By SABRINA SKINNER
the Georgian
There are many festivals, events, scenic spots and historic sites that bring tourists to Bay St. George every year. Potential for big draws remain, and many consider the late Gilbert Higgins’ collection of historical items and ephemera to be an undeveloped treasure.
Mr. Higgins was a librarian, historian, archivist, collector, and educator who gathered and preserved much of the history of Bay St. George over his many years residing in Stephenville.
He was born a natural collector, as his father, Senator John Gilbert Higgins also collected papers, books, photographs and artifacts. The senator was involved in Newfoundland politics and campaigned against confederation with Canada in the late 1940s, became the province’s first Leader of the Opposition, and was named a Canadian Senator in 1959.
After the Senator’s death in 1963, Mr. Higgins gave much of his father’s archives to Memorial University. The university described it as, “almost all aspects of Newfoundland life in the first 60 years of the 20th Century may be glimpsed or illuminated in the papers of John Gilbert Higgins.”
With this in mind, one can only wonder what the younger Higgins’ personal collection might contain.
Stacks of boxes
The boxes containing the bulk of Gilbert Higgins’ collection have had a bit of a journey since Mr. Higgins’ death in November 1998. It has been housed in several locations, the most recent of which was a mystery to some – even those in the charge of its care.
The Georgian spoke with several people belonging to several different groups who had the collection in their care at one time or another – and no one person seemed to know its current location. A key to a room passed on from one person to a local service group revealed an empty room, the Georgian was told.
But tucked away in an upstairs room at the back of a former cargo storage hanger at Stephenville Airport sit the piles of boxes containing Mr. Higgins’ treasures, including boxes of books and letters. There are bookshelves stacked with magazines and literary journals. There are hats, bottles, commemorative mugs, even a pair of figure skates.
One thing that seems to be lacking is much, if any, organization to the piles of boxes and ephemera.
Significant collection
Sorting out Gilbert Higgins’ collection is something that’s been much talked about in the Bay St. George area over the years.
Several service groups, most recently Stephenville Rotary Club, have been involved in discussions about using the collection as a basis for a museum.
But before that could be done, the items contained in the collection first need to be properly archived.
Greg Walsh, provincial archivist and director of the Rooms provincial archives and museum in St. John’s, is aware of Mr. Higgins’ collection and says he definitely sees a worth in trying to preserve the things Mr. Higgins gathered and collected.
While he says he’s never seen the collection himself, some of Mr. Walsh’s colleagues have, and they’ve noted to him it contains interesting things.
“I don’t know what’s in the collection, but if what I think is there is there, it’s probably one of the most significant collections of west coast material,” says Mr. Walsh, “Just because of the date range from when he was collecting. The 50s, 60s and 70s at a time when Newfoundland itself was undergoing great change.”
While there have been no inquiries made to the Rooms to Mr. Walsh’s knowledge about the care of the collection, he says steps are usually taken to preserve such things.
“The ideal storage for paper-based documents is cool temperatures, so a climate controlled space,” he says. “A space which has humidity control in it to prevent the growth of mould. The cooler the better and dark, of course, because light tends to fade certain documents, particularly newer inks.”
Mr. Walsh says the Rooms receives requests from community groups looking to preserve and store documents.
“Having the word provincial in our mandate and being the provincial archives part of our mandate is to offer advisory services to similar groups or even to individuals.”
A permanent home
Dorm Chipp, Stephenville resident and former Rotarian, says he got to know Mr. Higgins and was interested in starting a local museum with the late archivist’s collection.
“We had a little group called, ‘tempus fugit carpe diem,’” he says. “Which is Latin for time flies, seize the day – or something like that. And that was Gilbert.”
Mr. Chipp says he and another friend worked with Mr. Higgins on a couple of local history-related projects. He always hoped something would come of the collection Mr. Higgins left in the town.
“On behalf of Rotary, I was going to put together a museum committee,” he says. “Then I left and went overseas and I’ve been gone for a year and so on.”
While a lot of people’s efforts and time may have gone into finding space for Mr. Higgins’ collection over the years, the larger task remains in deciding what should be done with it in the long-term and if should be put on some sort of display.
Mr. Walsh says his recommendation, if he were asked to give one, would be to preserve the collection for future generations.
“I haven’t seen it, I haven’t even seen an inventory of it, but I know people who have and they certainly would vouch for it,” he says.
“The bottom line is if it is not available to the public and if it’s in danger of being lost or damaged or stolen or anything, it needs to go somewhere physically where it can be preserved and made available.”
After Mr. Higgins retirement as head librarian at the Kindale Public Library, he devoted much of his time to the Port au Port/Bay St. George Heritage Association.
One year before his death, Mr. Higgins told Evening Telegram reporter Jean Edwards Stacey that his goal as chair of the heritage association was to establish an archive/museum where all of his “stuff” would find a permanent home.
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