Editing Halifax Explosion (section)

==Legacy==
{{See also|Halifax Explosion in popular culture}}
[[File:Halifax Memorial Bell Tower.jpg|thumb|alt=Tall, oddly-shaped concrete structure with bells|The Halifax Explosion Memorial Bell Tower]]
The Halifax Explosion was one of the [[largest artificial non-nuclear explosions]]. An extensive comparison of 130 major explosions by Halifax historian Jay White in 1994 concluded that it "remains unchallenged in overall magnitude as long as five criteria are considered together: number of casualties, force of blast, radius of devastation, quantity of explosive material, and total value of property destroyed."{{sfn|Ruffman|Howell|1994|p=266}}<ref>{{cite web |author=Montgomery, Marc |title=History Canada: Dec. 6, 1917 Canada's worst domestic tragedy |url=https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2019/12/06/this-day-in-history-canada-dec-6-1917-canadas-worst-domestic-tragedy/ |publisher=Radio Canada International |date=6 December 2019}}</ref> For many years afterward, the Halifax Explosion was the standard by which all large blasts were measured. For instance, in its report on the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|atomic bombing of Hiroshima]], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' wrote that the explosive power of the [[Little Boy]] bomb was seven times that of the Halifax Explosion.{{sfn|Knauer|2012|p=56}}

The many eye injuries resulting from the disaster led to better understanding of how to care for damaged eyes, and "with the recently formed [[Canadian National Institute for the Blind]], Halifax became internationally known as a centre for care for the blind", according to [[Dalhousie University]] professor Victoria Allen.<ref name=jogc>{{cite journal|author=Allen, Victoria|title=Barometer rising|journal= Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada|volume=33|issue=7|date=July 2011|pages=693–694|pmid=21851762|doi=10.1016/S1701-2163(16)34952-0}}</ref> The lack of coordinated [[Pediatrics|pediatric]] care in such a disaster was noted by [[William E. Ladd|William Ladd]], a surgeon from Boston who had arrived to help. His insights from the explosion are generally credited with inspiring him to pioneer the specialty of [[pediatric surgery]] in North America.<ref name=jogc/><ref name="Goldbloom">{{cite journal|last=Goldbloom|first=Richard B.|date=May 1986|title=Halifax and the Precipitate Birth of Pediatric Surgery|journal=Pediatrics|volume=77|issue=5|page=764|doi=10.1542/peds.77.5.764 |pmid=3517802 |url=http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/77/5/764.abstract|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The Halifax Explosion inspired a series of health reforms, including around [[public sanitation]] and [[maternity care]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/halifax-explosion-sparked-health-reforms-1.4327875|publisher=CBC|author=Tutton, Michael|date=5 October 2017|title=Hope amid the rubble|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609093522/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/halifax-explosion-sparked-health-reforms-1.4327875|archivedate=9 June 2020}}</ref>
[[File:Mont Blanc Anchor Site 1.JPG|thumb|alt=Metal shaft mounted on stone pyramid inscribed "The Dec 6 1917 Halifax Explosion hurled this 1140&nbsp;lb anchor shaft 2.35 miles from the SS Mont Blanc to this park."|''Mont Blanc'' anchor site]]

The event was traumatic for the whole surviving community, so the memory was largely suppressed. After the first anniversary, the city stopped commemorating the explosion for decades. The second official commemoration did not take place before the 50th anniversary in 1967, and even after that, the activities stopped again.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://globalnews.ca/news/3889589/how-the-halifax-explosion-was-nearly-forgotten/ |title=The silence after the blast: How the Halifax Explosion was nearly forgotten |last=Bundale |first=Brett |date=30 November 2017 |work=Global News |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213211358/https://globalnews.ca/news/3889589/how-the-halifax-explosion-was-nearly-forgotten/|archivedate=13 December 2017}}</ref> Construction began in 1964 on the [[Halifax North Memorial Library]], designed to commemorate the victims of the explosion. The library entrance featured the first monument built to mark the explosion, the [[Halifax Explosion Memorial Sculpture]], created by artist [[Jordi Bonet]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/hnmemorial/index.html|publisher=Halifax Public Libraries|title=Remembering the victims|year=2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924024650/http://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/hnmemorial/index.html|archivedate=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The sculpture was dismantled by the Halifax Regional Municipality in 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/atlantic/ns-group-tries-to-bring-memorial-sculpture-back-to-life/article2124752/ |title=Precious Metals: N.S. group tries to bring memorial sculpture back to life|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|date=9 August 2011|author=Moore, Oliver|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085249/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/atlantic/ns-group-tries-to-bring-memorial-sculpture-back-to-life/article2124752/ |url-status=dead |archivedate=4 March 2016}}</ref>

