Africville Museum, Halifax, NS

After a history of more than 100 years, the African Nova Scotian community of Africville, located on the northern shore of Halifax Harbour was destroyed to make way for industrial development in the 1960s. In 2010, the people of Africville finally received an apology for the heartbreak and loss of their community. Now, a replica of the Church that was the heart of the community celebrates the spirit and tells the story of survival of a community.
In February, 2010, Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly made history by apologizing to the people of Africville for the destruction of their community nearly 40 years before. The apology was supported by the allocation of land and $3 million for the construction of a replica of the church that had stood at the geographic and emotional heart of Africville.
Today, the Africville Museum looks across the land where the people of Africville lived, worked, and raised their families by the water of Bedford Basin. Inside the Museum, exhibits tell the story of a community that met the indignities of racism with grace and faith. Over the years, public facilities that no one else wanted were established in or near Africville: an abattoir, a prison, an infectious diseases hospital, a dump, encroaching rail and industrialization. The community lost its school, its post office, its shops.