It is Black History Month and each day this month I am sharing stories from Canada's Black history.
Today it is the story of Africville, a Black Canadian community that sat next to Halifax for 150 years before it was bulldozed and residents evicted.
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Today it is the story of Africville, a Black Canadian community that sat next to Halifax for 150 years before it was bulldozed and residents evicted.
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In 1849, the Seaview African United Baptist Church was built. The church became the heart of the town and all social activity revolved around it.
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In 1883, the city built an elementary school and charged residents for construction. No provincially-trained teachers were provided until 1933.
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In 1906, another railroad, the Halifax and Southwestern Railway, was built through Africville and trains ran constantly through the community.
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Instead, Halifax built a prison there in 1853, an infectious disease hospital in 1870, along with a slaughterhouse and a fecal waste depository. All without consultation.
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With no source of proper water, residents usually had to boil their water before drinking it.
In 1958, Halifax built the town landfill next to Africville.
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Boxer George Dixon was born in the community, as was painter Edith Hester McDonald-Brown. Singer Portia White taught there in the 1930s.
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