• Jeanne Beker unpacks her wardrobe… and her past
    Courtesy of Jeanne Beker. Many people in Canada and beyond know the name Jeanne Beker, who from 1985 to 2012 hosted Fashion Television , an internationally broadcast television show. Jeanne Beker fondly remembers the sparkled dress and boots she wore for her sweet sixteen. Courtesy of Jeanne Beker. …
  • “This Is An Emotional Place” - The Notes They Left Behind
    The Thiessen family wearing luggage tags, September 1950, DI2013.848.2.   Hundreds of old-fashioned luggage tags adorn two walls in the Museum. They are left by visitors and covered with drawings and handwritten messages in different languages. During Pier 21’s years as an immigration shed, …
  • A Cuban maestro’s cunning escape to freedom, told in five movements
    Rafael Alcolado performs at the Museum at the 2018 opening of the Refuge Canada exhibition. First movement, Santiago de Cuba On January 1, 1959, Rafael Alcolado was a 12-year-old student at a Jesuit-run school, Colegio de Dolores , in Santiago de Cuba. That same day, on the other side of the …
  • “There was a thriving slave economy on our shores”
    Shackles like this reproduction, created by a blacksmith at Port Greville, Nova Scotia, were used on enslaved peoples in Canada. Courtesy of Dr. Afua Cooper. An interview with Russell Grosse , Executive Director of the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia, on the new exhibition A History Exposed: …
  • Conciliation and peaceful futures through art
    shalan joudry (pictured onstage) is the author of the the poem Kmɨtkinu, which was adapted into a dance piece with collabotors Sarah Prosper, Susanne Chui, Sara Coffin, Isaac Abriel, Robert Azevedo, I'thandi Munro, Sam Penner and NAT Chantel. Photo by Kevin MacCormack “We are not the only ones …
  • Uncovering secrets of the popular miniature Pier 21 model
    Passengers await their train to destinations across Canada. The model of Pier 21 is full of activity . The miniature representation is a favourite of many visitors of the Museum . The model, roughly 8 feet by 4 feet, depicts a day in the mid to late 1950s, during the period when the building was …
  • Immigrating with everything - including the kitchen sink.
    In the Museum’s Pier 21 Story exhibition , there is a section called Treasures From Home , with artifacts and props representing what immigrants brought with them as they sailed to Canada. The objects are contained in a large wooden case and include many different objects: a bicycle, a pair of …
  • The tiny Lebanese village that changed the face of Halifax
    Left: The mountain village of Diman and surrounding villages (photo courtesy of Jasmine Ghosn); right: The 161 unit Brenton Suites building, backgrounded by the 84 unit Trillium building, both projects led by Diman-born developer Wadih Fares. In the north of Lebanon, 1,400 metres above sea level, …
  • Why isn’t it called “Japantown”?
    © Government of Canada. Reproduced with the permission of Library and Archives Canada (2023). Source: Library and Archives Canada/RG18, vol. 3567, file c315-36-3. Page 119/136 Many Canadian cities have a Chinatown. There are neighbourhoods called Greektown, Little Italy and Little Portugal. In …
  • Newcomer Uncovers Deep Roots in Canada.
    An interview with Linda Granfield, who, 49 years ago, arrived in Canada with two pots, two towels, and some books. She would go on to write numerous books about this country’s history, including a book on Pier 21 and a book about the British war brides who arrived here. Linda Granfield is the …