Web Site Brings N.S. Black Loyalist History to World

?NOVA SCOTIA MUSEUM--Web Site Brings N.S. Black Loyalist History to World

A new Web site brings Nova Scotia's Black Loyalist history to people around the world.

The virtual exhibition -- called Remembering Black Loyalists, Black Communities -- tells the story of the struggles and triumphs of the Black Loyalists.

Find the new Web site at http://museum.gov.ns.ca/BlackLoyalists/ .

Some of Nova Scotia's earliest black settlers, the Black Loyalists numbered almost 3,000 men, women, and children. They were brought to Nova Scotia by the British from 1783 to 1785 following the American Revolution and settled in several Nova Scotian communities, including the Shelburne County community of Birchtown and the Tracadie area of Antigonish/Guysborough Counties.

The Web site provides a concise history of the Black Loyalists. It describes events, some of the people, places, and archaeological and historical objects identified with the Black Loyalists.

Visitors can discover who the Black Loyalists were, where they originated, where they settled and how they were treated before and since their arrival in Nova Scotia.

"Congratulations to everyone," said Tourism and Culture Minister Rodney MacDonald. "We thank the people from the African-Nova Scotian community who worked with Nova Scotia Museum staff in an active partnership throughout the entire project. It is the kind of partnership with communities that our government values highly."

"For people of African descent in the Maritimes, the virtual exhibition provides a positive and reliable link to a prominent chapter of their history," said David States, historian with Parks Canada. "It is a story that is both turbulent and captivating."

"The Web site gives everyone a historically sound portrait of the Black Loyalists -- one particular immigrant group among many who settled Nova Scotia," said States. States was a member of the group of advisers from the Black community who worked closely with the Nova Scotia Museum History Section team throughout the Remembering Black Loyalists, Black Communities project.

The group's guidance was also sought during development of the physical exhibition in 2000, on which the virtual exhibition is based.

"The historical, genealogical, and archaeological research on which this virtual exhibit is based is important to people of African descent all over the world," continued States. "The Web site will communicate to people everywhere that black people in the Maritimes are an integral component of the African Diaspora [the migration of people from Africa over time], a story that is now being examined around the world."

The Web site is easy to access and navigate. A comprehensive site map lets visitors find topics of interest with ease. A time line takes visitors from 1750 to 2000, highlighting events in the Black Loyalist story -- before, during and after their arrival in Nova Scotia. Photographs, paintings, maps, and images of historic documents make the virtual exhibition visually interesting. On some pages, visitors can listen to first-person accounts of the lives of Black Loyalist individuals.

For example, visitors can view an inventory document from the estate of Thomas Richardson from Tracadie, examine pictures and read about some of the items he owned, such as a sickle, a plough, and his livestock, including oxen.

Virtual visitors can explore an easy-to-use searchable list of the names of Black Loyalists, drawn from the Book of Negroes and from the 1784 Nova Scotia muster rolls. The Book of Negroes is a list of names and descriptions of Black Loyalist individuals prepared by British and American inspectors in 1783. The 1784 muster rolls list the people given provisions by the government upon arriving in Nova Scotia.

A detective activity allows everyone to decide whether archaeologists found the house site of Col. Stephen Blucke, a real-life Black Loyalist leader. Once all the clues in the virtual envelopes are studied, players determine if the archaeological site now identified as AkDi-23 was where the Blucke family once lived. Teachers can use the activity as an in-class resource.

The Web site includes links to publications, videos, and reports on Black Loyalists.

The two-year research project and museum exhibition, Remembering Black Loyalists, Black Communities, were funded jointly by the Nova Scotia Museum and the Department of Canadian Heritage Multiculturalism Program. Research began in 1998 and focused on historical and archaeological investigations in Birchtown and the Tracadie area.

Judith Shiers Milne Public Information Officer, History Section Nova Scotia Museum ph. 902-424-7398 fax 902-424-0560 e-mail: [email protected]