The Dalhousie University Archives is the owner of a fascinating collection of 45,000 glass plate, film negatives, and prints from the Waldren Studios of New Glasgow and Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

Approximately 90% of these negatives are portraits, nearly all of which are identified and dated. A number of the portraits represent some of the earliest photos of black Nova Scotians from Pictou, Antigonish and Guysborough Counties. Many of the remaining photos are local scenes, a few of which were taken in New Glasgow before the fire in 1874 which devastated the town. Read more about the history of the Pictou and Antigonish counties here.

The photos show coal mining, shipbuilding and other local industries in action. Portraits of family groups, sports teams, social clubs and school groups are also well represented. View brief profiles of the following selected communities represented in the Waldren collection:

The majority of the photographs are in the form of glass photonegatives. To learn more about the history of photography, and what being a photographer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries meant, click here.