Originally built for silent films, it is one of the oldest movie theatre buildings in Nova Scotia but it is best known as the location of a human rights case involving Viola Desmond, who challenged racial segregation in 1946.

The Roseland Theatre was built in 1913 at the corner of Forbes and Provost Streets after a fire destroyed a hardware store and Oddfellows Lodge which had previously occupied the prominent location in downtown New Glasgow.

[3] Constructed of brick with three stories, the theatre included a marquee and two large display windows promoting current and coming attractions.

In 1941, in response to complaints from white customers, the Roseland segregated its theatre, forcing African Nova Scotians to sit in the balcony.

She arranged to purchase two tickets for the downstairs seating of the theatre and attempted to watch a film with her son James Calbert Best.

The experience helped motivate Carrie Best to found The Clarion, a newspaper aimed at African Nova Scotians which became an important voice in exposing racism.

The Roseland was showing the film The Dark Mirror, a psychological thriller starring Olivia de Havilland about good and evil twins.

Desmond bought a ticket for the 7:00 pm show and – not knowing that the Roseland was racially segregated – asked for a downstairs seat as vision problems made it hard for her to see the screen from a distance.

The next day she was convicted of not paying the extra cent in provincial tax and paid a $20 fine as well as $6 to the Roseland Theatre's manager for legal costs.

[14] Despite the historical significance of the building, it received no heritage recognition until 2015 when Raymond Pentz, a new owner of the nightclub, made a plaque to display on the front of the theatre honouring Viola Desmond's stand against racism.

[17] In 2016, teachers and students of the New Glasgow Academy began to use the historic theatre as a destination for educational marches on Martin Luther King Day.