Nova Scotia is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Bluenose was a fishing and racing gaff rig schooner built in 1921 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. A celebrated racing ship and fishing vessel, Bluenose under the command of Angus Walters, became a provincial icon for Nova Scotia and an important Canadian symbol in the 1930s, serving as a working vessel until she was wrecked in 1946. Nicknamed the "Queen of the North Atlantic", she was later commemorated by a replica, Bluenose II, built in 1963. The name Bluenose originated as a nickname for Nova Scotians from as early as the late 18th century.
New Glasgow is a town in Pictou County, in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated on the banks of the East River of Pictou, which flows into Pictou Harbour, a sub-basin of the Northumberland Strait.
The Canadian ten-dollar note is one of the most common banknotes of the Canadian dollar.
Carrie Mae Best, was a Canadian journalist and social activist.
Viola Irene Desmond was a Canadian civil and women's rights activist and businesswoman of Black Nova Scotian descent. In 1946, she challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, by refusing to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre. For this, she was convicted of a minor tax violation for the one-cent tax difference between the seat that she had paid for and the seat that she used, which was more expensive. Desmond's case is one of the most publicized incidents of racial discrimination in Canadian history and helped start the modern civil rights movement in Canada.
Black Nova Scotians are Black Canadians whose ancestors primarily date back to the Colonial United States as slaves or freemen, later arriving in Nova Scotia, Canada, during the 18th and early 19th centuries. As of the 2021 Census of Canada, 28,220 Black people live in Nova Scotia, most in Halifax. Since the 1950s, numerous Black Nova Scotians have migrated to Toronto for its larger range of opportunities. Before the immigration reforms of 1967, Black Nova Scotians formed 37% of the total Black Canadian population.
James Calbert Best was a Canadian diplomat. He was High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago. He was Canada's first Black assistant deputy minister and first Black high commissioner.
New Horizons Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Halifax, Nova Scotia that was established by Black Refugees in 1832. When the chapel was completed, black citizens of Halifax were reported to be proud because it was evidence that former slaves could establish their own institutions in Nova Scotia. Under the direction of Richard Preston, the church laid the foundation for social action to address the plight of Black Nova Scotians.
The Roseland Theatre is a landmark theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Originally built for silent films, it is one of the oldest movie theatre buildings in Nova Scotia but it is best known as the location of a human rights case involving Viola Desmond, who challenged racial segregation in 1946. It was converted from a movie theatre to the "Roseland Cabaret" nightclub in the 1990s and to office and retail space in 2015.
William Pearly Oliver worked at the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church for twenty-five years (1937–1962) and was instrumental in developing the four leading organizations to support Black Nova Scotians in the 20th century: Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Colored People (1945), the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission (1967), the Black United Front (1969) and the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia (1983). He was instrumental in supporting the case of Viola Desmond. Oliver was awarded the Order of Canada in 1984.
The Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children is an orphanage in Halifax, Nova Scotia that opened on June 6, 1921. It was built, because at the time, white home care institutions would not accept black children in need. In the 1960s segregation was coming to an end, and black people were being integrated into white institutions. In the present day, the building is used as a meeting place for community groups. The home came under fire when many former residents came forward with allegations of abuse they experienced during their time at the home, which ended in a class action lawsuit, an apology from the Premier of Nova Scotia and the establishment of an official Public Inquiry into the abuses at the Home. The public inquiry, established under the Nova Scotia Public Inquiries Act was the first of its kind to take a restorative approach to its work. The Restorative Inquiry for the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children completed its work and released it final report "Journey to Light: A Different Way Forward - Final Report of the Restorative Inquiry - Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children" in November 2019.
Evelyn Corliss White is an American writer and editor. Her books include the collection Black Women's Health Book: Speaking for Ourselves and the biography Alice Walker: A Life.
The eighth series of banknotes of the Canadian dollar was first released by the Bank of Canada in 2018. Like the preceding 2011 Frontier series, the 2018 series consists of polymer banknotes designed for increased durability and to incorporate more security features. It is the first series issued by the Bank of Canada printed in a vertical configuration.
Joan Carol Jones was a Canadian businesswoman and civil rights activist who was born in the United States and raised in Ontario, Canada. She was married to Black Nova Scotian and internationally known political activist Rocky Jones, whom she influenced to become more active in the issues of black activism causes espoused by Malcolm X and writer James Baldwin, during the black radicalism period of the 1960s. Together they were among the founders of Kwacha House, an interracial youth club in Halifax and were later instrumental in bringing Stokely Carmichael and the Black Panther Party to Halifax. They adopted the radicalized language of the Panthers and organized with Carmichael's help the Black United Front, taking on issues of police brutality, employment and housing discrimination in the black community.
Ann MacLean is a Canadian politician, mental health therapist, and social worker. She was elected to Councillor of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia in 1985 and mayor in 1991. She was the first female Mayor in New Glasgow's history.
Angela Eve Simmonds is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 2021 Nova Scotia general election. She represented the riding of Preston as a member of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party until April 1, 2023. Prior to Simmonds election, she was a lawyer, social justice advocate, and executive director of the Land Titles Initiative.
Until 1965, racial segregation in schools, stores and most aspects of public life existed legally in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, and informally in other provinces such as British Columbia. Unlike in the United States, racial segregation in Canada applied to all non-whites and was historically enforced through laws, court decisions and social norms with a closed immigration system that barred virtually all non-whites from immigrating until 1962. Section 38 of the 1910 Immigration Act permitted the government to prohibit the entry of immigrants "belonging to any race deemed unsuited to the climate or requirements of Canada, or of immigrants of any specified class, occupation or character."
Lulu Anderson v The Brown Investment Company was a Alberta legal case filed in 1922. Lulu Anderson was a black woman who sued a theatre in Edmonton. That same year, Anderson had purchased a ticket for The Lion and the Mouse but was refused entry due to her race. Anderson hired a lawyer and proceeded to file a lawsuit against the theatre. Her lawsuit gained widespread newspaper coverage at the time. It was reported on by the Edmonton Journal as "a court action of considerable importance to the colored residents of the city". She lost the case, with the judge ruling that she could be refused entry as long as her ticket was refunded. This result was reported on by the Winnipeg Evening Tribune with the headline "Color Line Confirmed". Historical records related to the case were destroyed along with other files not deemed historically important. This purge of historical records was not determined by archivists but solely through the government's discretion. Anderson's case was similar to Viola Desmond's, as both women advocated against racial segregation.
