PRESS RELEASE – For immediate release
November 6, 2023
HARBOUR GRACE, NL – The Conception Bay Museum has launched its first virtual exhibit with the support of the Digital Museums Canada investment program.
Titled “Alone Among the Stars: Aviation in Harbour Grace, NL (1919 – Present),” this virtual exhibit details the community’s long, exciting history of aviation through archival records, oral histories, and artifacts.
The story begins in 1919, when the town played host to the Handley Page “Atlantic,” a former World War I bomber whose pilot, Admiral Sir Mark Kerr, sought to compete in the Great Atlantic Air Race.
In 1927, local labourers constructed Newfoundland’s first permanent airstrip at Harbour Grace to facilitate the around-the-world flight attempt of the Pride of Detroit. This site subsequently hosted twenty transatlantic flight attempts over a nine-year period. Famously, Amelia Earhart utilized the airstrip on her solo transatlantic flight from Harbour Grace to Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on May 20, 1932.
While Earhart’s flight remains the airstrip’s most famous, the virtual exhibit shines a light on lesser-known aviators and their aspirations to “challenge the Atlantic.” According to chairperson Patrick J. Collins, the desire to further highlight these lesser-known stories came from the Museum’s revamping of its physical Aviation Room exhibit in 2022:
“Our physical exhibit space offers visitors a wonderful chance to learn about Harbour Grace’s most famous aviators,” says Collins. “But the whole story couldn’t possibly be contained in that room. We started chatting about avenues to tell a fuller picture of our aviation history, and we decided that a virtual exhibit would be ideal. Also, the virtual platform would allow us to showcase both the Museum and community to a national and international audience. The two exhibits pair nicely and hopefully spark visitors’ curiosity.”
To craft this virtual exhibit, the Museum received funding from the Digital Museums Canada investment program. Digital Museums Canada helps build digital capacity in Canadian museums, heritage, cultural, and indigenous organizations, and gives Canadians unique access to diverse stories and experiences. Digital Museums Canada is managed by the Canadian Museum of History, with the financial support of the Government of Canada.
The virtual exhibit also relates the contributions of locals to the airstrip’s enduring legacy, such as the Archibald and Parsons families. Notably, the Archibalds were highly involved in the maintenance and administration of the site during the heyday of transatlantic endeavour. Local Bill Parsons catalogued activities at the airstrip during his time as a stringer for the Associated Press. He later coauthored a book on the airstrip, The Challenge of the Atlantic (1983), with journalist Bill Bowman.
Today, the historic airstrip remains in use, with the local branch of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA), Flight 97, organizing regular maintenance.
“Alone Among the Stars: Aviation in Harbour Grace, NL (1919 – Present)” can now be viewed online on the Digital Museums Canada website: www.communitystories.ca/v2/aviation-harbour-grace
Media contact:
Patrick J. Collins
Chairperson
pjcollins@eastlink.ca
709-589-5662
Matthew G. McCarthy
Secretary
matthewmccarthy@hotmail.ca
709-597-0474
Conception Bay Museum 