Creighton, Helen National Historic Person

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Photograph taken in Nova Scotia. NFB Photo Story: Song Chaser, Helen Creighton. © Bibliothèque et Archives Canada | Library and Archives Canada /Fonds de l'Office national du film | National Film Board fonds /e011177105
Dr. Helen Creighton
© Bibliothèque et Archives Canada | Library and Archives Canada /Fonds de l'Office national du film | National Film Board fonds /e011177105
on a jetty strewn with lobster pots, William Gilkie of Sambro, N.S., records some songs. © Bibliothèque et Archives Canada | Library and Archives Canada/Fonds de l'Office National du Film | National Film Board fonds/e011177107In the Public Archives of Nova Scotia, Dr. Creighton checks some of the 400 odd tapes deposited there. Originals are lodged in Canada's National Museum in Ottawa. Thanks to her tireless efforts, a colourful part of Canada's storied past has been preserved © Bibliothèque et Archives Canada | Library and Archives Canada/Fonds de l'Office National du Film | National Film Board fonds/e011177104Photograph taken in Nova Scotia. NFB Photo Story: Song Chaser, Helen Creighton. © Bibliothèque et Archives Canada | Library and Archives Canada /Fonds de l'Office national du film | National Film Board fonds /e011177105
Address : 26 Newcastle Street, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Recognition Statute: Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date: 2017-08-18
Life Date: 1899 to 1989

Other Name(s):
  • Creighton, Helen (1899-1989)  (Designation Name)
  • Creighton, Helen  (Historic Name)
Research Report Number: 2016-06

Importance: Pioneering folklorist Helen Creighton amassed one of Canada's largest collections of songs, tales, customs, and material culture between 1928 and 1975.

Plaque(s)


Existing plaque:  26 Newcastle Street, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Pioneering folklorist Helen Creighton amassed one of Canada’s largest collections of songs, tales, customs, and material culture between 1928 and 1975. Her field research, which began near Halifax and extended throughout the Maritime provinces, resulted in more than 4,000 recordings from the British, Acadian, Gaelic, German, African-Nova Scotian, and Mi’kmaw communities. She helped popularize the cultural traditions of the Maritimes through lectures, radio broadcasts, television shows, publications, films about her work, and songs such as “Farewell to Nova Scotia.” Creighton lived most of her life here at Evergreen House.