The MtA Archives are responsible for preserving paper documents, photographs, electronic records, maps, films, artifacts, and more resources produced by the university and its predecessor institutions dating back to 1839 when Charles F. Allison formalized the creation of Mount Allison
The Archives is also responsible for non-university records created by individuals, businesses, or organizations that have helped to shape the Tantramar region
Archival documents have significant and enduring administrative, legal, financial, or historical value
Visit the MtA Archives website for more information
MtA’a largest Special Collections are:
Among the smaller holdings are a collection of Newfoundlandia, collections of literature by John Galt and Will R. Bird, and other rare books
The Mount Allison Libraries also makes available the Chignecto Isthmus: Its History and Culture, an index to historical material on the people and places of the Isthmus of Chignecto held by the R. P. Bell Library
Elizabeth Millar, Special Collections and Rare Books Librarian
emillar@mta.ca | 506-364-2386
The Edgar and Dorothy Davidson Collection of Canadiana includes early imprints on Canadian history and culture. Housed in the Davidson Room on the third floor of the University library, these items from Dr. Davidson's personal library collection were given to the university over a period of years
The catalogue is available online and in print in the R.P. Bell Library: Z1365. R34 1991 REF
The Bell Collection of Acadiana materials are concentrated on the land area of historic Acadie including the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, as well as eastern Maine to the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers
The primary time focus is prior to 1945, although selected material for the later period is also collected
This collection was established in 1967 with a gift of the private research library of Winthrop Pickard Bell, and presently has over 14,000 volumes in all languages and in all formats. An active acquisitions programme is maintained through support from the endowment for the W.P. Bell Chair in Maritime Studies. It is housed in the Rare Book Room on the Main floor of the R. P. Bell Library
Winthrop Pickard Bell graduated from Mount Allison in 1904 with a degree in mathematics. Dr. Bell went on to do work in engineering and philosophy, receiving a doctorate from the University of Gottingen in 1914. He was in Germany at the outbreak of the war, and was subsequently required to spend the next four years in an internment camp at Ruhleben. After the war he spent some time doing diplomatic work in Europe for the British government
A lifetime of interest in the history of the Maritimes culminated in the publication of a major history of settlement in Nova Scotia: The Foreign Protestants and the Settlement of Nova Scotia, published by University of Toronto Press in 1961
Explore the Bell Collection of Acadiana LINK TO COLLECTIONS set when done
The Mary Mellish Archibald Memorial Library is a collection of folk-music, folklore, ballad literature, folk-life, art song, and college songs. The focus of the older material is largely English-language publications relating to these subjects in Canada, the British Isles and the United States. In later years there has been an increasing focus on folklore and folklife material from around the world
The Collection was begun by Dr. Raymond Clare Archibald in 1905, to honour his mother Mary Mellish Archibald, who had been the Preceptress (Principal of the Ladies College) at Mount Allison. Dr. Archibald was a graduate of Mount Allison and taught both violin and mathematics before going on to Brown University where he taught mathematics. He was also responsible for developing a mathematics library at Brown
The Collection holds over 12,000 volumes, most housed in the Mary Mellish Room on the third floor of the R. P. Bell Library; the journals can be found on the basement floor
The Collection is supported by an endowment which was begun by Dr. Archibald in 1905
Explore the Mary Mellish Folklore Collection LINK TO COLLECTIONS set when done
The Chignecto Database is an index to the historical material on the people and places of the Isthmus of Chignecto in items held in various collections within the R. P. Bell Library
Materials indexed include: books, pamphlets, maps, newspapers, journal articles, government publications and images. The major focus at present is on the settlements of Sackville and area, Point de Bute, Port Elgin, Cape Tormentine, the great Tantramar Marsh, and Forts Beausejour and Lawrence. Other areas on the Isthmus are represented in a lesser way, but the intention is to add material as time permits
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