WELDING LINKS: THE GATEWAY THAT CHANGED CANADA
by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG <myravg(a)prodigy.net>
<
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~gormleym/>
For several decades an unpretentious immigration shed at Pier 21
on the Halifax, Nova Scotia waterfront greeted a steady stream of
ocean liners. Through its portals came prospective Canadians from
every part of the world. This was the door to Canada --
counterpart to America's Ellis Island.
On Canada Day -- July 1 -- the Pier 21 Society reopens a restored
Pier 21 as an interactive visitor center commemorating Canada's
immigrant population and experience. It is estimated that one in
five Canadians can trace some relationship to Pier 21. For here
is where more than one million immigrants, many of them war
brides, refugees and children, first set foot on Canadian soil.
Additionally, nearly a half a million Canadian troops headed off
to World War II from here.
Pier 21 opened in 1928 as a complex of buildings connected by an
overhead ramp to Halifax's railway station. It contained
Immigration Services, Customs, Health and Welfare, Agriculture,
the Red Cross, a waiting room, dining room, canteen, nursery,
hospital, detention center, kitchen, dormitories and a promenade
overlooking the harbor. From 1928 to 1971, this was the main
gateway to Canada and for more than 1.5 million immigrants,
including wartime refugees, children evacuated from Britain
during World War II, 50,000 war brides, and thousands of postwar
arrivals from war-torn and famine-ridden countries, the oblong
structure symbolized the start of a new life.
During World War II, Pier 21 also became involved in the
embarkation of troops bound for the European theater, the control
of merchant seamen, the reception of prisoners of war, the
processing of hospitalized servicemen, arrivals of VIPs, such as
Winston Churchill, and the scene of the returning servicemen.
The restored Pier 21 is the result of work by a group of
historically minded citizens, led by Ruth Goldbloom, now the
society's president. Through an exclusive and innovative
partnership with Pier 21, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
(CBC) television crews are filming immigrants in every part of
Canada, telling their stories, in their own words, of coming into
Canada.
"As a country, we are the sum of our individual experiences and
having Canada's national public broadcaster as our exclusive
broadcast partner ensures that these stories are heard by the
widest possible audience," Goldbloom said.
The society was created to revitalize Pier 21 as a permanent
testament designed to celebrate the profound contributions of
immigrant Canadians. It is hoped that Pier 21 will do for Canada
what Ellis Island has done for the United States -- be a national
and international center whose purpose is to extol the Canadian
immigration experience.
The restored Pier 21 will be home to a heritage center that
recreates the immigrant experience through innovative exhibits,
evocative soundscapes, and interactive technology. It will
recapture the essential dimensions of that experience as felt by
children and adults: the difficult journey from home to the
unknown; the anticipation of life in a new land, mingled with
fond remembrance of the old; the anxiety and discomfort of
arrival; the journey to new beginnings; and the ultimate impact
of the new arrivals on the face of Canada.
The site will spur the development of a historic Canadian
immigration database enabling descendants of Pier 21 immigrants
to trace their origins within Canada, while guiding others in
tracing their roots. Stories of some who came through Pier 21,
information about opening day activities, the society's search
for certain artifacts or memorabilia for display as well as a
list of ships that have arrived and/or departed from Pier 21 can
be found at the Pier 21 Society's home page on the Web at:
<
http://www.pier21.ns.ca/>. Also read:
STORIES OF PIER 21 <
http://pier21.ns.ca/stories.html> -- a
compilation of stories written by individuals who arrived or
departed through Pier 21, and stories of organizations that
volunteered there.
o IMMIGRANTS <
http://pier21.ns.ca/storyi.html>
o GUEST CHILDREN <
http://pier21.ns.ca/storyg.html>
o REFUGEES <
http://pier21.ns.ca/storyr.html>
o VOLUNTEERS <
http://pier21.ns.ca/storyv.html>
o WAR BRIDES <
http://pier21.ns.ca/storyw.html>
o WORLD WAR II <
http://pier21.ns.ca/storyw1.html>
SHIPS OF PIER 21 <
http://pier21.ns.ca/ships.html> (with many
pictures)
THE SOBEY WALL OF HONOUR
<
http://www.pier21.ns.ca/wallofhonour/index.html>
PIER 21: THE PLACE WHERE WE BECAME CANADIANS
<
http://pier21.ns.ca/newman.html>
PERMISSION TO REPRINT articles from MISSING LINKS is granted
unless specifically stated otherwise, PROVIDED: (1) the reprint is used
for non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) a copy of this notice
appears at the end of the article:
Written by <author's name, e-mail address, and URL, if given>.
Previously published by Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG,
Missing Links: RootsWeb's Genealogy Journal, Vol. 4, No. 26, 23 June
1999. Please visit the MISSING LINKS Web page at
<
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mlnews/index.htm>.
--
Susan D. Chambless
listowner for the CHAMBLESS, GAUSS, GLENDAY,
BORDEN, DURFEE, BORDEN & SANDERSON
surname lists, now at RootsWeb -
http://www.rootsweb.com - please join us!
Check it out:
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~schmblss
I'm posting a lot of old family letters & papers centered around
the Charles Henry Gauss family of St. Charles, MO.
Surnames are: Gauss, Johns, Fawcett, Glenday, Durfee, Lindsay,
plus, of course, the people they knew.