service to others.
From Sherbrooke Village’s initial conception, Mrs. Cruickshank had been a driving force in the establishment of this valuable part of Nova Scotia culture and identity.
As Restoration Committee secretary, and as eventual Chairman of the Sherbrooke Village Commission, Jennie Cruickshank tirelessly dedicated her time and effort in ensuring that Sherbrooke Village became a reality. Because of her diligence and resolve in moving the Restoration Committee forward and beyond towards their vision of a cultural and heritage attraction and in the conservation of the past, Jennie Cruickshank is formally recognized for her faithfulness and commitment to the formation and preservation of Sherbrooke Village and the history of its area.
Jennie Cruickshank has often said that working with the Sherbrooke Village Restoration Project has been her privilege. Rather, Jennie Cruickshank has been the honor of the project, as the devoted and invaluable service she has offered has formed an extraordinary (remarkable) part in the legacy of Sherbrooke Village.
Dr. John N. Grant, Ed. D.
Born in Antigonish, N.S. and raised in Guysborough, John N. Grant is a graduate of St. Francis Xavier University, (BA) the University of New Brunswick, (MA – History) Dalhousie University (B.Ed, M.Ed), and the University of Toronto (Ed.D – History). He has taught at the high school level of the public school system, been a Research Associate of the Atlantic Institute of Education, offered courses at the University of Prince Education Island, Saint Mary’s University, and Mount St. Vincent University and between 1984 and 1997 taught at the Nova Scotia Teachers College. He is currently a full professor in the School of Education at St. Francis Xavier University. He has taught courses in Canadian history, the history of Canadian Education, African-Canadian history, the history of ethnic groups and minorities in Canada, and social studies methods.
Dr. Grant received the Faculty Award of the Nova Scotia Teachers College for contribution to students (1990 and 1996, and jointly in 1994 and 1997) and was awarded a Commemorative Medal marking Canada’s 125th anniversary for “contribution to the county”(1993). He has received research grants from St. Francis Xavier University.
He has had over 35 articles published in various journals including the Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly, the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, the Journal of Negro History, Interchange, the History and Social Science Teacher, and the Journal of Education. With P. R. Blakeley he edited Eleven Exiles: Accounts of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Dundurn, 1982) and with R. Anderson and P. McCreath The Canadian Studies Foundation (CSF, 1986). He also wrote Black Nova Scotians (N.S.M., 1980) and The Immigration and settlement of the Black Refugees of the War of 1812 in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (Black Cultural Center, 1990). In 2002, The Maroons in Nova Scotia was published by Formac Press. In 2004 he completed Historic Guysborough: A Portrait of Home published by Nimbus Publishing Company. As Dawson Scholar of the Little White Schoolhouse Museum, 2005-2006, Dr. Grant’s paper “Thoroughly inculcated … with my views”: Alexander Forrester and T. H. Rand was published by the Museum (2006). It was thirty-five years ago (1972) that his The Development of Sherbrooke Village to 1880 was published.
John Grant remembers his time as the historical consultant to the Sherbrooke Village Restoration Commission with pleasure. With Austen Tate and Bob Frame, he participated in developing the plans that are still apparent in the Village today. During the time he wrote a number of reports on the history of various aspects of life in eastern Nova Scotia. He has maintained a connection with the Village over the years through occasional visits, doing a workshop for Village personnel and more recently by being favored with visits to his social studies education classroom by his friend Keith Gallant and other Village administrators. He continues to follow the development of the Village with great interest and support. |
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