Museum seeks family members of first passengers to arrive at Pier 21

Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia wants to connect with the families of the first immigrants to step on the pier on March 8, 1928.

The 54 people, who arrived aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam, came from Holland, Lithuania, Germany, Romania, Russia, Yugoslavia, Finland, and Greece.

According to Reference Services Manager Cara MacDonald’s blog post, First Families of Pier 21, “They were all headed westward, to Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia.”

Ms. MacDonald says no one related to the immigrants on the first ship has yet to contact them.

Links to images of the ship’s passenger list and a typed transcription can be found in the blog post.

If you see your family name in the manifest, the museum wants to hear from you. They want to learn about your family’s life in Canada since arrival.

The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 opened in 1999.

If you did not locate your family on the Nieuw Amsterdam passenger list, but are interested in discovering what ship your family arrived on via any Canadian port of entry (Halifax, Saint John, Montreal, Quebec City, Vancouver or US/Canada border crossing), the museum encourages you to submit a research request to our genealogical team.

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