Two representatives of the Sheenboro Archives spoke on a panel Mar. 2 highlighting Irish heritage preservation efforts across the province, explaining the new ways they are trying to document local history in their archives.
Archive volunteers Joann McCann and Lorna Brennan Agnesi spoke on the virtual panel, which was organised by the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network and featured speakers from four different communities across the province.
Brennan Agnesi spoke about her family history growing up in Sheenboro, as well as some of the traditions derived from the original Irish settlers, who came to work in the lumber trade, bringing their music and culture with them.
“My dad was somewhat of an archivist, and he knew a lot about Sheen, and he had a lot of books,” she told THE EQUITY following her presentation, adding that her father inspired her to begin her work archiving the town’s history.
McCann, a historian who has studied the area, said in an interview that one of the things that make the history of the village unique is the style of music that developed in the first homesteads and lumber camps in the mid-1800s.
“They kept the musical traditions going. Square dancing, fiddling, they’ve written their own songs about the place and the families.”
She said they want the archives to reflect that musical tradition by collecting records and cassette tapes of songs that are unique to Sheenboro, many of which Brennan Agnesi has in a collection inherited from her father.
McCann added that while Sheenboro’s Irish history is essential to its identity, there are some hidden histories the archive committee would like to tell using the artifacts housed inside. One of these is the history of women in the community, one she said is often forgotten.
“Yes, men worked in the lumber camps [ . . . ] but let’s tell the story of women,” she said, adding that
Sheenboro’s location at the end of the road and at the start of the lumber camps created a culture of resiliency that extended to the women as well.
McCann said there have been many women with ties to Sheenboro involved in the medical field, including Laura Keon, a nurse who was born in Sheen and who died caring for victims of the Spanish Influenza in Timmins, Ont. during the outbreak of 1918.
“Our archives wants to tackle that,” she said, adding that the committee intends to reach out to the town of Timmins to create a memorial for Keon.
McCann noted other important feminine figures in the community, especially in the musical community.
“Women were the teachers of music and dance,” she said, naming Mildred Perrault as an important teacher who taught dance to youth and teenagers.
McCann said beyond bringing to light of untold stories that grew out of the town’s logging history, she would also like for the archives to build up a file on veterans in preparation for Remembrance Day, as well as preserve knowledge about the Indigenous families that lived in the area.
“We also want to have more knowledge about the Algonquin and Anishnabeg families in Sheenboro, even if they moved up north or into the tributaries,” she said, adding that genealogical research is one of the main reasons people want to visit the archives.
McCann said there is still a lot of work to be done at the archives, and the committee is working on organizing the documents they have collected as well as securing funding for the archives, which will help, among other things, buy a new computer.
Brennan Agnesi said the winter has seen a drop in interest for people visiting the archives, but they are preparing for a busier summer season by organizing and archiving some of the donations they have received, as well as putting out calls for new ones.
“We have some family trees, but we are still missing some,” she said.
To wrap up their presentation about Irish heritage in the Sheenboro area, McCann and Brennan Agnesi spoke about an annual St. Patrick’s Day tradition — music at Chichester’s Regal Beagle pub, which will begin at 5 p.m. on Mar. 17.
