Grants-In-Aid

The Helen Creighton Folklore Society invites applications for Grants-in-Aid which are annually evaluated by a Grants-In-Aid Committee.

The GIA Committee supports folklore research from across Atlantic Canada.

Our mandate is broad and inclusive, and we invite funding applications from researchers, scholars and project coordinators of all backgrounds and interests.

These grants are intended to provide encouragement, though not sole support, for research or publication projects.

Priority will be given to innovative projects by students and/or independent researchers or institutions that may not have access to other sources of funding.

We do support repeat applicants, although our goal is always to extend research to new areas of folklore studies, and we offer special encouragement to individuals and groups that may be in the early stages of developing their projects.    

The Society operates on a small budget, and tries to assist as many individuals and institutions as the limited resources will allow.

Grants are normally up to $1000.00 (changed from $750) with the possibility of renewal in subsequent years.

Grant Criteria:

The grant can contribute to:

  • research equipment (the grant is not intended to cover large equipment purchases),
  • field trip projects,
  • editing and illustrating material about to be published.

The grant cannot be used to cover salaries, stipends or honorariums for the research project.

To Apply:

Please submit:

  • a concise and brief description of the project,
  • a detailed budget for the project,
  • a brief resume,
  • one supporting letter from a peer.

If you are a student your application must include two letters from academic supervisors and a transcript together with a concise and brief description of the project and budget for the project.

If you are an administrator of an archival institution or museum your application must outline how the proposal relates to an on-going programme of collection, cataloguing or indexing of materials.

INCOMPLETE AND LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

DEADLINE: the last day of February

There are three ways to apply:

1. Email:

Applications can be sent electronically. Please use the contact form and we will send the HCFS email address for you to apply by email.

2. Mail:

Applications can be sent by mail and must bear a postmark up to the last day of February. Please address to:
The Helen Creighton Folklore Society, Grants-In-Aid Committee
c/o James H. Morrison, Chair
6289 Yale Street
Halifax, NS. B3L 1C9

3.Facsimile/Fax: (902) 420-5141

Announcements will be made by March 31.

Reports:

Successful applicants must submit a report on their project by the last day of February in the following year.

Repeat applicants: no new funding for a project will be considered until a report for the previous application has been received by the GIA Committee.

Previous Awards

2023

  • Ruzhica Samokovlija Baruh, $420, Collecting Balkan Foodways in Newfoundland.
  • Mike Bravener, $1000, Creation of illustrated children’s paperback entitled “The Lumberman’s Alphabet”.
  • Carmen d’Entremont, $900, Collecting oral narratives of Americans with Acadian roots returning to NS.
  • Friends of Little White Schoolhouse Association, $805, Transfer to usable MP3 files of oral history cassette tapes collected from rural Nova Scotia teachers in the 1940’s and 1950’s.
  • Andrea Hubley, $1009, Creation and printing of a short collection of poems drawing on the work of Helen Creighton.
  • Karin Murray-Bergquist,$1000, Creation of a digital ghost ship map of Newfoundland.
  • Sandi Stewart, $900, Collection of oral histories related to boatbuilding and shipbuilding with Shelburne County Museum.

2022 no grants were given for this year due to lack of fundraising opportunities during the pandemic.

2021

  • Rachel Bruch, $800, Research on new Interpretations of Nina Bartley Finn recordings collected by Helen Creighton
  • Keith Gallant, $815, Support for best practices Oral History Workshop for genealogical research in Sherbrooke Village
  • Dylan Jewers, $1,000, Create & release album of new folk recordings

2020

  • Crystal Braye, $800, Society of United Fishermen Oral History Documentation
  • Dylan Jewers, $1,000, Collect and record international cultural music in Nova Scotia
  • Mary Munson, $750, Travel expenses for oral history on Fairy Stories (Acadian,Celtic and Mi’kmaq in Cape Breton)
  • Linda Nicholl, $900, Arrange/describe undocumented personal family letters of Helen Creighton.
  • Anne Osburn, $750, Oral history of Burlington,N.S.
  • Mike Parker, $750, Research photos and text for book on General Stores in Nova Scotia
  • Adelaide Strickland, $300, Oral History of local arts organizations & story telling in Antigonish

