New e-book "Time Flies, Online Edition" explores changes to PEI landscapes
A new e-book, Time Flies, Online Edition: A Story Map Companion to Time Flies: A History of Prince Edward Island from the Air, has been published by Dr. Joshua MacFadyen, Canada Research Chair in Geospatial Humanities at UPEI, and Bailey Clark, research assistant at MacFadyen’s GeoREACH Lab and Masters of Arts in Island Studies student.
Time Flies, Online Edition is a web-based story map companion to MacFadyen’s 2023 book, Time Flies: A History of Prince Edward Island from the Air, which documents changes in numerous urban, rural, and coastal areas at over 50 locations on Prince Edward Island from 1935 to 2020.
Like the book version, the e-book uses historical aerial photography and maps, accompanied by analysis, to explore the transformation over the same time period of more than 10 new sites on PEI—from Freeland in West Prince County to Crapaud and Victoria in South Queens County to Dundas Farms, a large western-style ranch in Kings County.
“These sites are both community histories and examples of the dramatic transformations of Island life and land use in the 20th century,” said MacFadyen. “The site histories in Time Flies, Online Edition include many hidden stories of PEI, such as the Micmac Indian Village (in the language of the 1960s) in Kuntal Kwesawe’kl (Rocky Point), a Mi'kmaq camp in Telisipk (Crapaud), and Dundas Farms. With tools like the photos and historical web maps offered in the online edition, we can explore these spaces over time in greater detail.”
History looks different from the air, he said.
“From the early 1920s,” said MacFadyen, “Canada was a leader in aerial photography, with many large surveys conducted by the Department of the Interior, the Dominion Forest Service, provincial agencies, and private companies. In 1935, Prince Edward Island became the first province to have a complete aerial survey, and it was surveyed regularly in each subsequent decade.”
Aerial photography became even more important during and after the Second World War. The number of aerial photographs taken increased exponentially in the mid-twentieth century, and the National Air Photo Library now houses over six million of these documents.
Islanders also became increasingly interested in and familiar with aerial views of their province.
“In 1955, Sister Margaret Marie, a student at Saint Dunstan’s University [a predecessor to UPEI], braved the stormy skies and took her first flight, recording the experience and her unique ‘aerial view’ for the student body in SDU’s Red and White magazine,” said MacFadyen. “Seventy years later, through Time Flies, Online Edition, the community can explore similar aerial views of the entire Island, take a deep dive into community histories, and learn about the larger changes that Islanders like Sister Margaret experienced throughout the twentieth century. By understanding how the Island has changed over time, for better or worse, we can make informed decisions about the future transformation of the province.”
For more information about the book and e-book, please visit www.upei.ca/timeflies.