The Halifax Explosion Memorial Bells were built in 1985, relocating memorial [[carillon]] bells from a nearby church to a large concrete sculpture on Fort Needham Hill, facing the "ground zero" area of the explosion.{{sfn|Remes|2016|p=154}} The Bell Tower is the location of an annual civic ceremony every 6 December. A memorial at Halifax Fire Station No. 4 on Lady Hammond Road honours the firefighters killed while responding to the explosion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.halifax.ca/HalifaxExplosion/Monuments.html |title=Halifax Explosion Monuments |publisher=Halifax Regional Municipality |year=2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105021841/http://www.halifax.ca/HalifaxExplosion/Monuments.html |archivedate=5 November 2011 }}</ref> Fragments of ''Mont-Blanc'' have been mounted as neighbourhood monuments to the explosion at Albro Lake Road in Dartmouth, at Regatta Point, and elsewhere in the area. Simple monuments mark the mass graves of explosion victims at the [[Fairview Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia|Fairview Lawn Cemetery]] and the Bayers Road Cemetery. A Memorial Book listing the names of all the known victims is displayed at the Halifax North Memorial Library and at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, which has a large permanent exhibit about the Halifax Explosion.{{sfn|Flemming|2004|pp=91–92}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/assets/files/resource-lists/hfx_explosion.pdf|publisher=Halifax Public Libraries|title=Explosion in Halifax Harbour, December 6, 1917|accessdate=2 May 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924024646/http://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/assets/files/resource-lists/hfx_explosion.pdf|archivedate=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Harold Gilman]] was commissioned to create a painting memorializing the event; his work, ''Halifax Harbour at Sunset'', "tells very little about the recent devastation, as the viewpoint is set back so that the harbour appears undisturbed".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/camden-town-group/harold-gilman-r1105360|author=Bonett, Helena|work=The Camden Town Group in Context|date=May 2012|title=Harold Gilman |publisher=Tate|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901164804/http://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/camden-town-group/harold-gilman-r1105360|archivedate=1 September 2012}}</ref>

[[Hugh MacLennan]]'s novel ''[[Barometer Rising]]'' (1941) is set in Halifax at the time of the explosion and includes a carefully researched description of its impact on the city.{{sfn|Williams|2009|pp=78, 81–85}}<ref name=trio/> Following in MacLennan's footsteps, journalist [[Robert MacNeil]] penned ''[[Burden of Desire]]'' (1992) and used the explosion as a metaphor for the societal and cultural changes of the day.<ref name=trio>{{cite news|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|title=A trio on the verge of exploding|author=Macfarlane, David|date=7 March 1992|page=C20}}</ref> MacLennan and MacNeil's use of the romance genre to fictionalize the explosion is similar to the first attempt by [[Lieutenant-Colonel Frank McKelvey Bell]], author of the novella ''[[A Romance of the Halifax Disaster]]'' (1918). This work follows the love affair of a young woman and an injured soldier.{{sfn|Veinot|2007|p=1}} Keith Ross Leckie wrote a miniseries entitled ''[[Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion]]'' (2003), which took the title but has no relationship to [[Janet Kitz]]'s non-fiction book ''[[Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion and the Road to Recovery]]'' (1990).{{sfn|Veinot|2007|p=17}} The film was criticized for distortions and inaccuracies.{{sfn|Veinot|2007|pp=19–20}}
The response to the explosion from Boston and the appreciation in Halifax cemented ongoing warm [[Boston–Halifax relations]]. In 1918, Halifax sent [[Boston Christmas Tree|a Christmas tree to Boston]] in thanks and remembrance for the help that the Boston [[Red Cross]] and the Massachusetts Public Safety Committee provided immediately after the disaster.<ref>{{cite news|last=Beam |first=Alex |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/11/29/trees_roots_get_lost_in_this_flap/ |title=Tree's roots get lost in this flap|work=The Boston Globe |date=29 November 2005 |url-access=subscription|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051210020901/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/11/29/trees_roots_get_lost_in_this_flap/|archivedate=10 December 2005}}</ref> That gift was revived in 1971 by the [[Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia|Lunenburg County]] Christmas Tree Producers Association, which began an annual donation of a large tree to promote Christmas tree exports as well as acknowledge Boston's support after the explosion. The gift was later taken over by the Nova Scotia government to continue the goodwill gesture and to promote trade and tourism.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Campbell, Mark|title=Tree Expert Picks Province's Annual Gift to Boston|journal=Nova Scotia Magazine|date=November 1993|page=12}}</ref> The tree is Boston's official Christmas tree and is lit on [[Boston Common]] throughout the holiday season. In deference to its symbolic importance for both cities, the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources has specific guidelines for selecting the tree<ref name="Dedham Times">{{cite news | author=Heald, Hana | title=Nova Scotia's Christmas Tree gift to Boston has a Dedham connection| work=The Dedham Times| date=15 December 2006| volume=14| issue=51| page=3}}</ref> and has tasked an employee to oversee the selection.<ref name="bg-2015nov20">{{cite news |url=https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2015/11/20/why-nova-scotia-gives-boston-its-christmas-tree-for-free-every-year |title=Why Nova Scotia gives Boston its Christmas tree for free every year |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=20 November 2015 |first=Nik |last=DeCosta-Klipa|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808070604/https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2015/11/20/why-nova-scotia-gives-boston-its-christmas-tree-for-free-every-year|archivedate=8 August 2016}}</ref>