Halifax Public Libraries Resource Guide Halifax Explosion 100
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Halifax Explosion 100 Halifax Public Libraries Resource Guide Halifax Explosion 100 Introduction The morning of Tuesday, December 6, 1917 dawned clear and unseasonably warm in Halifax. The harbour was busier than usual, teeming with ships whose schedules were dictated by the commerce of World War One. Halifax served as a gathering point for ships being escorted by convoy to Europe, and it was bustling with activity. Shortly before nine a.m., two ships began their opposing journeys in the harbour’s confines. The Mont-Blanc, a munitions ship loaded with close to three thousand tons of explosive material, was steaming into the harbour while the Belgian relief ship, Imo, was approaching the Narrows on its way out of Halifax. For reasons unknown, both ships headed for the same point in the crowded harbour and were unable to correct their positions in time to avert disaster. The Imo collided with the Mont-Blanc. The collision spilled a number of barrels of benzol, and the leaking fuel caught fire. As the fire intensified, black smoke billowed skyward. Unable to control the blaze, and fully aware of the dangerous cargo, the Mont-Blanc crew abandoned ship, and the vessel drifted toward Richmond Pier on the Halifax side. Shortly after nine a.m., as hundreds watched from the shoreline and from windows, the Mont-Blanc exploded in a ball of fury, laying waste two and a half square miles of Halifax city, killing close to 2,000, wounding 6,000, and leaving 25,000 homeless. Dartmouth’s North end, including the Mi’kmaq community of Turtle Grove, was equally devastated. Much has been written about the Explosion within the last 100 years, examining the circumstances before and after the collision. What follows is a select list of adult and youth materials currently in the collection of Halifax Public Libraries. In 2017, Halifax Regional Municipality will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion with a series of programs, cultural events and commemorations. For more details visit 100years100stories.ca. Resources Adult and Youth Catastrophe and Social Change, Devastated Halifax: Views of the Final Report of the Massachusetts- Based Upon a Sociological Study Greatest Disaster in the History of Halifax Health Commission with Non-Fiction (Y): of the Halifax Disaster, by Samuel the American Continent, Caused Appendices: October 1919 to Henry Prince. New York: n.p., 1920. by the Explosion that Followed the October 1929, by the Massachusetts- Aftershock: The Halifax Explosion Collision of the French Munition Halifax Health Commission. Halifax: and the Persecution of Pilot Francis Christ Church, Dartmouth, Nova Ship “Mont-Blanc” and the Belgian The Commission, 1932. Mackey, by Janet Maybee. Halifax: Scotia: 1817 to 1959, by Charles Relief Ship “Imo” in Halifax Harbour, Nimbus, 2015. Walter Bayer, 58-67. n.p.: 1960. December 6th, 1917, Halifax: G.E. Four Years Work of the Weir, 1917. Massachusetts-Halifax Health Amazing Medical Stories, by Christian Science War Time Commission: A Progress Report, George Burden & Dorothy Grant, Activities, by the Christian Science Dispensing Aid: Druggists and by Franklin Royer. Halifax: The 79-84. Fredericton, N.B.: Goose Lane War Relief Committee. Boston: Christian the Halifax Explosion, by Mary Commission, 1923. Editions, 2003. Science Publishing Society, 19__. E. MacCara. Tantallon, N.S.: Glen Margaret Publishing, 2017 Gone But Not Forgotten: Victims Autobiography, by Benjamin Russell, Cinders and Saltwater: The Story of of the Halifax Explosion in Catholic 264-273. Halifax Royal Print and Atlantic Canada Railways, by Shirly Relief Ship “Imo” in Halifax Harbour, Cemeteries, by Shelby Bailey. Halifax: Litho, 1932. E. Woods, 178-180. Halifax: Nimbus, December 6th, 1917. Halifax: G.E. Catholic Cemeteries of Halifax, 2017. 1992. Weir, 1917. Bearing Witness: Journalists, The Great Halifax Explosion, by John Record Keepers and the 1917 Halifax Crime Wave: Con Men, Rogues and Disaster Canada, by Janet Looker, U. Bacon. New York: HarperCollins Explosion, by Michael Dupuis. Scoundrels from Nova Scotia’s Past, 232-240. Toronto: Lynx Images, 2000. Publishers, 2017. Winnipeg: Fernwood, 2017. by Dean Jobb, 57-66. Porter’s Lake: Pottersfield Press, 1991. Disaster Citizenship: Survivors, The Great Halifax Explosion, Behind the Headlines! From Moose Solidarity, and Power in the December 6, 1917, by Joan Horwood. River to Shangri-la, by Ralph Kelly The Curse of the Narrows: The Progressive Era, by Jacob A.C. St. John’s: Avalon, 1976. Morton, 15-17. Halifax: Nimbus, 1986. Halifax Explosion, 1917, by Laura Remes. Urbana: University of Illinois MacDonald. New York: Walker & Press, 2016. Grim Visions: Arthur Lismer and the Betrayal of Trust: Commander Wyatt Company, 2005. Halifax Explosion, by Alan Ruffman. and the Halifax Explosion, by Joel Edwardian Halifax: Postcard Halifax: Mount Saint Vincent Zemel. Halifax: New World Publishing, Dartmouth’s Day of Anguish: Glimpses of an Era, 1900-1920, by University Art Gallery, 1990. 