Since fall 2022, Archives & Special Collections has been digitizing issues of Acadia’s student newspaper, the Athenaeum, making decades of student perspectives on campus life fully searchable and accessible to the public from anywhere in the world. More than 500 issues are now available online on the Archives & Special Collections digital collections website. We need your help to finish the...
The phrase “six precious souls and a man from Gaspereau” has been attributed to Rev. Dr. John Mockett Cramp, President of Acadia College. After extensive research through multiple collections locally and nationally, Archivist Wendy Robicheau found no written source to prove that he uttered this phrase. He may well have said it, but the written evidence no longer seems to exist. According to...
“Professor Chipman was upon the mainsail, which had got adrift when the boat upset. He was heard to call aloud for help, but none could be rendered. [Charles] Benjamin saw him at about twenty rods distance, a few minutes before Mr. Very sunk: he appeared to be then dead.” (Distressing Calamity, Christian Messenger extra, 11 June 1852, 1) The story told by Charles Benjamin and recounted in the...
No longer called the ‘historical collection’ per se, the archives started by Professor Chipman in 1846 remains at Acadia in both spirit and essence. The provenance of books, published before 1852 and donated to the College, often continues to be a mystery. Information about the donors no longer exists. Archivist Wendy Robicheau explains that Professor Chipman’s influence can still be found. In...
Acadia’s Archives and Special Collections remarkably starts with a letter from Isaac Chipman dated 1846. At that time, there was not even a completed College building to house historical collections. Yet, Professor Chipman was actively seeking donations to document the work of the Baptist Denomination and the colonies of British North America. Archivist Wendy Robicheau found the original letter...
Being only one of two faculty members at Acadia College in 1851/1852, President Cramp performed many of the administrative responsibilities of the College. He and Professor Chipman worked tirelessly to build an endowment and find sponsorships, while maintaining a full teaching load. They must have relied upon each other diligently. Then without warning, Professor Chipman—his passion for learning...
“Brother Very having a taste for geological pursuits felt desirous of obtaining specimens from Cape Blomidon, so well known as Professor Chipman’s favourite resort for that purpose. They agreed to form a party for a visit to the spot.” (Distressing Calamity, Christian Messenger extra, 11 June 1852, 1) Archivist Wendy Robicheau knew little about Rev. Very before this research but soon learned that...
“Soon after [Phalen and Coldwell washed away], Mr. Very was washed off, but he swam to the boat, and was assisted on it by [Charles] Benjamin. He held on by the stern for ten or fifteen minutes, when three heavy seas in succession broke over them, and swept Mr. Very away.” (Distressing Calamity, Christian Messenger extra, 11 June 1852, 1) The story told by Charles Benjamin and recounted in the...
“The remaining four still clung to the boat. They were washed off two or three times, but gained it again. At length, Phalen and Coldwell were washed off together, and rose no more.” (Distressing Calamity, Christian Messenger extra, 11 June 1852, 1) The story told by Charles Benjamin and recounted in the newspaper by Dr. Cramp helps us know that Mr. Coldwell fought the swells but could not keep a...
“The remaining four still clung to the boat. They were washed off two or three times, but gained it again. At length, Phalen and Coldwell were washed off together, and rose no more.” (Distressing Calamity, Christian Messenger extra, 11 June 1852, 1) The story told by Charles Benjamin and recounted in the newspaper by Dr. Cramp helps us know that Mr. Phalen was swept away from the boat and sank....
