A century ago, governments buoyed by Progressive Era-beliefs began to assume greater responsibility for protecting and rescuing citizens. Yet the aftermath of two disasters in the United States-Canada borderlands--the Salem Fire of 1914 and the Halifax Explosion of 1917--saw working class survivors instead turn to friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family members for succor and aid. Both official and unofficial responses, meanwhile, showed how the United States and Canada were linked by experts, workers, and money. In Disaster Citizenship, Jacob A.C. Remes draws on histories of the Salem and Halifax events to explore the institutions--both formal and informal--that ordinary people relied upon in times of crisis. He explores patterns and traditions of self-help, informal order, and solidarity and details how people adapted these traditions when necessary. Yet, as he shows, these methods--though often quick and effective--remained illegible to reformers. Indeed, soldiers, social workers, and reformers wielding extraordinary emergency powers challenged these grassroots practices to impose progressive 'solutions' on what they wrongly imagined to be a fractured social landscape. Innovative and engaging, Disaster Citizenship excavates the forgotten networks of solidarity and obligation in an earlier time while simultaneously suggesting new frameworks in the emerging field of critical disaster studies. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Disaster relief — Social aspects — United States — History — 20th century
Disaster relief — Social aspects — Canada — History — 20th century
Fires — Massachusetts — Salem — History — 20th century
Halifax Explosion, Halifax, N.S., 1917
Working class — Massachusetts — Salem — History — 20th century
Working class — Nova Scotia — Halifax — History — 20th century
Solidarity — Social aspects — History — 20th century
Power (Social sciences) — History — 20th century
Salem (Mass.) — Social conditions — 20th century
Halifax (N.S.) — Social conditions — 20th century

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The community of Africville began in the early 1800s with the settlement of former American slaves and other black people on the Beford Basin, just north of Halifax. Over time the community grew to include a church, a school, and small businesses. At its peak, about 400 people lived in the tight-knit community of Africville. But the neighbourhood was not without its problems. Racist attitudes prevented people from getting well-paying jobs outside the community and the City of Halifax denied the residents of Africville basic services such as running water, sewage disposal, and garbage collection. Despite being labeled a "slum," the community was lively and vibrant, with a strong sense of culture and tradition. In the 1960s, in the name of urban renewal, the City of Halifax decided to demolish the community, relocate its residents and use the land for industrial development. Residents of Africville strongly opposed this move, but their homes were bulldozed and they were forced into public housing projects in other parts of the city, and promised, but did not receive social assistance to help them resettle. After years of pressure from former members of the community and their descendants, the City of Halifax finally apologized for the destruction of Africville and offered to pay compensation. Through historical photographs, documents, and first-person narratives from former Africville residents, this book offers an account of the racism behind the injustices suffered by the community. It documents how the City destroyed Africville and finally apologized for it. Part of the "Righting Canada's Wrongs" Series.

Africville (Halifax, N.S.) — History — 20th century
Africville (Halifax, N.S.) — Social conditions — 20th century
Black Canadians — Nova Scotia — Halifax — Social conditions — 20th century
Relocation (Housing) — Nova Scotia — Halifax — History — 20th century
Race discrimination — Nova Scotia — Halifax — History — 20th century
Halifax (N.S.) — Ethnic relations — History — 20th century
Halifax (N.S.) — History — 20th century

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Series: Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History. In Law, Debt, and Merchant Power, James Muir offers an extensive analysis of the civil cases of the time as well as the reasons behind their frequency. Muir's lively and detailed account of the individuals involved in litigation reveals a paradoxical society where debtors were also debt-collectors. Law, Debt, and Merchant Power demonstrates how important the law was for people in their business affairs and how they shaped it for their own ends. Includes bibliographical references pages 259-274 and index.

Civil law — Nova Scotia — Halifax — History — 18th century
Courts — Nova Scotia — Halifax — History — 18th century
Corporate debt — Nova Scotia — Halifax — History — 18th century
Halifax (N.S.) — Social conditions — 18th century
Halifax (N.S.) — Economic conditions — 18th century

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Focusing on the days and months following the Halifax explosion of 1917, this study takes a look at the role of social workers in the wake of the disaster, as well as the class relations of the time. Exhaustively researched, this history clearly identifies the direct correlation between many of today's inherited social-work practices and attitudes with the social climate of that early relief effort. Marking the transition from charity work--where traditionally well-off volunteers passed judgment on their poorer neighbors — to professional social care, this analysis reflects on the lessons learned when newly arrived workers had to navigate the prevailing class structures while attempting to rebuild the lives of the Haligonians. Includes bibliographical references pages 125-130 and index.

Social service — Nova Scotia — Halifax — History — 20th century
Social workers — Nova Scotia — Halifax — History — 20th century
Halifax Explosion, Halifax, N.S., 1917
Social classes — Nova Scotia — Halifax — History — 20th century
Halifax (N.S.) — Social conditions — 20th century

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Includes bibliographical references.

Dalhousie University. Government Studies Programme.

Industrial promotion — Nova Scotia — Halifax
Industrial promotion — Nova Scotia — Dartmouth
Industrial location — Nova Scotia — Halifax
Industrial location — Nova Scotia — Dartmouth
Halifax (N.S.) — Social conditions
Dartmouth (N.S.) — Social conditions

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