On 13 December 1948, a small ship carrying 347 Estonian refugees
fleeing Soviet rule arrived at Pier 21 in Halifax. In Photography,
Memory, and Refugee Identity, anthropologist Lynda Mannik analyzes
the refugee experience through the photographic record of those who
made that harrowing voyage across the Atlantic more than sixty years
ago.
Drawing on a collection of photographs taken during the voyage and
at the Pier 21 detention centre, Mannik asks surviving passengers to
describe their migration, their reception in Canada, and their feelings
about the terms refugee and boat person. She explores to what extent
the photos reflect the passengers’ experiences as they remember
them and how those experiences compare with representations of refugees
in news media, in government rhetoric, and at the Pier 21 Museum in
Halifax. Ultimately, Mannik demonstrates that the photographs in the SS
Walnut collection bear witness to the refugee experience even
as the meanings attached to them have changed over time and in shifting
contexts.