[BCMA] A National Tour to Trace Down Descendants of Immigrants Sailing on the Empress of Ireland

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

[cid:7B8611A2-C8B3-48AD-85D8-A11388D8784E]
Public Service Announcement

For Immediate Release

Saturday, August 10th, 2013

 A National Tour to Trace Down Descendants of Immigrants Sailing on the Empress of Ireland

Is your last name Clark, Johnson or Smith? Do you know if your ancestors came to Canada onboard the Empress of Ireland? Would you like to know more about this Canadian Pacific Railway Company’s ship?

On May 26th in Toronto, during the 99th Anniversary memorial service organized by the Salvation Army Historical Society to commemorate the sinking of the Empress of Ireland, the “Site historique maritime de la Pointe au Père” (SHMP) launched a national tour to trace down descendants of immigrants who came to Canada onboard the Empress of Ireland.

For three days, starting on Monday August 19th at the Okanagan Heritage Museum ( 470 Queensway Avenue, Kelowna), you will learn everything about the fascinating but tragic story of the great ship that disappeared in 14 minutes on May 29th 1914 at 1:55 am in the frigid waters of the St. Lawrence River near Rimouski. 1477 people were on board, 1012 of them died. This disaster, overshadowed by the outbreak of the First World War, remains, to this day, the largest maritime disaster in Canadian waters.
A visual stand showing the ship in all its 1914 glory will showcase many pictures of the magnificent ship’s interiors as well as a reconstitution of the disaster and rarely seen video footage of the underwater wreck. Documents and interesting information related to the exhibit will also be on display, including the list of onboard passengers from 1906 to 1914, the passengers list at the moment of the tragedy, a log book relating the ship’s history and a complete calendar of all remembrance activities to be organized. Over ten cities across Canada will welcome this truly unique exhibition.

As the exhibit travels across Canada, Mrs. Pascale St-Amand, project manager, will be on hand to answer any question from all visitors interested in this important page of Canadian history.
Mrs. St-Amand will also keep a record of all the information and details visitors share with her regarding the hundreds of stories from immigrants who adopted this country at the beginning of the 20th century. Come tell us your story!

For more information about this visit, please contact Pascale St. Amand at pascale at shmp.qc.ca.



What:                A National Tour to Trace Down Descendants of Immigrants Sailing on the Empress of Ireland

Date:                 Monday, August 19th to Wednesday, August 21st

Time:                10:00 am to 5:00 pm

Location:          Okanagan Heritage Museum
                             470 Queensway Ave. Kelowna, BC

-30-

Contact:

Lindsay Canning

Marketing Coordinator

Kelowna Museums

p: 778.478.0327

e: lcanning at kelownamuseums.ca<mailto:lcanning at kelownamuseums.ca>

Office Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
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