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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

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