L'histoire de l'immigration de John Reade (immigrant américain)
Le Musée examine et accepte les dons de souvenirs et d'histoires, personnelles ou familiales, à la collection. En tant qu'institution pédagogique, ces récits nous aident à comprendre comment les individus se souviennent d'expériences vécues, comment ils les interprètent ou, encore, comment ils créent un sens à partir de celles-ci. Les histoires ne sont pas modifiées par le personnel du Musée. Le point de vue exprimé est celui de l'auteur et non celui du Musée.
In April of 1974, I talked my girl friend into driving North for Easter Vacation from College in Pennsylvania. We stopped in Halifax, Nova Scotia and inquired about teaching Deaf children in Canada. We were sent to the Interprovincial School for the Deaf in Amherst, NS. There I was informed that the only hired teachers who had a Master of Education in Deaf Education, but they had a program at the school in which people could get the necessary training. I applied and was accepted. I also applied to universities in the USA, and discovered that I'd only have to pay 10% of the tuition I'd pay at Oregon State University to get the MEd Deaf Ed. So I came to Nova Scotia to work on that degree. I graduated in June of 1975 and sought employment. I was interviewed at two places in Pennsylvania and at the Newfoundland School for the Deaf. NSD offered me $2000.00 a year more than either place in Pennsylvania. So I drove here in my 1949 Plymouth Sedan. Unfortunately, it threw a push rod in Antigonish, NS. It still managed to get me to NSD. I eventually sold it for $700.00 to pay for the bills that had accumulated since my arrival. You see, Newfoundland had a denominational school system, and I needed a character reference from a clergy person before the government would issue my salary. I didn't get one until late October. On the Presentation Sisters stationary, my colleague's sister wrote, "To the best of my knowledge, John Reade is a good character." That's all it took, and on November 30, I received my first pay cheque.
In March of 1976, I met the woman who would become my wife. We married on August 27, 1976 and have remained married for these 41 years. Needless to say, I never left Newfoundland.
