As an educator, Christine Welldon was well versed on the story of Africville, a black community in north end Halifax that was bulldozed to the ground by city government during the late 1960s.

 Unfortunately, her students were not.

 "When I was teaching, Africville was actually mentioned in the curriculum, but there were no resources to support it for children. There were a lot of adult resources, some poems and some music about Africville, but nothing in the non-fiction genre," the Lunenburg resident explains.

 Ms Welldon decided that when she retired, she would write a book "that would be helpful in the classroom and the libraries, just to support that topic, because it's an important chapter in Nova Scotia history and black history."

 An accomplished writer, Ms Welldon began researching her book, "The Children of Africville," by visiting the Halifax city archives.

 "There's a wonderful exhibit by Bob Brooks. He actually took photographs of people in Africville during the '60s before relocation, which is the time period the book is set," she says. "Then I went to the Black Cultural Centre and I looked at the resources there and got some names."

 That led to a series of phone calls to former residents of the community, which set off a chain reaction that provided a plethora of information for Ms Welldon.

 "When I talked to one person, I'd give them a little interview and thank them and say, 'Is there anyone else who knows about this subject?' and in that way, I kind of networked my way around 15 or 20 people and so the book is actually a composite of all their stories," she says.

 "The Children of Africville" was designed to be classroom curriculum aimed at a Grade 3 reading and comprehension level and there has been "quite a lot of interest" in it from both Nova Scotia and Ontario school boards.

 While for many people, writing an historical book that is understandable at the Grade 3 level may be challenging, it was not difficult for Ms Welldon to achieve considering her educational background.

 "I'm a reading specialist with that age group and also being a classroom teacher, I found it quite easy to write for that level," she says.

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 Ms Welldon has written several educational books for children, including "Canadian National Railway - Pon Git Cheng," the story of Chinese Canadians who built the railway across Western Canada.

 She has also had a number of short stories published aimed at the adult reader, has been a travel columnist for The Globe and Mail and is currently working on several other projects, including a new book centered on a period of Canadian history "and some gender issues.

 "I won't say exactly what it's about," she laughed.

 "The Children of Africville" was officially launched at the Halifax North Memorial Public Library October 21, and was well received, particularly by a number of former Africville residents who were in attendance.

 "I was very pleased," she said.

posted on 10/27/09