The late Ruth Goldbloom helped found the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, which has been a national historic site as the gateway to Canada for more than a million immigrants, including tens of thousands of Jews in the 20th century. When Goldbloom died in Halifax nine years ago, more than 1,500 people came to her funeral. A street has been named after her and the museum at Pier 21 named a boardroom in her honour.
But the woman herself still isn’t very well known to the public. A new initiative is hoping to change that. Goldbloom’s cousins in Halifax, Howard Conter and his wife, Karen Conter, are working to have a permanent sculpture of the prominent philanthropist built and placed outside her beloved museum—so visitors can sit beside her and appreciate what she helped build. They’re raising $250,000 for a campaign they call “Honouring Ruth”, which will pay for the sculpture and contribute to a bursary in her name. On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, the Conters join to discuss their efforts.
What we talked about:
- Learn more about Honouring Ruth at the Atlantic Jewish Council
- View the website for Canada’s immigration museum at pier21.ca
- Watch a video of Goldbloom tap dancing at age 88 on YouTube
- Read Goldbloom’s obituary from 2012 at The CJN
The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.