2019

  • Shannon Bateman
    $750 Domestic Practices In Harvesting, Splitting Firewood, NFLD
  • Ting Ting Chen
    $750 Outpost Life And Tradition In Elliston, NFLD
  • Dale Jarvis
    $700 Heritage Places In Bay Roberts, NFLD
  • Dylan Jewers
    $750 Vinyl Recordings Of ”Big Turnips” Folk Music, NS
  • Patricia Kemp
    $750 Publication Of “Stories Our Houses Tell”, NS
  • Emma Lang
    $622 Oral History Legacy Of Nova Scotia Fishers Unions, NS
  • Akseli Virratvuori
    $600 On The Pre-Legalization Consumption Of Pot, NFLD
  • Sandi Stewart
    $709 Digitizing Marine Records In Shelburne County, NS
  • Elizabeth Macdonald
    $750 Roots Of The Highland Dance In Nova Scotia, NS

2018

  • Nataliya Bezborodova
    $750 Presentation of research on oral history of an Eastern Orthodox community in Newfoundland
  • Deidre Gillard-Rowlings
    $750 Interviews of two traditional Newfoundland weavers
  • Meghann Jack
    $761 Architecture of Capitalism in Sydney, NS, 1890-1920
  • Queens County Museum
    $748 Documentation of traditions of witchcraft and supernatural belief in Eagle Head, Queens County
  • Alina Sergachov
    $750 Video documentation of 9/11 stories in Gander, NFLD
  • Sandi Stewart
    $750 Collection of data on boat builders in Shelburne, NS

2017

  • Irene Baros-Johnson
    $250 Research for play on prominent African Nova Scotian minister Rev. Richard Preston
  • Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland
    $650 Research on Goats of New Pelican, Newfoundland
  • Sharna Brzycki
    $680 Public web series on craft, traditions and folk ways of tradition bearers in Newfoundland
  • Nataliya Bezborodova
    $750 Oral History of an Eastern Orthodox Christian Community in Newfoundland
  • Marissa Farahbod
    $750 Sharing Stories about life in Newfoundland by old and recent migrants to the province
  • Mummers Festival, NFLD
    $600 Video-recorded stories of contemporary Mummering
  • Gerald Pocius
    $600 Jewish Domestic Architecture in Sydney., NS
  • Julie Mainstone Savas
    $750 Completion of final phase of research on Carrie Grover’s music

2016

  • Joe Ballard,Truro NS
    $750 Concealed Charms in Nova Scotia Homes
  • Bill Bussey, Sydney and Louisburg Railway Historical Society, NS
    $750 OH tapes to digital made public.
  • Aimee Chaulk, Them Days Magazine, Labrador
    $400 Photo ID project using Oral History
  • Mummers Festival, NFLD
    $300 Video recorded interviews of tradition bearers regarding “The Wren Song”
  • Richard Rudnicki, Halifax
    $300 Research materials for illustrated book on Children in Nova Scotia History
  • Gisele Theriault, NS
    $300 Researching distinctive Acadian French in Clare, NS
  • Thea Wilson-Hammond, Lake Charlotte Area Heritage Society & Eastern Shore Players, NS
    $750 A Ghostly Encounter, “Promenade” of Helen Creighton stories on Eastern Shore NS

