Pier 21

Steven Schwinghamer is a historian at the Canadian Museum of Immigration and holds an MA in History from Saint Mary’s University. His research and writing focuses on the immigration facility at Pier 21.

• Land AcknowledgmentList of Illustrations  IntroductionCHAPTER 1 - Immigrating to Canada through Pier 21, 1928–1971CHAPTER 2 - Pier 2 and the Early Years of Pier 21, 1890–1939CHAPTER 3 - Pier 21 at War, 1939–1946CHAPTER 4 - Height of Postwar Immigration at Pier 21, 1946–1955CHAPTER 5 - Final Years of Pier 21, 1955–1971Conclusion AcknowledgmentsList of AbbreviationsNotesBibliographyIndex

"Pier 21: A History is an energetic effort by Steven Schwinghamer and Jan Raska, two resident historians of the museum, to share representative stories of countless would‑be Canadians — among them thousands of Italians like my father, uncle, and grandparents — who came through this gateway. It is also the story of evolving immigration policies, which were gradually liberalized within the narrow parameters of twentieth-century Canada. And though it was not the authors’ intention, a reflection on our nation’s immigration history and the hard-earned march toward greater cultural openness feels especially pertinent in the wake of COVID‑19, which has closed down international borders, paused global migration almost entirely, and brought a spike in anti-foreigner sentiment. (…) Schwinghamer and Raska’s clear-eyed examination of immigration policies, through the lens of a single port of entry, demonstrates the impressive and hard-won gains of our modern immigration system."