March 6, 2026
Dear members of Nova Scotia Women’s History Society and all those interested in our work,
As the Nova Scotia Women’s History Society nears the end of an operations year for 2025-2026, and we prepare for our AGM, we would like to update the membership and encourage more members to become involved in our work. Any interested in being part of our upcoming projects or joining our Board, we encourage to reach out via our email, nswomenshistory@gmail.com .
I am happy to report that our Community Fund Committee selected the first recipients of the inaugural award in December. The Nova Scotia SPCA received $5000 toward a travelling exhibit on the SPCA’s provincial history, “focussing on the women who shaped the history of animal welfare in Nova Scotia through their work with the Society.” $5000 was also awarded to the Immigrant Migrant Women’s Association of Halifax (IMWAH) for In Her Hands, “a community-based storytelling and public history project that invites Nova Scotians — particularly from immigrant, migrant, and refugee backgrounds — to commemorate maternal figures through images of meaningful objects carried, held, or passed down during migration journeys.”
Our next AGM at the Local Council of Women House on April 11 will have presentations of these two wonderful projects. The AGM will take place at 989 Young Avenue in Halifax, at 2PM on Saturday April 11. There will be a Zoom option, that will be arranged closer to the date.
At this meeting we will, with sorry hearts but deep gratitude, have to bid farewell to Mary Flynn, who steps back from the Board after six years. Our bylaws, wisely, limit terms of service on the board to six consecutive years, so it is time for Mary to take a well-deserved break. We’ll miss her! Mary has carried the vital function of recording secretary, keeping our minutes, and having the answers to so many questions over the years, I fear we may be a bit lost without her. But this Board structure forces us to be organized and ready, and to not wear out the good will of dedicated volunteers like Mary. Sandi Stewart, PhD candidate with the University of New Brunswick, based in Halifax, and with a strong interest in public history, has joined our Board and has volunteered to take up Mary’s role. (Her position will be confirmed at the AGM). We are so grateful. There are currently two positions open on the board for another member-at-large and Vice Chair, for any who would like to offer to serve. We welcome members from diverse backgrounds; a dedication to women’s history is the only requirement.
As we celebrate our accomplishments, we must recognize that our Truro project, which we will forever and with love, call “Reparations Park,” required more work from us, even though we had believed that the celebration last May marked its completion. We were gratified when it was named to the 2025 shortlist for the Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Community Programming. The details of the project are on our website and have been complemented with a well-researched set of FAQs addressed by Saint Mary’s University Public History student, Saige Ranson. Unfortunately, the municipality of Truro disagreed with our chosen name, but did not communicate with us directly about their concerns, making a challenging situation far worse. Lynn, Anne Marie, and Claudine travelled to Truro to meet the mayor, the CAO, a concerned councillor and the African Nova Scotian Strategy Committee in December, but although good will was expressed, profound disagreements remained. We regret that we do not see eye to eye with Truro’s municipal government on the appropriate process for naming the park, but we do not. For those curious, the story was covered by the Halifax Examiner, CBC News online, and on Information Morning. Nonetheless “Reparations Park” is looking wonderful. It is a positive contribution to its community, making a beautiful space and telling the stories of Truro’s trailblazing Black women.
The original portraits of the four educators, created by Letitia Fraser, have been donated to the Mount St. Vincent University Art Gallery. While they were on exhibit, society members, Dr. Claudine Bonner, Dr. Sharon MacDonald, Dr. Lynn Jones, and myself, presented the story of the project to Revolution & Resurgence: Celebrating Feminist Publishing, the Atlantis Conference last November at Mount St. Vincent University, and led a visit to the exhibit of the portraits. It was a beautiful experience and generated a wonderful exchange.
I would like to thank all who have supported our work and invite any interested in getting more involved through Board or committee work, to contact us through the website email.
And I wish you all a wonderful and meaningful International Women’s Day on March 8,
Anne Marie
Anne Marie Lane Jonah
Chair, Nova Scotia Women’s History Society
October 9, 2025
Dear members of Nova Scotia Women’s History Society and all those interested in our work,
The Nova Scotia Women’s History Society is beginning a new mandate of our board for 2025-2026, so we would like to update the membership and encourage members to become involved in our work. Any interested in being part of our upcoming projects or joining our board, we encourage to reach out via our email, nswomenshistory@gmail.com .
First, with sorry hearts but deep gratitude, we bid farewell, but not “goodbye,” to Dr. Lynn Jones, who steps back from the Board after six years. Our bylaws, wisely, limit terms of service on the board to six consecutive years, so it is time for Lynn to take a well-deserved break. We’ll miss her! Sandi Steward, PhD candidate with the University of New Brunswick, based in Halifax, and with a strong interest in public history, has joined our board as a new member-at-large. There are positions open on the board for another member-at-large and Vice Chair, for any who would like to offer to serve. We welcome members from diverse backgrounds, a dedication to women’s history is the only requirement to serve.
Lynn leaves on a very high note, as our project to celebrate Truro African-Nova Scotian women educators, which she spearheaded, is now installed and was beautifully celebrated at the warmest gathering on a cold windy day last May. The details of that are on this website. We are proud to report that our Truro Women Educators project was named to the 2025 shortlist for the Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Community Programming. It is truly an honour to be recognized among the wonderful projects in public history happening across Canada.
The Society has donated the original portraits of the four educators, created by Letitia Fraser, to the Mount St. Vincent University Art Gallery. There will be an exhibit of these portraits in the Upper Gallery of the Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery from late November 2025 until January of 2026. Please contact the gallery for details and don’t miss the chance to see these works beautifully displayed. The artwork of Truro native Bruce Wood, which depicts iconic Zion Baptist Church organist Vera Clyke is now with the Zion Baptist Church in Truro.
Our first Community Fund recipients will be chosen this fall, details are on this website. Applications are open until the end of October. Our fund committee will be hard at work evaluating applications with the goal of announcing recipients before Christmas! Our next AGM will have presentations of the work we are funding. We plan to keep this fund going for years to come.
I would like to thank all who have supported our work and invite any interested in getting more involved through Board or committee work, to contact us through the website email.
Anne Marie
Anne Marie Lane Jonah
Chair, Nova Scotia Women’s History Society