WELDING LINKS: THE GATEWAY THAT CHANGED CANADA by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG <myravg@prodigy.net> <http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~gormleym/> For several decades an unpretentious immigration shed at Pier 21 on the Halifax, Nova Scotia waterfront greeted a steady stream of ocean liners. Through its portals came prospective Canadians from every part of the world. This was the door to Canada -- counterpart to America's Ellis Island. On Canada Day -- July 1 -- the Pier 21 Society reopens a restored Pier 21 as an interactive visitor center commemorating Canada's immigrant population and experience. It is estimated that one in five Canadians can trace some relationship to Pier 21. For here is where more than one million immigrants, many of them war brides, refugees and children, first set foot on Canadian soil. Additionally, nearly a half a million Canadian troops headed off to World War II from here. Pier 21 opened in 1928 as a complex of buildings connected by an overhead ramp to Halifax's railway station. It contained Immigration Services, Customs, Health and Welfare, Agriculture, the Red Cross, a waiting room, dining room, canteen, nursery, hospital, detention center, kitchen, dormitories and a promenade overlooking the harbor. From 1928 to 1971, this was the main gateway to Canada and for more than 1.5 million immigrants, including wartime refugees, children evacuated from Britain during World War II, 50,000 war brides, and thousands of postwar arrivals from war-torn and famine-ridden countries, the oblong structure symbolized the start of a new life. During World War II, Pier 21 also became involved in the embarkation of troops bound for the European theater, the control of merchant seamen, the reception of prisoners of war, the processing of hospitalized servicemen, arrivals of VIPs, such as Winston Churchill, and the scene of the returning servicemen. The restored Pier 21 is the result of work by a group of historically minded citizens, led by Ruth Goldbloom, now the society's president. Through an exclusive and innovative partnership with Pier 21, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) television crews are filming immigrants in every part of Canada, telling their stories, in their own words, of coming into Canada. "As a country, we are the sum of our individual experiences and having Canada's national public broadcaster as our exclusive broadcast partner ensures that these stories are heard by the widest possible audience," Goldbloom said. The society was created to revitalize Pier 21 as a permanent testament designed to celebrate the profound contributions of immigrant Canadians. It is hoped that Pier 21 will do for Canada what Ellis Island has done for the United States -- be a national and international center whose purpose is to extol the Canadian immigration experience. The restored Pier 21 will be home to a heritage center that recreates the immigrant experience through innovative exhibits, evocative soundscapes, and interactive technology. It will recapture the essential dimensions of that experience as felt by children and adults: the difficult journey from home to the unknown; the anticipation of life in a new land, mingled with fond remembrance of the old; the anxiety and discomfort of arrival; the journey to new beginnings; and the ultimate impact of the new arrivals on the face of Canada. The site will spur the development of a historic Canadian immigration database enabling descendants of Pier 21 immigrants to trace their origins within Canada, while guiding others in tracing their roots. Stories of some who came through Pier 21, information about opening day activities, the society's search for certain artifacts or memorabilia for display as well as a list of ships that have arrived and/or departed from Pier 21 can be found at the Pier 21 Society's home page on the Web at: <http://www.pier21.ns.ca/>. Also read: STORIES OF PIER 21 <http://pier21.ns.ca/stories.html> -- a compilation of stories written by individuals who arrived or departed through Pier 21, and stories of organizations that volunteered there. o IMMIGRANTS <http://pier21.ns.ca/storyi.html> o GUEST CHILDREN <http://pier21.ns.ca/storyg.html> o REFUGEES <http://pier21.ns.ca/storyr.html> o VOLUNTEERS <http://pier21.ns.ca/storyv.html> o WAR BRIDES <http://pier21.ns.ca/storyw.html> o WORLD WAR II <http://pier21.ns.ca/storyw1.html> SHIPS OF PIER 21 <http://pier21.ns.ca/ships.html> (with many pictures) THE SOBEY WALL OF HONOUR <http://www.pier21.ns.ca/wallofhonour/index.html> PIER 21: THE PLACE WHERE WE BECAME CANADIANS <http://pier21.ns.ca/newman.html> PERMISSION TO REPRINT articles from MISSING LINKS is granted unless specifically stated otherwise, PROVIDED: (1) the reprint is used for non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) a copy of this notice appears at the end of the article: Written by <author's name, e-mail address, and URL, if given>. Previously published by Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG, Missing Links: RootsWeb's Genealogy Journal, Vol. 4, No. 26, 23 June 1999. Please visit the MISSING LINKS Web page at <http://www.rootsweb.com/~mlnews/index.htm>. -- Susan D. Chambless listowner for the CHAMBLESS, GAUSS, GLENDAY, BORDEN, DURFEE, BORDEN & SANDERSON surname lists, now at RootsWeb - http://www.rootsweb.com - please join us! Check it out: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~schmblss I'm posting a lot of old family letters & papers centered around the Charles Henry Gauss family of St. Charles, MO. Surnames are: Gauss, Johns, Fawcett, Glenday, Durfee, Lindsay, plus, of course, the people they knew.