2017. The Explosion, December 6, 1917, Dan Soucoup, 78-81. Halifax: Nimbus, by Harry Chapman. Dartmouth: 1998. Ground Zero: A Reassessment of the The Bicentennial of the Halifax Fire Dartmouth Museum Society, 1992. 1917 Explosions in Halifax Harbour, Department: 1768-1968: 200 Years Enriched by Catastrophe: Social by Alan Ruffman and Colin D. Howell. of Firefighting, prepared by Pearl Dartmouth’s Day of Sorrow: Halifax Work and Social Conflict After the Halifax: Nimbus, 1994. Connelly, 22-26. Halifax: McCurdy Harbour Explosion – 1917, by Harry Halifax Explosion, by Michelle Hèbert Print, 1968. Chapman. Dartmouth: Dartmouth Boyd. Black Point, N.S.: Fernwood Halifax and its People 1749-1999, Historical Association, 2007. Pub., 2007. by Nova Scotia Archives and Record “Big Bang Theories: Remembering the Management, 54-56. Halifax: Nimbus, Halifax Explosion with Townhouses “Day of Disaster,” by H.B. Jefferson The Explosion – A Child’s Story, 1999. and a TV Movie,” by Robert Plowman, in the Atlantic Advocate. January by Darren Brackley. Shunpiking, The Coast. October 23, 2003, 11-12. 1958, 15-24. December 1997, 5. The Halifax Catastrophe: Forty views showing extent of damage in Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax “Death in Halifax”, By Edmund Explosion, Dec. 6, 1917: 75 Years: A Canada’s historic city as the result Explosion of 1917, by Sally M. Walker. Gilligan. (An excerpt from Reader’s Special Project of the Daily News. of a terrific explosion on Thursday, New York: Henry Holt, 2011. (Y) Digest, condensed from The Dartmouth: Daily News, 1992. December 6, 1917, which killed 1,500 American Mercury, February 1938). men, women, and children, injured Breaking Disaster: Newspaper Explosion in Halifax Harbour, 3,000 and rendered 6,000 homeless, Stories of the Halifax Explosion, by December 1917: Re-Visiting the December 6, 1917: The Salvation causing property damage of nearly Katie Ingram. Pottersfield Press, 2017. Halifax Explosion, by Janet Kitz and Army’s Relief Operations, by Ralph $50,000,000. Halifax: Royal Print and Joan Payzant. Halifax: Nimbus, 2006. Pilgrim. Halifax: n.p., 1994. Litho, 1917. Broken Pieces, by Allison Lawlor. Halifax: Nimbus, 2017. (Y) December 6/The Halifax Solution: Explosion in Halifax Harbour, 1917, by Halifax, Cornerstone of Canada, by An Alternative to Nuclear War, by Dan Soucoup. Halifax: Nimbus, 2017. Joan M. Payzant, 136-138. Burlington, Canada and the Great War: Western Leslie Choyce. Porter’s Lake, NS: Ont.: Windsor Publications, 1985. Front Association Papers, edited Pottersfield Press, 1988. Explosion in Halifax Harbour: The by Briton C. Busch. 93-121. Montreal: Illustrated Account of a Disaster Halifax, December 6, 1917: A Photo- McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003. That Shook the World, by David Documentation of the Halifax B. Flemming. Halifax: Formac Pub., Explosion, researched by Graham Canadian Disasters: 43 True Stories, 2004. Metson. West House Museum: by René Schmidt, 1-5. Toronto: Halifax, 1977. Scholastic Canada, 2013. The Halifax Disaster, December 6, The Halifax Explosion: Realities and “The Hydrostone’s Heaven to Me,” The Medical Services, by Andrew 1917, by Ernest Fraser Robinson. St. Myths, by Alan Ruffman. Halifax: by Barbara Fuller. Halifax Magazine. MacPhail, 327-329. Ottawa: The Catherine’s Ont.: Vanwell, 1987. Geo-Marine Associates, 1987. Halifax: Jan. 1982, 44. Department, 1925. The Halifax Explosion, by Kate Halifax in Ruins: Streets Littered In My Time: A Memoir, by Thomas H. “Memories from the Bells” by Carman. Ottawa: Canadian Library with Dead; French Munitions Boat Raddall, 30-41. Toronto: McClelland Alice Bardsley, Atlantic Advocate. Association, 1981. Collides in the Harbour with a and Stewart, 1976. December 1984, 41-43. Belgian Relief Ship and Blows Up; “The Halifax Explosion,” by Charles Two Spare Miles a Burning Ruin, in In the Face of Disaster: True Stories “Memories of a Day of Horrors,” by Bruce Fergusson. Journal of the Times Series (Times of Halifax). of Canadian Heroes from the Harry Chapman. The Beaver. Aug./ Education, (February, 1968), 25-31. Vol. 4, No.2 (2002). Archives of Macleans, ed. by Michael Sept., 1993, 35-39. Benedict, 242-253. Toronto: Penguin “Halifax Explosion,” by Thomas H. Halifax, Nova Scotia: The Great Books, 2000. “Mi’Kmaw at the Halifax Explosion,” Raddall. Atlantic Anthology, ed. Will Harbour, 14. Halifax: John Quinpool, by Kenny Prosper. Mi’kmaq-Maliseet R. Bird, 230-235. Toronto: McClelland 1941. In the Privy Council on Appeal Nation News, 20 December, 2002, 5. and Stewart, 1959. from the Supreme Court of Canada Halifax: Warden of the North, by between the ship “Imo” (Southern Miracles and Mysteries: The Halifax The Halifax Explosion, by Evelyn Thomas H. Raddall, 241-250. Halifax: Pacific Whaling Company, Limited, Explosion, December 6, 1917, by Mary Richardson. Nova Scotia Historical Nimbus, 2010. Owners), (Defendant), Appelant and Ann Monnon. Halifax: Nimbus, 2011. Quarterly, 1977, 305. La Compagnie Generale Trans- Halifax’s North End: An Atlantique, (Plaintiff), Respondent: More History with a Twist, by Bruce “Halifax Explosion-A Great Disaster- Anthropologist Looks at the City, by Record of Proceedings: Volume 1. Nunn, 116-119.