Researching The Hermit of Africville
When Jon researched the Halifax Explosion for his novel Black Snow, it was as easy as walking out the front door. Book stores have shelves of non-fiction and fiction works detailing the disaster from every imaginable angle and there are many film documentaries and museum displays.
Researching Africville proved more challenging. The Black Cultural Centre in Preston, N.S., has a good exhibit on Africville which provides strong visual context for the community.
Africville itself has a few signposts naming areas, but no context. Walking tours with Eddie and Victor Carvery filled in the empty spaces.
Other sources were:
- Online, the CBC archives were a tremendous resource, offering much original footage and news coverage of the destruction of Africville.
- The Spirit of Africville provided many photographs of the people and places of Africville, as well as various written accounts.
- The Africville Relocation Report by Donald Clairmont and Dennis Magill. Read the full PDF here.
- Black Ice: The Lost History of the Maritime Colored Hockey League by George and Darill Fosty
- Razing Africville: A Geography of Racism by Jennifer Nelson. Click 'Look Inside' to browse it online
- Remember Africville, an NFB documentary. Follow the link to watch the full film
- Halifax Champion: Black Power in Gloves by Robert Ashe
- the Halifax Public Libraries has a good collection of newspaper clippings about Africville. Many used for The Hermit of Africville were photographed and reproduced here.
- The UN report of racism in Canada, including Africville
- The 1995 New York Times article on the protest.
- The February 2010 Africville apology from the Halifax Regional Municipality
- CBC coverage of the apology.
More information
- Stolen from Africa, a Toronto-based project reclaiming Black history, is working on a film called Stolen from Africville.
- The History of Africville as told by the People of Africville, an article by Irvine Carvery for Library and Archives Canada