The search is on at Halifax’s Pier 21 for families of the first visitors to the historic immigration centre more than 90 years ago.
On March 8, 1928, the steamship Nieuw Amsterdam arrived from Rotterdam at the newly opened Pier 21 facility, bringing the first of nearly one million immigrants who would pass through its doors over the next 43 years.
Now, the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 is looking for connections to and stories from the First Families of Pier 21. Among the many documents found at the Scotiabank Family History Centre is the Nieuw Amsterdam’s manifest of its passenger list, which was been transcribed from the handwritten record by the centre’s staff.
Names, dates, points of departure and other data related to the 54 passengers who disembarked on that day have been posted on the museum’s blog. People came from Finland to Greece, Holland to Russia, heading westward to new lives in Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies and British Columbia.
If anyone recognizes a family name on the Nieuw Amsterdam passenger list, they are invited to contact the centre at [email protected]. Staff will verify your name, contact information and family’s immigration history, and reply with an opportunity to share your First Family of Pier 21 story.
The project is in conjunction with the celebrations surrounding the release of the book Pier 21: A History by Steven Schwinghamer and Jan Raska, the only full-length history of the site written by museum staff.
