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Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Pachai, Bridglal, 1927-
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Dates of existence
1927-
History
Bridglal “Bridge” Pachai, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., D.C.L., is a respected educator, historian and author, born in Umbulwana, Natal, South Africa on November 30, 1927. He was educated in Ladysmith and graduated from the University of Natal with his Ph.D. in 1963. He taught at universities in Ghana and Malawi, then moved with his wife Leela and children to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1975 to teach history at Dalhousie University until 1977 when he became Director of Saint Mary’s University’s International Education Centre from 1977 to 1979. In September 1979 he took up the post of Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the newly established University of Sokoto, Nigeria. After six years he moved back to Halifax and served as Executive Director for the Black Cultural Centre of Nova Scotia, 1985 to 1989, then for Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, 1989 to 1994. He visited South Africa during its transition from apartheid to democracy, in 1991 and 1995. In 1998 he taught for a year in The Gambia. During his career he was general editor of the “Peoples of the Maritimes” book series for Four East Publications, lectured, wrote 17 books and published numerous articles on Blacks in Canada and in Nova Scotia, South Africa, multiculturalism and human rights education. His books include “Beneath the Clouds of the Promised Land Volume 1 1600-1800” (Black Educators Association of NS, 1987) and “Volume 2 1800-1989" (Lancelot Press, 1991), “Peoples of the Maritimes: Blacks" (Four East Publications 1987, 1993), “Historic Black Nova Scotia" (Nimbus 2006), and two autobiographies “My Africa, My Canada” (1989) and “Accidental Opportunities” (Roseway 2007). For his dedication, his leadership and his experience in improving race relations and working towards greater appreciation of the Canadian cultural mosaic he was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2000.
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revised 2017-04-07
revised 2020-01-23 (corrected PhD university name)
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Sources
The contents of the fonds.
Pachai, Bridglal. "Accidental Opportunities". (Black Point, NS: Roseway Pub., 2007.)
Information retrieved on 31 December 2008 from The Order of Canada website with URL https://www.gg.ca/honour.aspx?id=6059&t=12&ln=Pachai
Maintenance notes
Karen White