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Local skateboarders gathered at the Halifax Central Library recently to drop off materials for a new archive documenting the city’s skate history.
The Halifax Skate Archives will track the local evolution of the sport from the 1970s up to 2020. The project is a joint effort between Dalhousie University, the Halifax Skateboard Association, Pro Skateboards and Snowboards, and the Halifax Municipal Archives.
Maddie Hare, a Dalhousie PhD candidate working on the project, said the collection drive arrives at a perfect moment.
“Pro Skates is turning 40, so it’s timely because members of the community are reminiscing and looking through old materials,” Hare said. “A lot of donors mentioned they were on the cusp of getting rid of things, moving or clearing out their basements.”
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Taylor Brown, a master’s student involved in the project, noted that the skateboarding community has clashed with local authorities over the decades regarding helmet laws and sidewalk bans. Because the municipal archives mostly hold the government’s perspective, this project aims to capture the skaters’ side of the story.
Halifax archivist Susan McClure said community records are vital to understanding local history.
“Government records only tell part of the story,” McClure said. “Records from the community really add life and colour to it. [We want to] get the skateboard community to recognize the value of the records they have and ensure they’re preserved.”
Cameron Brow came to the library to donate old videos. He has been longboarding since the early 2010s and said the city’s longboarding scene has largely faded away.
“What better way to preserve something than bring it to the archive,” Brow said.
So far, the project has collected photos, newspaper clippings, DVDs and VHS tapes. Hare said they are still looking for posters, skate art, and independent magazines — or “zines” — before the donation window closes in June.
A major priority is finding original, unedited video footage before it was spliced together into longer promotional skate edits.
“We’re trying to prioritize the originals so there’s no overlap,” Hare said.
Once the collection window closes, the materials will be digitized for a public community exhibition before being housed permanently within the Halifax Municipal Archives.
“Hopefully sometime in the fall or maybe even by early winter, that will be available to the public,” Hare said.
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