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DENNIS, Clara
- Born
- Truro, Nova Scotia, 1881
- Died
- Halifax?, Nova Scotia, 1958
- Biography synopsis
- Like her father, Senator William Dennis, Clara Dennis worked as a journalist and was well-known for three popular books she published in the 1930s: "Cape Breton Over," "Down in Nova Scotia: My Own, My Native Land," and "More About Nova Scotia: My Own, My Native Land." Dennis illustrated these books with her photographs which included almost 3000 photographs, among them many important images of the Mi'kmaq population of Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotia Archives and the Nova Scotia Museum hold a large number of her photographs. In 1938 Dennis became the first person to receive an honorary doctorate of Literature from Mount Allison University.
- Media used
- Artists' illustrated books
- Photography
- Education
- Mount Allison University (under Honorary Degree of Doctor of Literature, 1938)
- Dalhousie University
- Memberships
- Canadian Authors' Association, Vice-President, 1938
- File & Archive locations
- Nova Scotia Archives & Records Management
- National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
- Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, ON
- Mount Allison University Archives, NS
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- "Dr. Clara Dennis." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 25 Jun. 1938: 8
- "Splendid Work for Mariners: Miss Dennis Speaks to Navy League of Halifax Institute." Globe (Toronto) 7 Jun. 1922: 16x
- Dagg, Anne Innis. The Feminine Gaze: A Canadian Compendium of Non-Fiction Women Authors and their Books, 1836-1945. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2001
- Fisher, Susan. "Forgotten Photographers." Photo Life 31.6 (Nov. 2006): 69-72
- Jones, Laura. Rediscovery: Canadian Women Photographers 1841-1941, May 13th-June 27th, 1983 London, Ontario: London Regional Art Gallery, 1983
- Legassie, Joel. Framing Nova Scotia: Clara Dennis and the Place of the Mi'Kmaq in the Reconstruction of Nova Scotian Identities, 1921-1942. Ottawa: Carleton University, 2005
- Nova Scotia Archives. Clara Dennis: Tours Nova Scotia. Sep. 2023
http://archives.novascotia.ca/dennis/ - Skidmore, Colleen. Rare Merit: Women in Photography in Canada, 1840-1940 Vancouver, B.C.: UBC Press, 2022
- Whitehead, Ruth Holmes. "Introduction." Tracking Doctor Lonecloud: Showman to Legend Keeper. Fredericton, New Brunswick: Goose Lane Editions, 2002
Writings by- Dennis, Clara. Cape Breton Over. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1942
- Dennis, Clara. Down in Nova Scotia: My Own, My Native Land. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1934
- Dennis, Clara. More About Nova Scotia: My Own, My Native Land. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1937
- Dennis, Clara. "Into the North of Cape Breton by Motor." Canadian Motorist. May 1929
- Dennis, Clara, L. M. Montgomery, and Charles G. D. Roberts. The Spirit of Canada: Dominion and Provinces, 1939: A Souvenir of Welcome to H.M. King George VI and H.M. Queen Elizabeth. Toronto: Canadian Pacific Railway, 1939
- Whitehead, Ruth Holmes, Jerry Lonecloud, Clara Dennis. Tracking Doctor Lonecloud: Showman to Legend Keeper. Fredericton, New Brunswick: Goose Lane Editions, 2002