Written by: Monika Seymour Saturday, July 03, 2010
Recently, Chief Librarian Monika Seymour and Manager of Adult Reference & Information Services, Andrew Porteus, attended a book launch at Brock University. While this type of activity is not unusual for librarians, the book itself is quite remarkable. The book, Covering Niagara: Studies in Local Popular Culture, edited by Brock University professors Joan Nicks and Barry Grant, grew out of a grant received by the Popular Culture Niagara group at Brock University. They held an initial conference in 2002, and a second meeting in 2006. Andrew Porteus submitted a paper on the art & poetry of early Niagara Falls. The culmination of 8 years of research and work now is the publication of Covering Niagara. (Andrew also created the index for this book). Each of the book's 15 chapters deals with a specific aspect of popular culture in the Niagara Region, grouped into 5 general subject areas – including food and drink (an early cookbook of Grimsby, Niagara wines, public drinking and entertainment in post-Prohibition Niagara), to public showings (Victorian Toronto “society” migrating to Niagara-on-the-Lake for the summer, The St. Catharines monument to Pte. Watson, killed in the Northwest Rebellion); to local arts (Kenny Wheeler & local jazz, the Niagara Artists Centre). There are several sections that deal directly with Niagara Falls. Marian Bredin writes about the Indian Village that existed for a number of years on Portage Road. Jeannette Sloniowski and Joan Nicks have written two of the chapters – one on Hollywoodization and movie going in Niagara Falls in the 1920s, the other on minstrel shows and theatres in Niagara Falls; and Norman Ball writes on early power generation in Niagara Falls and the transformation of the domestic role in Fort Erie through the cooking school at the Canadian Niagara Power Company. Many local residents were interviewed for these chapters, in addition to the hundreds of miles of microfilm, the countless books, photographs, postcards, art works, tools, appliances, and other ephemera and artifacts that could possibly shed light on the topic at hand. The authors have brought all of these into a cohesive whole, and have made a tremendously accessible and fascinating look at the popular culture of the Niagara Region. Several of the researchers used the local history collection at the Niagara Falls Public Library extensively and as others before them, commented on how impressed they were at the resources and the helpful and knowledgeable staff they worked with. It is a tribute to the enlightened former staff who initially created and collected the many documents and items that comprise the basis of our current collection, which is maintained and added to by staff today! Local history materials are for reference use in the library. Lending copies of some of the more contemporary and popular books are available to be borrowed, including “Covering Niagara”. Should you be interested in learning more about our local history collection, visit the library website at www.nflibrary.ca and select the “Historic Niagara” link, or contact the library at 905-356-8080.
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