Figure 1 (above): Dr. Doug Eisner (L) and Dr. Bill MacInnis (R) at the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia on December 12, 2022, about to present two historically significant items to the duty archivist. Dr. Eisner is holding a copy of the first Faculty of Dentistry Calendar for Dalhousie University (1909-10). Dr MacInnis is holding the Barnes’s Dental Society Record for the Nova Scotia Dental Association (1898).
By Dr. Doug Chaytor
AHSAMNS board member representing NSDA
Nova Scotia Dental Association documents of historical significance were accepted by the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia on December 12, 2022 (Figure 1).
Most notable in the group of materials was a Barnes’s Dental Society Record, presented to the Association in 1898 by Dr. George Kerr Thomson and preserved ever since by the NSDA. Dr. Thomson was the then-retiring president. The Record lists names of dentists of Nova Scotia along with their roles and accomplishments. Other materials in the group were such documents as NSDA Annual Reports, Dental Registers 1906-1907, the Dental Act of 1911, and a copy of the first calendar for the Faculty of Dentistry at Dalhousie University (Figure 2).
Members of NSDA saw the register and some other items on display the 2018 annual meeting in Dartmouth, and some members attended an information session on NSDA history at that meeting. Out of this event, past-presidents Dr. Doug Eisner (1972-73) and Dr. Bill MacInnis (1991-92) undertook a major review and sorting of the NSDA historical holdings. They saw their efforts achieve the ultimate objective when they presented the Barnes’s Record and other materials to the duty archivist at the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia on December 12, 2022. In due course, the material will be given accession numbers and will be made accessible to the profession and the public. Most importantly, the material will be appropriately stored.
The Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia is, by necessity, selective in materials it will accept. The NSDA was helped in achieving this acceptance by its membership in the Association of Health Sciences Archives and Museum of Nova Scotia (AHSAMNS).
Rosemary Barbour, Senior Archivist at the Provincial Archives, is a member of the board of directors of AHSAMNS. Rosemary provided guidance throughout the process, including an initial visit and review of the material at NSDA offices. The careful sorting and decision-making work were done by Drs. Eisner and MacInnis. They examined and determined the significance of each historical document. The NSDA Board then decided on what age of materials would be submitted to the Archives and what would continue to be stored by the NSDA.
Initially, the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia had to be convinced of the place of the NSDA in the history of Nova Scotia. The creation of the NSDA under the Dental Act of Nova Scotia contributed to that decision. The final decision was made by a Provincial Archives Acquisition Committee Meeting on November 8, 2022.
Steve Jennex, NSDA Executive Director, has an appreciation for the history of NSDA and the profession of dentistry in general. Steve was a key person in making this all happen (Figure 3).
