Besides being extremely generous to the community with her immense donation, Marjorie is a very remarkable woman. This 82-year-old has been visiting the Faculty of Arts facility at Memorial University, regularly since the mid-1990s. Her project is tracing her family tree and identifying those she calls “my people.” In some cases she has gone as far back as 12th century England and maybe even further by now.
Dr. Ragosta is the daughter of Ella Freeman of Champney’s West. The home she donated was one that she had purchased for her mother to enjoy on her trips back home. She began tape recording the reminiscences of her family when accompanying her mother during those visits to Newfoundland in the 1980s, from their home in New York.
“When [my mother] was visiting, the family would talk about growing up together, the things they remembered, and after a while I got smart enough to bring a tape recorder. I would ask questions – what were Sundays like? What did you eat? Where did you go with your boyfriends?”, she says.
Eager to extend her research, Marjorie went from tape recording and transcribing family interviews to examining local church records in Bonavista. When she had exhausted that route she visited the QEII library. They then directed her to the Maritime History Archives: “I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I walked in these doors.” she states. Her genealogical data will find a permanent home in the Maritime History archive. Read more on her wonderful story here.
 |
| Dr. Marjorie Ragosta, hard at work in her favourite place |
The hard work and perseverance that has been demonstrated by Marjorie is seen as a guiding influence and an anchor from which to maintain an on-going work that will help to bring history into today. Due to her influence numerous other actions have taken place that will lead to a continual interest in history of the area and its preservation.
During 2008 - 09, the local members of the Heritage Society embarked on a fund raising drive and garnered support from government departments to restore the house in traditional flair. This was successfully concluded. Yet, even before the house restoration efforts the volunteers began a quest to gather additional information and collect artifacts from the local area, a quest that continues today.
A big part of fact finding work was conducting direct interviews with our oldest residents, aimed at recording history using the words of those who remembered it. These records will compliment the research of Dr. Ragosta and together will always be preserved at the Ella Freeman Memorial Heritage House as recorded history to which future generations can add.
Today the museum contains an artifact display, an audio/visual display, and an in depth written history of the people and the place. There is a vast amount of written materials and numerous pictures of early settlement circa 1675 and up to today.
In Marjorie, the people of Champney's West have an excellent role model and an example to follow in their collective quest to research and record the history of the settlement of Salmon Cove, along with the roots of its people. This guidance combined with the hard work and determination of volunteers will help ensure that a "wee" but important part of the history of Newfoundland and Labrador will survive long into the future.
The Heritage Society continues to actively conduct fund raisers and research activities. The group ensures that the museum will protect the history of the people. The goal of the volunteers is to preserve history and help to educate future generations about their past and their individual family roots.
A Glimpse Inside and Outside the Museum
The picture above shows now the heritage house as it looked in 1964 – Top right. A crowd is gathering at the old club hall as seen in this photo. The Jubilee Club Hall no longer exists.
An old washing machine owned by Amy Hookey the oldest living resident of Champney’s She is 103 years young and until recently kept her own house by herself, complete with her wood fired cook stove. Another remarkable woman of Champney’s Island!
This is one of hundreds of historic pictures in the Heritage House - Showing old time fishing boats and stages in the harbor. Trap skiffs with make and break engines and row boats - "punts"
Ella Freeman Memorial Heritage House - taken after restoration work was complete
Come by and visit Champney's West and make sure to spend some time in the Heritage house. See the pictures of early years, old tools, furniture etc. and read the many documents. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this page. I am still learning a lot about our wee home town and I have to say there is some amazing history to read about. I can't tell you more as I don't want to spoil the surprise! Thanks all!
No comments:
Post a Comment