Audio walking tour helps bring the history of Africville to life

A new self-guided audio walking tour is giving visitors the chance to learn about the African-Nova Scotian community of Africville in Halifax from the perspective of people who lived there.

The audio project coincides with the 40th annual Africville reunion, where former residents and their descendants come together to commemorate the community.

 Africville suffered a long history of mistreatment and neglect by the city before its residents were evicted and the  area was razed in the 1960s.

Visitors to Africville Park can now put on their headphones and listen to moving stories about the once thriving community.

Paula Grant-Smith is a former resident and one of the voices that can be heard on the audio tour.

"I smile when I talk about Africville ... what they did to us really was inhuman but they also have to know that we lived," Grant-Smith told CBC Radio's Information Morning Nova Scotia.

"We didn't have the amenities that other people had, but we lived, and we lived a lot like other people did."

Keeping the legacy alive

Grant-Smith said it is important for elders to pass on the stories, keeping Africville's legacy alive for future generations.

Carleton University's Danielle Mahon, who helped create the audio tour with the help of former residents, said it starts at the entrance to the park, where listeners will hear stories about how children played in the community.

"It has to do with stories about baseball, mischief, bothering your elders, running around and getting those mild injuries that you get tobogganing down the hill. Those are the kinds of stories that you'll hear," Mahon said.

While listeners can take in the audio tour anywhere, Mahon said it was important that people experience it in Africville Park.

The hope is that people will let the community stories they are hearing mix in with the sounds of the park around them, he said.

The 40th anniversary festivities are taking place at Africville Park until July 30.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.

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