From Charity to Social Enterprise

credit: USACE on Flickr

When Dr. Donna Hardy Cox and Dr. Michelle Sullivan were dean and social work professor, respectively, at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, there was a flood in the basement of the school's building.

"I was very concerned about the potential loss of valuable history when the flood was discovered," Cox tells the Western Star.

What Cox and Sullivan found was an undamaged hardbound manuscript from Iris Kirby's final paper toward her bachelor of social work degree.

It was the beginning of a decade-long project to document the school's history and the evolution of social work practice in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"The government and university leaders of the day saw the value in promoting this type of education and work, and that history needs to be preserved and celebrated," says Cox.

The result is a digital archive that includes photos and artifacts from the collection, as well as an exhibit that opened in March.

"What we have now is a jumping off point," says Sullivan.

"We're hoping that faculty, social workers, alumni, and members of the public are going to delve deeper into the public and help broaden it by using and contributing it."

The digital archive is available at the Queen Elizabeth II Library in Newfoundland and Labrador and at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador

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