Members of the Council of Nova Scotia Archives

Curated by the Council of Nova Scotia Archives

The Council of Nova Scotia Archives (CNSA) is a professional association for archives and archivists in Nova Scotia. The CNSA was founded in 1983 by a core group of 25 institutions, organizations, and individuals interested in creating a network of archives throughout the province. Today the CNSA has nearly 100 members representing community archives and museums; university and religious archives; municipal archives; the provincial archives; and heritage associations. This tour tells some of their stories – how they came to be, their founding members, and in some cases, the historic buildings they call home.


This tour will grow and change as we add new stories about to Historic Nova Scotia about CNSA members.

The Beaton Institute Archives, Cape Breton University

The Beaton Institute, and its predecessor Cape Bretoniana, has served as the regional archives for Cape Breton Island/Unama’ki for over six decades. The Beaton Institute collects and preserves the social, economic, political, and cultural history of…

Father Charles Aucoin (1911-1999)

Cliquez ici pour la version française Born in Chéticamp in 1911, the late Father Charles Aucoin completed his grade 11 at Our Lady of Annunciation (now NDA) school in Chéticamp before pursuing his post-secondary education at Collège Sainte-Anne (now…

Chestico Museum and Archives

In the spring of 1978, the senior high students of Port Hood Consolidated School put on a series of performances of William Gibson's three act play, The Miracle Worker. The majority of furnishings and artifacts for the set came from an historic local…

The Age of Sail Museum and Archives

The Age of Sail Museum and Archives has come a long way since it first opened in 1994. Located on a tidal river on the site of a post-colonial shipyard, it harkens to the early years of the region. The museum is governed by the Greville Bay…

St. Mary’s Genealogy Research Centre at Sherbrooke Village

The St. Mary's Genealogy Research Centre at Sherbrooke Village is a relative newcomer to the Nova Scotia archival community. It was founded in 2011 by a dedicated group of local genealogists and historians in response to the need to provide a place…

The Cumberland County Museum and Archives

The Cumberland County Museum and Archives first opened its doors in 1981 at Grove Cottage in the heart of Amherst. Grove Cottage was likely built in 1838, shortly after renowned Amherst resident, Robert Barry Dickey (1811-1903), purchased the 14-acre…

Anna Hamilton (1918-2002)

Anna Hamilton was born in Brule Point, Colchester County, in 1918. She received her education at Pictou Academy, the Provincial Normal College, and Acadia University, where she completed her B.A. in 1942 and M.A. in 1954. Anna then went on to teach…

The Science Building

In 1888, the province purchased a farm in Bible Hill (present-day Dalhousie University Agricultural Campus) for the practical education of farming students. In 1892, the new School of Agriculture established its campus on the Provincial Farm. Six…

Halifax Municipal Archives

Halifax Municipal Archives is a relative newcomer to the Nova Scotian archival community, officially opening in 2006. Since the 1970s, the Public Archives of Nova Scotia had acquired historical records from the cities of Halifax and Dartmouth, and to…

The West Hants Historical Society

The West Hants Historical Society was established in 1973 as a volunteer, not-for-profit organization. The Society grew out of the Fort Edward Restoration Committee, which successfully campaigned to open theblockhouse at Fort Edward to the public.…

The Annapolis Heritage Society

The Annapolis Heritage Society dates back to 1967 when a number of local residents organized under the name Historic Restoration Enterprises for the purpose of “acquiring for preservation and display to the general public fine examples of the…

Thomas Isaac Spidell II (1873-1963)

Thomas Isaac Spidell II was born September 4th, 1873 in Maplewood, Lunenburg County, to Thomas Isaac Spidell I and Sarah Abigail Berghaus. He loved to read and often wrote for the Bridgewater Bulletin. Thomas left home when he was sixteen and…

Mahone Bay Museum

The history of the Mahone Bay Museum began in 1979 when The Mahone Bay Founders Society formed to organize the celebration of Mahone Bay’s 225th Anniversary of the settlement in 1754. Various members in the community worked together to plan this…

Judge Mather Byles DesBrisay (1828-1900)

Mather Byles DesBrisay was born in Chester, Lunenburg County, on March 19, 1828 to Lucretia Woodward and Thomas Belcher DesBrisay, M.D. He studied law at Dalhousie University and was admitted to the bar in 1851, practicing his profession in Halifax…

The South Shore Genealogical Society

The South Shore Genealogical Society (SSGS) was created in 1979 to identify, search out, collect, preserve, copy, and organize, any and all information regarding to genealogical research on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. The SSGS's holdings…

Yarmouth County Museum and Archives

The Yarmouth County Museum officially opened its doors on June 9th, 1969, at 22 Collins Street, right in the heart of the Collins Heritage Conservation District. It is dedicated to the memory of Major Daniel and Alvina Murphy, who, two years earlier,…

The Centre acadien at Université Sainte-Anne

Cliquez ici pour la version française The Centre acadien was founded in 1972 by J. Alphonse Deveau, one of the pioneers in the field of Acadian studies in Nova Scotia. He collected an large quantity of documents and objects about Acadian culture for…