Helen Creighton
| Helen Creighton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Mary Helen Creighton September 5, 1899 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia |
| Died | December 12, 1989 (aged 90) Dartmouth, Nova Scotia |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | folklorist, author |
| Employer | Rockefeller Foundation Canadian Museum of Civilization, CBC |
| Known for | Collecting songs and stories in the Maritimes |
| Parent(s) | Charles and Alice (nee Terry) Creighton |
| Website | www |
Mary Helen Creighton, CM (September 5, 1899 - December 12, 1989) was a prominent Canadian folklorist. She collected over 4,000 traditional songs, stories, and beliefs in a career that spanned several decades, and she published many books and articles on Nova Scotia folk songs and folklore. She received numerous honorary degrees for her work and was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1976.
Born on Portland Street in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, she developed an early interest in folklore and the super natural. She had a sister who suffered from a mental disability. Between 1914 and 1916 she attended Halifax Ladies College and earned a junior diploma in music at McGill University in 1915. In 1918, she joined the Royal Flying Corps in Toronto and by 1920, she had returned to Nova Scotia as an paramedic with the Red Cross Caravan. She was dean of women at the University of King's College between 1939-41.
In 1928, Creighton returned to Nova Scotia in search of literary material, and met with Dr. Henry Munro, the Superintendent of Education for the Province of Nova Scotia. Munro showed her a copy of Sea Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia by W. Roy MacKenzie and suggested Creighton attempt to find more songs. She began to travel around Nova Scotia, collecting songs, tales and customs of Gaelic, English, German, Mi'kmaq, African and Acadian origin. Frequently, she had to walk or sail to remote regions to satisfy her interest, all the while pushing a metre-long melodeon in a wheelbarrow. Among Creighton's many contributions was the discovery of the traditional "Nova Scotia Song", widely called "Farewell to Nova Scotia", which has become a sort of provincial anthem.
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