Fonds MS-2-326 - Andrew Merkel fonds

Correspondence to Andrew Merkel from Molly Beresford

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Andrew Merkel fonds

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  • Textual record

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Fonds

Reference code

MS-2-326

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Physical description

25 cm of textual records

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Name of creator

(1884-1954)

Biographical history

Andrew Doane Merkel was a journalist and poet. Born in New York State in the mid 1880, he came to Nova Scotia when his father, Rev. A. Deb Merkel, took over a parish in Digby. Merkel spent most of his adult life in Halifax and lived on South Park Street, where he and his wife, Florence (Tully) E. Sutherland.

For almost forty years Merkel worked as a journalist in the Maritimes. He worked for the Philadelphia North American, the Sydney Record, and was news editor of the Saint John Standard from 1908 to 1910. In 1910 he moved to Halifax to become editor of the Halifax Echo where he remained for seven years before moving to Montreal to join the Canadian Press as Maritime News Editor in 1917. He returned to Halifax shortly thereafter, and became Superintendent of Canadian Press’ Atlantic Division from 1919-1946. By the time Merkel retired in 1946 he had covered a range of regional, national, and international stories that included Marconi’s transmission from Cape Breton, the sinking of the Titanic, war, and the first airplane flight in the British Empire. He retired to Port Royal where he purchased a large property adjacent to the Port Royal Habitation; he hoped to establish a radio station and tourist attraction in the area. He returned to Halifax after the death of his wife in the early 1950s and died in Halifax in 1954.

Merkel was also a poet and avid historian. His first book length poem, The Order of Good Cheer, wasn’t published until 1944 although he completed it in the early 1920s. His second book length poem, Tallahasse, was published the following year. Both works illustrate his interest in Nova Scotian history; The Order of Good Cheer is about Nova Scotia’s first French settlers while Tallahasse is about Halifax during the American civil war. He published two works of non-fiction as well, Letters from the Front (1914), and Bluenose Schooner (1948). Merkel was also a member of the Halifax literary group called The Song Fishermen and often hosted meetings of the group, which included fellow writers such as Charles G.D. Roberts, Charles Bruce, Kenneth Leslie, and Robert Norwood.

Custodial history

Fonds donated by Andrew Merkel’s son Arthur Merkel in 1978 (accession 1978-055).

Scope and content

Fonds contains records created and collected by Andrew Merkel, including correspondence with friends and associates such as Charles Bruce, Kenneth Leslie, and Robert Norwood; manuscripts; Atlantic Radio and Aviation Magazine papers; newspaper clippings; and copies of The Song Fishermens’ Song Sheet and The Order of Good Cheer.

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  • English

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Restrictions on access

There are no access restrictions on these materials. All materials are open for research.

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Materials do not circulate and must be used in the Archives and Special Collections Reading Room.

Finding aids

Detailed finding aid available onsite.

Associated materials

See the Mary-Elizabeth Lynch Collection at Library and Archives Canada. Lynch is Andrew Merkel’s daughter.

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