Endowments; Library finance; Traveling libraries; Newfoundland and Labrador; International Grenfell Association
Format
correspondence
Genre
Business correspondence
Date
[1905?]
Physical Description
microfilm, 16 mm, b&w
Note (Reel no.)
Reel 82
Note
PDF may contain multiple grant documents.
Library work in Labrador
The International Grenfell Association (IGA) is an organization founded by Sir Wilfred Grenfell to provide health care, education, religious services, and rehabilitation and other social activities to the fisherman and coastal communities in northern Newfoundland and the coast of Labrador. Prior to 1892, there were no medical facilities or personnel along the coast of Labrador aside from a Moravian Mission that provided basic medical care and an occasional doctor that the Labrador government sent on a mail ship. Sir Grenfell undertook a medical expedition in 1892 on the hospital ship the Albert. He saw medical and living conditions that appalled him, including settlements that had been wiped out by diphtheria. In response, he developed a network of regional hospitals and nursing stations. The first hospitals were built at Battle Harbour in 1893 and Indian Harbour in 1894. By the 1960s, the network had extended into the interior of Labrador. The IGA was incorporated in Canada on January 10, 1914, under the Companies Act of 1899." [SOURCE: "International Grenfell Association." Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Grenfell_Association. Accessed 27 Sep. 2018.] "AN OUTLINE HISTORY ...1905—A doctor was appointed at the request of the people on the Canadian Labrador, with headquarters at Harrington, near Cape Whittle, on the north side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The first schooners were built at the lumber mills, which is now flourishing, and helping to maintain some one hundred families. Two consulting surgeons from Boston Universities visited us during the summer to help in the work. Through the generosity of Mr. Andrew Carnegie, between thirty and forty small portable libraries were distributed along the coast, containing from 50 to 100 books in each..." [SOURCE: Grenfell, Wilfred Thomason, Sir, 1865-1940. The Grenfell Association of America for Aiding Philanthropic Work Among the Deep Sea Fishermen of Labrador: Henry Van Dyke, President. New York?, 1910, pp. 10-11. HathiTrust, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015028181066. Accessed 27 Sep. 2018.]