2015

  • Terra Barrett, St. John’s NFLD
    $750 Petty Harbour Oral History Booklet
  • Ryan Davis, Mummers Festival Coordinator
    $500 Mummers Festival Video, NFLD
  • Kate Dunlay, Halifax
    $400 Music Manuscripts of fiddler James Burns Barry, Pictou County NS
  • Meghann Jack, Memorial University of Newfoundland
    $715 Landscape and Material Life in St. Mary’s, Nova Scotia
    Architectural drawings
  • Joyce Rankin, Sydney, Cape Breton NS
    $725 Kildonan Lives – writing project
  • Jacqueline Ryan, Cupids NFLD
    $750 Weather Lore in Conception Bay North
  • Second Sight Collective: Courtney Harris & Johnny Cann, Halifax
    $750 Bluenose Ghosts Puppetry

2014

  • Shelagh Allen, Lunenburg
    $900 toward an exhibit, Creating Cultural Connections: Cuba,Canada and Cod-Phase II.
  • Cindy Campbell-Stone, Dartmouth
    $825 for costuming for a one-woman show based on life of Catherine Gallagher (an informant of Helen Creighton).
  • Glenn Walton
    $500 for creation of a web-site about the musical “If I Were a Blackbird” (based on the life of Helen Creighton).
  • Jennifer Williams, Labrador
    $750 to photograph Nalujuk Night in Nain, Labrador.

2013

  • Shelagh Allen, Lunenburg
    $790 toward a photographic exhibit of connections between Nova Scotia and Cuba created by the salt cod fishery.
    Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic newsletter article
  • Cindy Campbell-Stone, Dartmouth
    $750, Research on Catherine Gallagher, tradition bearer who worked with Helen Creighton.
  • Shamus MacDonald, Memorial University
    $750, Digitization of reel to reel piano recordings made by Alexander MacLean, Cape Breton.
  • Julie Mainstone, Washington State
    $750, Research for re-publication of Carrie Grover’s A Heritage of Songs, traditional songs of NS and Maine.
    Black River-born woman preserved history through music
  • Mike Parker, Dartmouth
    $500, Preservation of glass and celluloid negatives of life in Bear River, NS 1900-1940’s.
    “Bear River c.1920-1950 as remembered through the camera lens of Ralph Harris”
  • Joan Sullivan, Mike Heffernan
    $300, Oral History research and eventual script development on ‘The Barbershops of St. John’s”

2012

2011

  • Creighton Barrett
    $400.00, Provenance of ethnographic archival collections.
  • Kate Dunlay, Halifax, SMU and CBU
    $750.00, Annotation of the Havilah Jane Thorne Music collection.
    Havilah Jane Thorne’s Music Book (1839)
  • Dale Jarvis
    $750.00, Documenting root cellars and farming techniques.
  • Heather Read
    $750.00, Ceramics and craft in NFLD and Labrador.
  • Courtney Redden
    $750.00, History of Potlotek First Nation, Chapel Island

2010

  • Giulia De Gasperi, Edinburgh
    $750.00 for research on the Italian community in Dominion, Cape Breton.
  • Mike Heffernan, St. John’s, NFLD
    $500.00 for oral history of taxi drivers in St. John’s.
    The Other Side of Midnight: Taxi Cab Stories — at Goodreads
    2013 Rogers Communication Award for Non-Fiction Atlantic Book Award Finalist
  • Courtney Kelsey, Halifax, NS
    $500.00 for a film of Devil’s Island.
  • Jodi McDavid, Memorial University of Newfoundland
    $850.00 to research the Louise Manny collection in Saint John.
  • Robin Messenger, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Corner Brook, NFLD
    $500.00 to collect traditional ecological knowledge on Cape Sable Island.
  • Mike Parker, Dartmouth, NS
    $750.00 to assist with Ghost Islands of the Atlantic book.
    Ghost Islands of Nova Scotia

2009

  • Catherine Arseneau, Cape Breton University
    $800.00 to index and digitize Rita Joe’s work.
  • Giulia De Gasperi, Edinburgh
    $750.00 for history of the Italian Hall, Dominion, Cape Breton.
    La Bella Marca on Cape Breton Island
  • Robert Richard, Université de Moncton
    $750.00 to video traditional square dances in Acadian communities in New Brunswick.
  • Barry Shears, Dartmouth NS
    $750.00 to interview British “Home Children” in Cape Breton.

