Magda and I travelled to Port Hope this weekend to research The Crier of Port Hope.
We met with John Miller at his office in Toronto on Friday. Before the interview, he said “I wish I had thought of that idea,” which was welcome encouragement for our project. He told us the story of the Local Newspaper Committee and how they started and ran a newspaper, The Crier, for a year and a half.
John also gave us copies of some of The Crier issues and a T-shirt.
On Saturday we drove to Port Hope. After arriving, we explored the town until the archives opened. In the little brick building that houses the Port Hope Archives, we spent two hours flipping through the five boxes of papers, taking notes.
The e-mail communications we particularly interesting because it gave us a feel for the discussions the criers had at the time.
We had to rush back up Ridout Street to the Winchester Arms to meet up with Bill Edwards, one of the Crier founders, and Sophie Kniesel, who became editor after a few issues. We chatted with them and listened to their stories of what Bill calls “a great adventure.”
Tuesday morning, now back in Waterloo, we interviewed Denis Smith, who now lives in Ottawa, on the telephone.
Soon, I’ll put up some photos of our trip and we’ll post more about our research on the Crier.
- Port Hope bound 3 Feb 2009