Lynn Jones African Canadian & Diaspora Collection

Saint Mary’s University, in cooperation with Dr. Lynn Jones (C.M.), African Nova Scotian leader and activist, now proudly houses The Lynn Jones African Canadian & Diaspora Heritage Collection in the University Archives.

The Collection documents the lives of Lynn, her family, and over 50 years of African, African Diasporic and African Nova Scotian heritage and history. 

Key parts of the collection include materials on:

• civil rights and social justice struggles in Halifax, Canada and beyond
• Lynn’s career as an athlete, politician, union activist, and work as an election observer for the 1994 South African Presidential election of Nelson Mandela
• the activism of Lynn’s brother, Burnley “Rocky” Jones and many others
• thousands of news clippings, programs, reports and other material documenting Black life (e.g. the histories of local Black communities and institutions, an obituary collection, news coverage of local and international racial segregation and apartheid, clippings on famous athletes and environmental racism).

Who might use the Collection?

Researchers, community members tracing a family tree, educators and students, community organizers….

Are you new to using archives, or want a better idea of how to access the collection? Take a look at our Lynn Jones Collection Fact Sheet designed for first-time users of the Archives.

Learn more about the collection

This 30-minute video interview:  "A Conversation with Lynn Jones on the Lynn Jones African-Canadian & Diaspora Heritage Collection" (2021), provides much more detail about the collection and the work behind it, in the words of Dr. Lynn Jones herself. (Producers Val Johnson & Joel Plaskett, Filming Mike Hall; Editing Mike Hall & Joel Plaskett; Interview Sawyer Carnegie; Oversight & Inspiration Dr. Lynn Jones; Archival Support Hansel Cook & Walt Tanner; Funding Office of the Vice-President, Saint Mary’s University)

Accessing the collection:

• The collection can be viewed in-person at the Saint Mary's University archives: hours of operation, contact information, and location.
• A finding aid that includes more detail on the collection and its background can be found on the MemoryNS website.
• A Lynn Jones fonds inventory , including a list of files organized by subjects, has been prepared by archives staff.
• Our library's digital repository includes scanned samples of both archival material from Lynn's personal collection and a small example of the newspaper clipping collection.

 

Citing the Collection

 

All references to the collection, or items in the collection, should identify it as:

     The Lynn Jones African Canadian & Diaspora Heritage Collection, Saint Mary’s University Archives, Patrick Power Library, accession number 2016.001.1.

If you are citing specific items, you should also include the box number, series name, and file name as appropriate.

Information on citing archival material using various citation standards can be found in the library’s Style Guides and Citations page.

 

Learn about supporting work with the Collection

Discover how your donations to The Lynn Jones African Canadian & Diaspora Heritage Collection will be used to support student research in and work with the Collection, event planning and publicity linked with the Collection, and community honoraria for work with the Collection