2008

  • Creighton Barrett, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS
    $700.00 for researching locations of Helen Creighton collections in Canada and the USA.
    From Acetate Disc to Digital Audio: Tracing the Copies of Helen Creighton’s Sound Recordings
  • Karlie King, Memorial University of Newfoundland
    $700.00 for research on Labrador Innu response to Ecological crisis.
  • Sheldon Posen, Canadian Society for Traditional Music
    $500.00 in support for an Ancestry in Song concert.
  • Richard Rudnicki, Halifax, NS
    $550.00 to research and illustrate a children’s book.
    A Christmas Dollhouse — illustrations
  • Darlene Strong, Amherst, NS
    $550.00 for an interpretive display on Blacks in Cumberland County.
    The Life and Times of Sand Hill

2007

  • Georges Arsenault, Charlottetown, PEI
    $500.00 in support for publication of “La Mi-Carême en Acadie”
    La Mi-Carême en Acadie — review of French edition
    2008 Prince Edward Island Book Award
    Acadian Mi-Careme: Masks and Merrymaking — review of English edition
  • Ronald LaBelle, Université de Moncton
    $750.00 in support for CD/Booklet on Acadian Folk Songs from Pubnico and Cheticamp.
  • Richard Spicer, Amherst, NS
    $750.00 for collecting folklore of historic Minudie.
  • Darlene Strong, Amherst, NS
    $750.00 for a research publication on Sand Hill, Cumberland County.
    Sand Hill: Cumberland County’s Historical Black Community

2006

  • Tiber Falzett, Saint Francis Xavier University, NS
    $750.00 to collect Gaelic traditions in the Outer Hebrides.
    Brìgh Chiùil: Aspects of the Vernacular Piping Traditions of Cape Breton and South Uist
  • Ronnie-Gilles LeBlanc, Université de Moncton
    $750.00 for accession of Charlotte Cormier records.
  • Cindy Campbell, Dartmouth, NS
    $1,100.00 Youth in Storytelling Project
  • Terry Eyland, Cole Harbour Heritage Farm Museum
    $750.00 for DVD for schools on Farm Museum.

2005

2004

  • Alison Dyer, St. John’s, NFLD
    $750.00 for oral history of root cellaring in Trinity Bay, Nfld.
  • Joleen Gordon, Nova Scotia Museum.
    $750.00 for oral interviews, collecting original German.
  • Kristin Harris, Memorial University of Newfoundland.
    $425.00 for research on vernacular dance in St. John’s.
  • Stacey MacLean, Memorial University of Newfoundland.
    $750.00 to research milling frolic performances in Nova Scotia.
  • Anita Price, Dartmouth Heritage Museum, NS.
    $750.00 towards an exhibit on Helen Creighton collecting in the Acadian community.
  • Rosalee Peppard, Prospect. NS.
    $750.00 to collect Maritime Folklore with a focus on the female perspective.
  • David Stone, Halifax, NS.
    $325.00 for collecting songs/stories about the Bluenose.

2003

  • Jan Andrews, Story Tellers of Canada, Lanark, ON.
    $750.00 for story-save project interviews with Jim St. Clair.
  • Clary Croft, Halifax, NS.
    $750.00 for exploring witch lore in Nova Scotia.
  • Joleen Gordon, Nova Scotia Museum, Halifax.
    $550.00 to prepare manuscript on Acadian Root Baskets.
    Acadian Root Baskets of Atlantic Canada
  • J. Moreira and D. Sanger, University of Maine.
    $750.00 for interviews with Nova Scotia sword fishermen.
  • Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management, Halifax.
    $735.00 to develop Helen Creighton photo negatives.
  • Anita Price, Dartmouth Heritage Museum, NS.
    $750.00 toward an exhibit for the 75th anniversary of “Farewell to Nova Scotia.”