About
The Dartmouth Heritage Museum uses storytelling to inform the public and strengthen community bonds. Our programming will help frame an understanding of past choices, present circumstances, and future possibilities. We commit to: Engagement, Education, and Storytelling. The first museum building was established in 1967 as a Canadian Centennial Project by the City of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. After the Halifax Regional Municipality amalgamation in 1996, HRM and the museum worked with the community to establish the Museum as a non-profit community operated facility, under care of the Dartmouth Heritage Museum Society. Today, the HRM and the DHMS continue collaborating to deliver quality interpretation and educational programming to the community. While HRM owns the collection and both Historic Houses, the Society, as an independent non-profit, develops, manages, promotes, operates, and administers the properties and the collection. This ongoing relationship enables the Dartmouth Heritage Museum to continue to celebrate our local heritage as a Canadian Charitable Organization.
Our Impact
As Dartmouth’s primary heritage institution, DHM hosts hundreds of visitors each year. From researchers, to school groups, and other local organizations, we are committed to serving and enriching our community. Our extensive collection of artefacts, our engaging exhibits, and our educational public programming, enable us to help frame an understanding of past choices, present circumstances, and future possibilities.
Examples of our impact include:
- A vast collection of 30,000+ artefacts, photos, and archival materials preserving Dartmouth’s heritage.
- Free Admission for all
- A community recording booth with recording software and general equipment available
- Affordable public programming, including educational programming built around current curriculum outcomes
- Free guided tours, adapted to individual needs and interests
- Low Sensory Hours every Wednesday from 10am-12pm
- Thousands of artefacts and photos available to view on NovaMuse, a provincial database featuring the collections of several local museums, which we are constantly updating.
We believe in our ability to meaningfully serve our community. Your generosity today will help sustain DHM as an institution held in public trust, dedicated to the enrichment and vitality of our community, both in Dartmouth and beyond.
How your gift will be used
In such extraordinary times, your gift to DHM is even more important and appreciated. When you include the DHM in your planned giving, you are investing in the future of the Museum and the community.
With your thoughtful support, we will:
- Present original exhibitions that inspire and stimulate discussion
- Grow, preserve, diversify, and share DHM’s extensive collection
- Engage diverse communities with programs, community outreach opportunities and collaborations
- Address and remove the cultural, social, and physical barriers to engaging with the Museum
- Use storytelling to inspire the new generation of change-makers through engaging and educational programming