Famous People
Robert Norwood (1905-1985), Hubbards photographer
Most of the excellent black
and white photos you see on this Web site were taken by professional
photographer Robert Norwood. Norwood was born in Hubbards in 1905 and went to
New York in 1925 where he learned photography on the job working in the studio
of famous American photographer Edward Steichen. In 1930, he returned to Nova
Scotia and became well- known for his talents, working as a freelance
photographer as well as on the staff of the Halifax Chronicle and the
Herald and Mail. His photos provide a lasting legacy of ordinary
people, activities, sites and events around the province including Hubbards and
area. He also photographed famous people like John Dewey. His son, Edmund (Ned) Norwood, also a
photographer/filmmaker and resident of Hubbards, generously made them available for this
project.
see also: The Life and Photography of Robert Norwood, The Elder Statesman, June, 1985.
| Photographs courtesy Robert Norwood |
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Robert Norwood first major portrait, Mrs. Polk, NYC, 1927. |
Letter from American photographer Edward Steichen to Robert Norwood, 1966. |
Stella and her son, photographer Robert Norwood, 1928. |
John Dewey (1859-1952) and
his Hubbards retreat
John Dewey was a well-known American philosopher, teacher and author of many books. He is considered one of America’s great teachers for his work in the fields of philosophy, ethics, and education in and for democracy, and his influence was global. This quiet and reserved Vermonter first came to Hubbards in 1927 at the invitation of his son, who had been coming here since 1914. He became part of a Sawlor Lake summer community and interacted with local merchants and people employed at the cottages, some of whom contributed to Simpson’s research along with family members, Dewey continued to come to Hubbards and his cabin on Sawlor Lake until 1949, a few years before his death. Some of his most important thinking and writing was done here.
Based on a yet unpublished manuscript by Douglas Simpson “John Dewey and Hubbards, NS: A Window on the Ordinary” courtesy of Ned Norwood.
| Photographs courtesy Robert Norwood. |
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One of the books Dewey wrote at his cabin on Sawler Lake, 1930. |
Dewey writing at Sawler Lake, c. 1930. Robert Norwood |
Amy Tillie sitting on the steps of the cabin she sold to Dewey's at Sawler Lake, 1920's |
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Interior of Dewey's cabin at Sawler Lake, c 1931. |
Letter to Amy Tillie buying the cabin at Sawler Lake from her November 5, 1931. |
Dewey in a canoe on Sawler Lake, c. 1930. Robert Norwood |
Major Nathaniel Drewin
Major Nathaniel Drewin of Princess Victoria's Irish Fusiliers and his wife Josephine built 'The Bivouac', a Georgian mansion in Hubbards, NS. Designed by architect William White, the mansion was built around 1910 and only recently burned down in 2002. Nathaniel died thirteen years after it was built but Josephine lived in the house until 1940. It was said that her ghost haunted the house. See also: April, 7, 2002, Chronicle Herald, Hubbards residents mourn end of historic mansion. Matriarch, maybe ghost inhabited stately home by Kelly Shiers.
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| Josephine (MacLean) Drewin, c. 1900. | Major Drewin and Family, c. 1900. | Major Nathanial Drewin and his wife Josephine (MacLean) at their home The Bivouac in Hubbards, NS. |
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| Print of Bivouac by L.B. Jensen, Hubbards, NS. | The Bivouac, Hubbards, NS, 2001. | The Bivouac ablaze, 2002. |