If you want to learn more about something, research it.
That鈥檚 the motto of first-year History student Ellie Street. A forward thinker with a keen sense of initiative, Ellie has taken her learning beyond the classroom and into the archives.
Last year, Ellie was on the bus when she picked up the paper and began reading an article about a burial site underneath the old library on Halifax鈥檚 Spring Garden Road. Ellie was so captivated by the article that she missed her stop. Since then, she has traveled to many archives across Halifax to find out more about the topic, and began conducting extensive research on a wide variety of historical events and happenings.
鈥淚鈥檓 an avid historian. We wouldn鈥檛 be here today if it wasn鈥檛 for what happened behind us,鈥� she says.
Piquing her curiousity
Ellie鈥檚 curiosity about history was evident early on in her life. As a child, she recalls burying her mother鈥檚 jewelry in the backyard. 鈥淚 would go back and pretend it was this Egyptian mummified finger or something,鈥� she explains, 鈥渓ike I found the lost treasure of Atlantis.鈥�
Around the same time, Ellie had shocked her parents when she effortlessly made deductions about the Titanic鈥檚 sinking. 鈥淚 loved the Titanic and I figured out with no prior education that the Titanic couldn鈥檛 have crashed into the iceberg if it hadn鈥檛 lit the last two boilers,鈥� she says.
Ellie, who eventually wants to go into museum curatorship, recalls a memorable trip to a science museum in England with her father. 鈥淚 loved it and that鈥檚 when I knew I wanted something to do with museums.鈥�
Well into her teenage years, Ellie鈥檚 love for history never faded. For her 16th birthday, her family bought her a year鈥檚 subscription to National Geographic 鈥斅燼 dream gift for a young history fanatic.
Discovering Halifax
After moving to Canada from England when she was a child, Ellie found herself in Newfoundland and New Brunswick before finally settling in Halifax, where she chose to attend AV俱乐部.
Following the Spring Garden burial site project that jumpstarted her historical fascination, the bulk of Ellie鈥檚 research endeavors have continued to be about Halifax based events. 鈥淚 just love learning about the town that I live in,鈥� she says. 聽
Ellie鈥檚 research topics have included in-depth exploration into poorhouses in Canada, the Sacred Heart school in downtown Halifax and Louisa Collins, a farm girl from Dartmouth in the early 1800s. The topics Ellie explores are usually sparked by conversations introduced in her classes.
鈥淲hen I moved to Canada, I thought [schools] would be very biased to Canadian history. But what I love is it鈥檚 not. I鈥檝e taken an introduction to European History, they have Arabic History, Ancient Studies and so much more. You can pick and choose and I just think it鈥檚 fantastic,鈥� exclaims Ellie.
Ellie conducts the majority of her research at the Public Archives of Nova Scotia and the AV俱乐部 Archives and Special Collections in the Killam Memorial Library.
鈥淚 go to the archives at least three times a week,鈥� she explains.聽 鈥淎nd I research two out of the three days that I go there.鈥�
The Victoria General Hospital is the next research project on Ellie鈥檚 list. She is eager to get researching, as the hospital was previously used as a psychiatric hospital over a century ago. Ellie hopes to continue discovering more about the history of the city over her next three years at AV俱乐部.
鈥淚 know what I eventually want to do. It鈥檚 getting there that鈥檚 the fun part.鈥