Message from the Chair

Dear Society Members and Interested Members of the Public,

What is the Halifax Women’s History Society doing now that the Woman on the Waterfront project and its beautiful monument are complete? There are some people who think the Society’s work is done, but that’s not true. I am pleased, as the new board chair, to update you about our plans for the future — a future where women’s history in Nova Scotia will continue to be celebrated.

It is now eight months since we unveiled our monument The Volunteers/Les Bénévoles to much fanfare on the Halifax Waterfront directly across from the Halifax Port Authority Building. Since the inception of the society, most of our energy has been devoted to realizing the dream of this monument project. The only remaining task of this phase was the erection of the bronze interpretive panel at the monument site and that has now been accomplished.

So now, what might be next on our agenda? We have a further commitment to create and place interpretive panels in various locations around HRM (which will definitely include Dartmouth!) to expand on the story of women’s wartime volunteerism. Once this is completed, the Halifax Women’s History Society plans to further its public history mandate using interpretive signage, invited talks and special events to tell women’s stories in a way that engages, informs and recognizes the important contributions that women have made.

The Halifax Women’s History Society does not wish to limit its story telling to the boundaries of the Halifax Regional Municipality. In hindsight, we might have chosen a name for the society that would have included a broader reach. There was the danger of confusion with other named societies and now that we have established our identity, it is difficult to change our name without causing more confusion. However, we wish to assure people that we are interested in gathering in material from across the province, which focusses on women’s history.

If, for example, you live in Hantsport or Tatamagouche or anywhere else in the province and you have an interesting bit of historical research that you’ve done on a particular woman or group of women in your community, we would like to hear from you. We will be publishing an online blog and would welcome contributions. As well, we are in the process of brainstorming for future events and ways to capture and disseminate women’s history.

I am very excited by the enthusiasm and talent represented by our Board Members (we range in age from 20+ to 70+). Our goal is to expand our representation of diverse communities so that we are able to share and celebrate the stories of those diverse communities.

If you have a keen interest in history and wish to become a contributing member on our history committee, please let us know. Any queries can be made to our new contact email address: halifaxwhs@gmail.com

Our postal address remains the same:
P.O. Box 60022
Halifax Professional Building P.O.
Halifax, NS B3H 4R7

With warm regards,
Sharon MacDonald, Chair