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8 Events to Celebrate Heritage at this Holiday Season
It seems like we were just carving pumpkins and snacking on Halloween candy, but the cold weather has creeped up and leaves are slowly making their way off the branches. Atlas, the Holiday Season is right around the corner and it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! It’s time to get into the holiday spirit and there’s no better way to do that (in my humble opinion) than exploring local heritage and celebrating historic traditions. Why not put a vintage twist on your Christmas season by attending these exciting events? This year I have found 8 (yes, 8!) exciting events at heritage sites or celebrating the history of the…
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Tufts Cove Cemetery: A Small Cemetery with a Large Historical Footprint
Tufts Cove Cemetery is a must visit for history and cemetery enthusiasts alike. Though a small space, it is filled to the brim with in depth local history.
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“This Is What I Wish You Knew”: Mi’kmaq Identity and History at the Museum of Natural History in Kjipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Here in Nova Scotia, I think many of us take advantage of our history. We grow up sitting through history classes that we write off as boring. Or maybe we dismiss Canadian history as a whole, chalking ourselves up as uninteresting in comparison to our American neighbours. Yet this is untrue. No history is plain and lifeless. And though I am happy to share with you my passion for the history of this province and actively prove to you that Nova Scotian and Canadian history is anything but uneventful, there is also a darker side of this conversation. How our disinterest in our own histories not only comes from a…
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Welcome to The Maritime Historian – And Goodbye to History with Kirby
Hi everyone! Hope you had a good week or so. As you may have noticed, since I posted a couple of weeks ago some big changes have happened on this blog. I’m not talking colour schemes or social media buttons. I’m talking about a full rebranding. The site domain (aka the URL and identity of this brand) has transitioned from History with Kirby to The Maritime Historian. With this change, my social media handles have been modified as well (they’re all @themaritimehistorian, except for twitter which is still @historykirby). But why change up the website? I have thought about this question a lot. Why fix something that isn’t broken, right?…
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What Two Years of On and Off Blogging has Taught Me
On November 6th, 2018 I published my first blog post. I was new to blogging, but it was something I had knew I needed to pursue. Though I love academic writing, I missed the freedom and fun of putting pen to paper in a more creative style. From the beginning, I craved blogging about local historic sites and tucked away treasures. Museums skirting cities or historic villages in seemingly the middle of nowhere. Backroom displays and temporary exhibitions. Blogging was the perfect opportunity to combine my love of writing and history. I yearned to share these adventures not only because I find them fascinating, but to help boost these off…
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York Redoubt National Historic Site: Halifax’s Hidden Historic Fort
I think we can all agree, finding something free AND fun can be challenging. And in the winter? Seemingly impossible. However, what if I told you there was a free, outdoor historic site that you could visit year round that is only a 20 minute drive from Halifax? Yes, it exists. I’m talking about York Redoubt, the National Historic Site. As a seaside city, so much of Halifax’s history is ingrained in its military presence, with a large naval presence to this day. York Redoubt had a large role protecting Halifax Harbour for over a century. Through these visits to forts on Georges Island, McNab’s Island, Point Pleasant Park and…
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Mills Brothers Building Meets Wrecking Ball
You’ve likely walked by it dozens of times and never given the building a second glance. Or maybe you noticed the oddity of a Tudor styled building in downtown Halifax. I’m talking about that long, beige and brown trimmed shopping centre on Spring Garden Road that up until recently housed a variety of shops, including the well-known Duggers. This location is the Mills Brothers building. Over the last years, stores have been emptying out in preparation for the block to be torn down. The demolition will make way for a new development by Micco Group, set to be finished by 2023. Originally the demolition was planned for this summer, but…
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The North Carolina Museum of History
This post is a bit of a throwback! Join me as I share my story of traveling to North Carolina over the December holiday break of 2019. I visited two state museums during my stay. This blog post focuses on the first. The day after Christmas I boarded a plane for my first solo international flight. After dating my partner for over a year, I was headed on my first visit to his home state: North Carolina. He had spent the holidays with his family and I was excited to meet them. I got up in the wee hours of the morning to start my journey at the Halifax Stanfield…
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History over Hot Drinks: Open Book Coffee
There’s a little coffee shop I know, where the roasts are local and shelves are lined with history books. This café is called Open Book Coffee. Nothing quite pulls at my heartstrings like a local coffee shop. To be completely honest, I had no clue that this cafe/ bookstore existed a few weeks ago. It was entirely by chance that I discovered its existence. There’s a specific book that I have been searching for online, in bookstores and thrift shops. The Terry Punch book, called “Genealogical Research in Nova Scotia” is one of the must-reads when it comes to Nova Scotian genealogy. I had to have it. I saw the…
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“Egyptian Mummies & Eternal Life” at the Museum of Natural History
There’s many things that one might expect to see in Nova Scotian museums. Models of old schooners, cookbooks from generations ago, furnishings of the rich and poor or weaponry that predates confederation. Typical maritimer artifacts and histories. I can ensure you that I never expected to see a mummy in Nova Scotia. No, I’m not referring to the one that insists you call once a week or will always make your favourite meal when you visit, but the thousands of years old one that died halfway across the world. Yes, I’m talking about Egyptian mummies. You may wonder “What could mummies possibly be doing in Nova Scotia?”. Well, the Museum…
My name is Kirby and I’m a 20-something year old with an M.A. in History. Needless to say, history is a huge passion of mine.
