The life size bronze sculpture shows a smiling Ruth Goldbloom seated on a bench, surrounded by immigrants'suitcases, with her beloved tap shoes sitting at her feet. The sculpture, created by Newfoundland artist Morgan MacDonald, will be permanently located near the entrance to the museum. Visitors will be invited to sit beside Ruth, whose legacy was that she talked to anyone and everyone who entered the museum that she created to honour the 1.5 million immigrants who entered Canada through the Port of Halifax’s Pier 21 from 1928 to 1971.
Early life
Goldbloom was born and raised as Ruth Miriam Schwartz, in New Waterford, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Her grandparents and parents immigrated to Canada from the Pale of Settlement, Russian Empire, with their immigrant experience influencing her throughout her life. She attended both Mount Allison University and McGill University. She met Richard Goldbloom at McGill, and married him in 1946. They moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, from Montreal in 1967 with their family.
Community work
When Goldbloom moved to Halifax in 1967 with her husband and family, she began to get involved in the community. She was a fundraising chair for the Izaak Walton Killam Children's Hospital, where her husband was the Physician-in-Chief. She became a fundraiser for Mount Saint Vincent University, at the time a women only Catholic institution. In the 1980s, she became the first Jew to chair the University's board. In 1989, she became the first chairwoman of the Halifax United Way's annual fundraising drive. She served as the Chancellor for the Technical University of Nova Scotia before it merged with Dalhousie University. She became a fundraiser for the Cape Breton Regional Hospital in 2009. She and her husband were also involved with the Arts community, and they helped support Symphony Nova Scotia and its precursor the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra.
Pier 21
Goldbloom was the second chair of the Pier 21 Society, which eventually established the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. She spearheaded the fundraising efforts to raise $16 million to build a new museum at the pier, which opened in 1999. Pier 21 operated as an ocean liner terminal and immigration entry point from 1928 to 1971. In 2009, the year that the museum was designated a national museum, with Goldbloom present as the Prime Minister announced the museum's new status; Goldbloom noted that she always wanted it "to become the second museum outside of Ottawa to be a national museum of immigration."
Awards
She was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1992 for her fundraising work at the Halifax United Way and at Mount Saint Vincent University. She was later promoted to an Officer of the Order of Canada in April 2000 for her work at Pier 21 and as Chancellor of the Technical University of Nova Scotia. Goldbloom was awarded the Order of Nova Scotia in 2008 for her volunteer work in social, religious and heritage organizations in that province. She was awarded seven honorary doctorate degrees from Dalhousie University, Mount Saint Vincent University, Nova Scotia Community College, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Mount Allison University, University of King's College, and Acadia University. As well, she was awarded numerous awards from Jewish organizations, and community groups.
Personal life
Goldbloom died from cancer on August 29, 2012, aged 88. She was survived by her husband, Dr. Richard Goldbloom, three children, seven grandchildren and four great grand children. A large public funeral was held next to Pier 21 at the Cunard Centre, with the premier of Nova Scotia, Darrell Dexter; Lt. Governor John James Grant; other government officials and prominent people in attendance.
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