Local History Archives - Halifax Examiner

Halifax Examiner

An independent, adversarial news site in Halifax, NS

A smiling Black woman with reddish square frame glasses. Her hair is pulled back in bun and she is wearing a black, red, yellow, and green necklace and a black t-shirt. There is a black-and-white drawing of a man in a frame on the purple wall behind her.

Morning File

Black Hair 101, Braid Day, and celebrating Black beauty, history, and Black women in Nova Scotia

by Suzanne Rent August 29, 2023August 29, 2023

Samatha Dixon Slawter heads to Amherst to teach Black hair care and gather stories of other Black women doing the same.

A worker in jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and wearing a hard hat and mask stands on a city sidewalk surrounded by black stones. Behind him are two other workers in hard hats inspecting stones they are digging up from an old stone wall. The stone wall runs along the sidewalk and part of it has been taken out. Behind the wall is a yellow construction fence separating the stone wall from an old cemetery behind it.

Morning File

Restoring the walls at the Little Dutch Church and the importance of gathering places

by Suzanne Rent August 24, 2023August 24, 2023

A map of Atlantic Canada, annotated with possible Viking voyages.

Morning File

What do we take away from the Vikings’ failed attempt to settle in North America?

by Tim Bousquet August 21, 2023August 22, 2023

A green road sign that says Ecum Secum standing along a rural highway. There are lots of trees in the background.

Morning File

Ecum Secum resident organizes petition to get cell tower for Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore

by Suzanne Rent August 15, 2023August 22, 2023

A white man holds a baby while standing to a young boy and a woman on the porch of an old building. The building has pale yellow singles, green doors, and white trim. There are two staircases leading off the porch.

Morning File

Bringing new life to Riverport’s Old Confidence Lodge

by Suzanne Rent August 10, 2023August 10, 2023

A white woman with long grey hair tied back and wearing a purple winter coat over a blue shirt, beige scarf, and dark pants stands in a cemetery. She's holding a cane and standing next to a tomb and two old headstones. There are buildings along a city street and tree without their leaves.

Local History, Profiles, Women

Deborah Trask: Carving her expertise in Nova Scotia’s cemeteries and gravestones

by Suzanne Rent August 8, 2023August 15, 2023

A white man in a black wetsuit and snorkel in the water next to a wooden dock. On top of the dock is a collection of garbage he found in the water, including bottles, an old sink, pieces of a tire, a car stereo speaker, and a glove.

Environment

Searching for treasures and trash in Nova Scotia’s lakes, rivers, and ocean

by Suzanne Rent July 27, 2023August 3, 2023

Four colourful quilts hang on the white walls of an art gallery. One quilt features a Black woman in a green dress with a basket at her feet. Another quilt features a Black woman in a red dress holding a silver bucket and walking toward a pink house. Another quilt showed a small house, with a crow, and red, black, yellow stripes, and the final quilt shows a Black woman praying and surrounded by waves of colour.

Black Nova Scotia, Local History

Nova Scotia Black artist, historian hopes Secret Codes quilt exhibit inspires younger generations

by Matthew Byard, Local Journalism Initiative reporter July 26, 2023August 2, 2023

A white sign on a post that says Viola Desmond, gravesite. In the background are several newer and older headstones on a green lawn. There are a number of trees in the background, too.

Black Nova Scotia, Local History, Profiles, Racism

Wanda Robson championed her sister Viola Desmond’s legacy; now they are honoured together at Camp Hill cemetery

by Evelyn C. White July 11, 2023July 19, 2023

An old sepia tone photo of a young family. The husband is sitting on a chair with the baby on his play. A toddler is standing on another chair, and the wife is standing in behind all three.

Black Nova Scotia, Commentary, Local History

Joseph Laroche, the only Black person known to have died in the Titanic disaster, may be buried in Halifax

by Evelyn C. White June 23, 2023June 30, 2023

A collage of various housing options in HRM, including co-ops, apartment buildings, shelters, and tents — Credit: Halifax Examiner. All rights reserved.

PRICED OUT is the Examiner’s investigative reporting project focused on the housing crisis.

You can learn about the project, including how we’re asking readers to direct our reporting, our published articles, and what we’re working on, on the PRICED OUT homepage.

Credit: Ricardo Weibezahn - ICIJ

DEFORESTATION INC

Reporter Joan Baxter is one of 140 journalists from 39 media outlets across 27 countries working collaboratively on ‘Deforestation Inc,’ a project of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which looked at the ownership structure of Paper Excellence, its relationship with Asia Pulp & Paper, and how the secretive corporate empires are devastating forests in Canada and around the world.

Find all of Baxter’s articles on the Deforestation Inc homepage.

Nine images illustrating the locations, maps, and memorials of the mass shootings

2020 MASS MURDERS

All of the Halifax Examiner’s reporting on the mass murders of April 18/19, 2020, and recent articles on the Mass Casualty Commission and newly-released documents.

Updated regularly.

UNCOVER: DEAD WRONG

In 1995, Brenda Way was brutally murdered behind a Dartmouth apartment building. In 1999, Glen Assoun was found guilty of the murder, and served 17 years in prison while maintaining his innocence. In 2019, he was fully exonerated.

Halifax Examiner’s Tim Bousquet tells Assoun’s story on the CBC podcast series Uncover: Dead Wrong. Click here to listen to the podcast.

Category: Local History

Black Hair 101, Braid Day, and celebrating Black beauty, history, and Black women in Nova Scotia

Restoring the walls at the Little Dutch Church and the importance of gathering places

What do we take away from the Vikings’ failed attempt to settle in North America?

Ecum Secum resident organizes petition to get cell tower for Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore

Bringing new life to Riverport’s Old Confidence Lodge

Deborah Trask: Carving her expertise in Nova Scotia’s cemeteries and gravestones

Searching for treasures and trash in Nova Scotia’s lakes, rivers, and ocean

Nova Scotia Black artist, historian hopes Secret Codes quilt exhibit inspires younger generations

Wanda Robson championed her sister Viola Desmond’s legacy; now they are honoured together at Camp Hill cemetery

Joseph Laroche, the only Black person known to have died in the Titanic disaster, may be buried in Halifax

Nova Scotia launches review of provincial policing structure

Brad Johns once again spins the revolving door of SIRT directorship, but that won’t solve the crisis of legitimacy for the police oversight board

Mount Uniacke residents organize, submit comments as quarry owners apply for expansion

Halifax MP says council can go higher on federal housing application

NDP wants Nova Scotia municipalities to tax developers who leave lots empty