• Reginald W. and Dorothy E. Haines
    … Alumni Type: Immigrant Country of Origin: England Ship Name: MV Georgic Port of Entry: Halifax Date of … He had taken over the farm at a young age, as his father had passed away. Reginald, his Mother Alice, and his Brother Harold leased Middle … immigration, goods were rationed. Dorothy made a little food go a long way, and even with soap at a premium, Dorothy still found a way to keep …
  • Everina Pieternella Hoogerdyk
    … Families April 1, 1953 - Waterman Times were hard in Holland then and although Pete worked hard to make a … Geldermalsen, Buurmalsen, and Tricht were on the docks to say good-bye and wave us off. In the afternoon of the 24th of March we left … Everina Pieternella Hoogerdyk …
  • Deportation from Canada during the Great Depression
    … by Steve Schwinghamer, Historian (Updated July 20, 2021) “There is no Exclusion Act in the Dominion of Canada” “The doors which once were opened wide are now but … Deportation from Canada during the Great Depression …
  • “We Wanted to Come to Canada”: Pier 21 and the Arrival of Polish Orphans
    … 21, 2020) Forcible Displacement of Polish Nationals to Labour Camps in the Soviet Union In August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union … before reaching Iran. While ‘Anders’ Army’ eventually made its way to Palestine where it became the bulk of the Polish 2nd Corps, some … “We Wanted to Come to Canada”: Pier 21 and the Arrival of Polish Orphans …
  • Arriving at Halifax Before Pier 21
    … [2] However, in the fifty-year gap between the completion of the railway and the opening of Pier 21 in 1928, many people who arrived by sea in Halifax arrived by way of Pier 2 in Halifax’s North End. Over time, there were several … and passenger transit from ship to rail by the Intercolonial Railway. It was at the edge of the North End of Halifax along the …
  • The Colour Bar at the Canadian Border: Black American Farmers
    by Steve Schwinghamer, Historian (Updated July 20, 2021) “I am not sure whether it will interest you or not but I may state that a number of coloured people have been going from your district lately to Western Canada, and it is not considered that they are a class of colonists who will be likely to …
  • “Young Man, You Take Yourself Far Too Seriously”: The Memoirs of Immigration Officer Fenton Crosman
    by Steve Schwinghamer, Historian (Updated January 28, 2022) Canadian immigration history can be researched using a staggering variety of sources . There are ship logs and passenger manifests, architectural plans and harbour maps, photographs and paintings, letters and telegrams, tweets and emails, …
  • Strategic Winter Port: A History of the Port of Saint John
    by Jan Raska, PhD, Historian (Updated October 20, 2020) Introduction: Establishing a Port at the Mouth of the St. John River Before the arrival of Europeans, the Wolastoqiyik (also known as Maliseet) were the primary inhabitants along the St. John River (known in Wolastoqiyik as Wolastoq ) and the …
  • The Action Test of 1920: Literacy and Selection in Canadian Immigration
    By Steven Schwinghamer, Historian For over a century, Canadian immigration authorities have used language proficiency as a point of consideration in deciding whether a migrant is admissible to Canada. [1] This is not generally a controversial aspect of current Canadian immigration policy, but when …
  • To Canada and Back Again: Immigration from the United States on the Underground Railroad (1840-1860)
    by Western University's MA Public History Program Students Fugitive or Free? Prior to 1850, fugitive slaves who escaped from the southern United States to the northern states were considered to be free. However, after the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, the northern states were no longer …