Halifax Explosion 100th Anniversary

A Look Back 100 Years

2017 09 12 St. Josephs damage Halifax explosion 1917 Box 4 File 18 no. 35 600x400 On the morning of Dec. 6, 1917, the outgoing Norwegian relief vessel Imo collided with the incoming munitions vessel the Mont-Blanc in the Halifax harbour. The Mont-Blanc, with its cargo of benzol, picric acid, TNT and gun cotton, caught fire. After burning for 20 minutes, the volatile cargo exploded, causing a blast unsurpassed in human history until the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.

Halifax was devastated. Approximately 2000 people were killed in the explosion or died shortly thereafter from their injuries. About 9000 people sustained injuries. Partial or total loss of sight was widespread, as the windows to which people had been drawn to watch the fire blew inward, sending shards of glass into faces and eyes. The records of St. Joseph’s Orphanage show a sharp increase in admissions and hundreds of children were left completely orphaned or with only one living parent. Many Archdiocesan properties were affected, including St. Joseph’s Church, which was destroyed. St. Mary’s Cathedral, further away from the explosion, fared better, though a bell was cracked and the stained glass windows shattered.

As we mark the 100^th Anniversary of the Explosion, we present a few items of interest, drawn from the Archival holdings of the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth, and other sources.

Knights of Columbus Halifax Council 1097 and Dec 6, 1917 Explosion (pdf)

Knight Ervin John Doak was kind enough to share some of the results of his research into the involvement of the Knights of Columbus in recovery efforts following with the explosion. Many thanks to Mr. Doak!

†McCarthy-Damages list (pdf)

This list, in Archbishop McCarthy’s handwriting, shows the estimated dollar value of the damage to Archdiocesan properties. According to an online inflation calculator (in Canadian dollars) $1000 in 1917 would equal roughly $15,700 today. The damages in 1917 totalled over $2,300,000. That amount would total over $36,134,939.76 today.

Sermon (pdf)

What follows is the homily preached at the funeral of Msgr. Charles McManus, at St. Mary’s Cathedral on January 18, 1940 by Rev. Dr. Charles Curran. Rector of St. Mary’s Cathedral when he died, Fr. McManus had been the pastor of St. Joseph’s Church on the day of the Halifax Explosion. He worked tirelessly to minister to the dying and injured in the immediate wake of the explosion, and to his devastated congregation in the weeks, and months that followed. This homily speaks of that experience.

Eye Witness - Memories of December 6, 1917

What follows is transcribed from the handwritten original on Oct. 11, 2017, by Sharon Riel, Archivist, for the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth.
The original is not signed, but was found in a box of archival material regarding St. Joseph’s Church, with a newspaper clipping from the Halifax Mail-Star, dated Dec. 7, 1968. The article is entitled “Explosion Survivor Looks Back to 1917” Details in the clipping agree with the handwritten account, suggesting that the memoir was written by Mrs. Delphine Pulley, and delivered in an address to a memorial gathering that took place on Dec. 6, 1968 at St. Joseph’s School,
on the 51^st anniversary of the Halifax explosion.
Read newspaper clipping "Explosion Survivor Looks Back to 1917"

Our Cemeteries, Our History

In remembrance of the 100th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion, the office of the Catholic Cemeteries of Halifax published, Gone But Not Forgotten: Victims of the Halifax Explosion in Catholic Cemeteries. The book details the stories of Explosion victims buried Holy Cross Cemetery on South Park St. in downtown Halifax and Mount Olivet Cemetery on Mumford Rd. in west end Halifax.

100th yr Anniversary of the Halifax Explosion: remembering the victims

IN 2017 Halifax will recall a major event in its history as many people, organizations, and the city herself, commemorate the 100^th Anniversary of the Halifax Explosion. This tragic event changed the young city of Halifax and took the lives of hundreds of people. Many of the victims were buried in local Catholic cemeteries which still exist today: Mount Olivet on Mumford Rd. and Holy Cross on South Park St.