Exhibit At Sherbrooke Village Focuses On Black Loyalist History
N.S. MUSEUM--Exhibit At Sherbrooke Village Focuses On Black Loyalist History
The stories, strengths, and struggles of Nova Scotia's Black Loyalists are featured in the travelling exhibition Remembering Black Loyalists, Black Communities. The exhibition will be on display at the Sherbrooke Village Exhibit Centre from June 1 to Sept. 30.
The travelling exhibit, organized by the history section of the Nova Scotia Museum, includes some of the findings of historical and archaeological research about Black Loyalists in two communities: Birchtown, Shelburne Co., and the Tracadie area in Antigonish and Guysborough counties. The surnames of the known Black Loyalist families who emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1783 are part of the exhibition.
"The Loyalist Exhibit has a particular significance to Sherbrooke since a number of the descendants of the Antigonish and Guysborough County Black Loyalists worked in the mining industry in that area," said Donna Hochman of the Antigonish Guysborough Black Development Association. "We're pleased that the exhibit is returning to Guysborough County and that Sherbrooke Village is hosting this important exhibit this summer."
In the 1780s, more than 2,700 Black Loyalists landed in Nova Scotia as a result of the American Revolution. Survivors of slavery, war, and harsh conditions in an unknown land, they founded settlements throughout Nova Scotia. By 1785, the largest community of free blacks in North America had been established in Birchtown, Shelburne Co. In 1787, 74 Black Loyalist families were granted 3,000 acres of land called the Brownspriggs Grant, in what is now the Tracadie area of Antigonish/Guysborough counties.
The research and the exhibit are facets of a two-year Nova Scotia Museum project, which began in 1998. The Remembering Black Loyalists, Black Communities project was funded by the multiculturalism program of the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Nova Scotia Museum and the learning resources division of the Department of Education. Members of the Brownspriggs Historical Society of Guysborough/Antigonish played an active role in the project's advisory group, which also included other Black Nova Scotians from the two communities, from the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia, Parks Canada and from the Department of Education's African Canadian services division.
Sherbrooke Village Restoration is located on Main Street in Sherbrooke. The exhibit is open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. Admission is $8.25 for adults, $3.75 for children and $23 for families. Seniors' admission is $6.75 but seniors will be admitted free on June 1.
The public opening of the exhibit will be held on Sunday, June 1, at 2 p.m. at the Sherbrooke Village Exhibit Centre. Light refreshments will be served.
Call 1-888-743-7845 for more information.