The opening of Brantford’s annual “Memories of Immigrant Communities” project took place on Saturday, October 17, 2026.
Held in partnership between the Brant Historical Society (BHS), Laurier Brantford, the Canadian Industrial Heritage Centre, the Brantford Public Library and Brant Theatre Workshops, the Immigrant Memories of Brantford project is a public cultural, heritage and educational program that focuses on researching, sharing and celebrating the legacies of Brantford’s diverse immigrant communities.
The annual showcase first launched in 2019 with the Jewish community and was later followed by the Italian community in 2021, the Chinese community in 2022, the Ukrainian community in 2023, the Armenian community in 2024 and the Black community in 2025.
This year, the Memories of Immigrant Communities series is dedicated to the history of Brantford’s Dutch community, whose earliest known arrivals in the city and surrounding area date to the late 1890s. The project examines the community’s history, experiences and contributions over time.
On Saturday, a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the “Opportunities Bloomed” exhibit took place at the Brant Museum and Archives.
Will Bouma, MPP for Brantford-Brant, said that as a proud Dutch-Canadian, he was moved by the overall display and
“My wife, Joni, and I just had a chance to walk through, and we both said the thing: it felt like we were visiting Oma’s house. I love this series, and I’d like to thank the Historical Society and the Museum for putting this on, as well as all the different cultural groups that are part of our great city,” he said. “I can’t help but think that’s what makes our country so incredible: someone from somewhere else can come here, build a life for themselves, start a business, get involved in politics and eventually end up in high government. That’s what makes our community so great: that newcomers can come and build a life for themselves. The effort you’ve made to show everyone who comes through here how important this is to our community and to celebrate all the different pieces that make it up is a real testament to the work you’re doing.”
Through newspaper articles, photographs, artifacts, books and material recreations, this year’s exhibit covers topics, including the early history of the Netherlands, the arrival of the Dutch settlers in what is now New York, slavery, the Two Row Wampum, religion and community, early settlement in Canada and farming families.
It also examines the First and Second World Wars, notable individuals, the liberation of the Netherlands, postwar immigration, Dutch involvement in Indonesia, and the experiences of Dutch immigrants in Canada. Additional topics included Brantford’s International Villages Festival and the workplace deaths of six Dutch workers in Dresden, Ontario.
Curated by Lillia Dockree, Community Outreach Coordinator at the Brant Museum and Archives, the exhibit features artifacts and personal memories drawn from the family histories of herself and her coworker Esther Brouwer, Education Programmer at Myrtleville House Museum.
“I’ve had the pleasure, along with my coworker, Esther, of putting this exhibit together,” Dockree told guests. “Esther and I both come from half-Dutch families, so doing this exhibit became a kind of love letter to our grandparents who immigrated here. Being able to share their stories and do more research into the Dutch community as a whole has been really great for us.”
When asked how it felt to get the chance to tell the stories of the Dutch community, Dockree told the Brant Beacon she was honoured.
“My grandparents came over to make a new life here and we always grew up with my Oma telling the story of her immigration,” she said. “Peter Muir from Brant Theatre Workshops and I got to interview her for almost two hours, and it was interesting because she said after she moved to Canada, while she went back to visit family in the Netherlands, she never had any desire to move back there. She was a Canadian and she was proud of that, so it makes me incredibly proud to do this and tell those stories.”
A short while later, Brian Moore, a BHS volunteer, led about ten people in a curated heritage walking tour through downtown Brantford. The walk featured notable stories of Canada’s early Dutch community.
After a short break for tea, coffee, and classic Dutch sweets, guests headed over to the Laurier Academic Centre’s Stephen Kun Theatre, where Brant Theatre Workshops’ premiered its latest play, Herinnering.
The original play, written by Vincent Ball, centered around the Dutch Hunger Winter, the liberation of the Netherlands by Canadian soldiers in the mid 1940s, and Brantford’s Dutch community post World War Two.
The day ended with a chance for members of the Dutch community to gather and share their stories.
On Sunday, October 18, several residents who missed the previous days’ events, took the opportunity to visit the “Opportunities Bloomed” exhibit and attended the final showing of Herinnering.
Although the weekend festivities are over, the “Opportunities Bloomed” exhibit will be on display upstairs inside the Brant Museum and Archives until August 2027.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
