• Narrow Escapes to Canada
    We sometimes refer to this institution as a museum of stories. Stories of arrivals, of departures, of new beginnings. Among the stories are incredible, and often harrowing, accounts of escape. These are two stories of escape , from different places and time periods. They both ended with a new life …
  • 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 …
  • A mystery, archival film footage, an old suitcase, and a 75th anniversary
    The Leegwater suitcase, donated to the Museum shortly before its opening 25 years ago. Museum staff had noticed something strange in the Pier 21 exhibition - a discrepancy in dates. In a display case, amongst a collection of luggage brought by people immigrating to Canada through the Halifax …
  • The Museum is a March-Break Must-Do
    The city is a great place to spend March break if you can find the right things to do. And, because the week is sponsored by Emera, everything we're offering this March Break is complimentary , including: Movement programming Cooking workshops (space limited, register to reserve your place Access …
  • 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: …
  • L/Cpl Leland M. Pratt
    Leland M. Pratt of Belmont left Halifax from Pier 21 aboard the Andes of Britain in May of 1941, aged 17. On board ship Lee was in charge of two grenade guns. Lee he was in the Army Provost Corps [police service] when he met his future wife, Audrey Smith , a young woman from England. Previously Lee …