The Future of Our Past Council of Nova Scotia Archives

  Les Archives de Centre Acadien
In 1971 the Eudist Fathers, who had founded Université Sainte-Anne nearly a century earlier, tranferred the institution to lay control and Mr. Louis R. Comeau became the new president. Convinced that the institution had a prominent role to play in preserving Acadian identity in the province, Mr. Comeau laid the foundation for a centre whose aim was to promote the Acadian heritage in Nova Scotia. The Centre acadien opened its doors in 1973 with the historian J. Alphonse Deaveau as its first director.
Housed in a one-room facility at the onset, and having as its collection material the Eudist Fathers had collected, the Centre acadien has grown considerably since the 1970s. Its mandate to collect, preserve and diffuse primary and secondary information dealing with the Acadian presence in Nova Scotia has changed little, but the volume of materials has increased substantially.

The archives now occupy an entire floor and the current holdings comprising textual, image and sound archives make the Centre acadien the most diversified Acadian repository in the province. The director from 1981-2000 was Dr. Neil Boucher, who played a strong role in the collection of Acadian records. In the summer of 2000 Dr. Gerald Boudreau was appoined director of the Centre.

Below is an example of the type of record found at Les Archives de Centre Acadien. For a larger view and item details, click on desired image.

  

Marriage certificate of Charles LeBlanc and Christine Mélançon 1782.

Visit the ArchWay database and search for descriptions of records held at Les Archives de Centre Acadien.