In her later years, Portia May White (1911-1968) offered this explanation for her life:"First you dream, then you put on your walking shoes." In the era in which Portia grew up, few would have imagined that the sixth child of Izie and Rev. William…

In 1936, the recently widowed Flora Marsh (nee MacQuarrie) and her family of four teenaged children moved from Sydney, Cape Breton, to Halifax. The children grew up in a household rich with music, their mother a talented pianist from a musical…

By the 1890s, women in Halifax and across Canada had created a plethora of organizations devoted to serving and reforming society. From the middle of the nineteenth century, women had been working through church and community organizations to…

In April 2001, the Canada Parks and Monuments Board declared Edith Archibald a "person of national historic significance" for her role in the first wave of feminism in Canada. A reformer and woman of influence, Archibald was instrumental in the…

For more than four decades, Halifax music lovers enjoyed the performances of the Armdale Chorus on radio, television, and live concerts. Starting as a Rhythm Band in 1934 under the direction of Mary Dee (later Mary Dee Girroir), the Armdale Glee…

In 1915, the Myers house and eight acres of property in Oyster Pond (now Jeddore Oyster Ponds) were passed from James H. and Hannah Myers to their son Ervin Myers and his wife Ethelda. Their home was ideal for a fisherman’s family with a house,…

Rosina Jane Black was born to John Black (c. 1765-1823) and Catherine (Billop) Black (1777-1839) and baptized January 19th, 1808. Around 1819, John Black had a stately home built on Hollis Street, signifying his wealth and status. The house had ten…

Introduction by Curator, Bria StokesburyIn the nineteenth century, tuberculosis - also known as "The White Plague" - was one of the leading causes of death in North America. The Nova Scotia Sanatorium was built in 1904 to treat patients suffering…

Before we had online dating services, a young woman might turn to creative sources for a potential mate - why not to the Mayor of a respectable town like Halifax, Nova Scotia? In the spring of 1939, an "attractive 22 year-old English girl" wrote to…

Just off Route 239, overlooking the south arm of Sydney Harbour, you can pull off the road and enjoy and picnic and a hike in Petersfield Provincial Park. The park gets its name from the Petersfield estate, the grand home built by industrialist and…