Canadian History Roundup – Week of April 9, 2017

Bob Tripple, “Women on Sky Glider chair lift,” (1971), Pacific National Exhibition fonds, AM281-S8-: CVA 180-6891. CC by 2.0

The latest in blog posts, news, and podcasts from the world of Canadian history.

Missed last week’s roundup? Check it out here.

• LAC continued its Vimy Ridge series this week
  • First up was a blog post about three of Canada’s Victoria Cross reicipients, who received the honour for their actions at Vimy: Captain Thain Wendell MacDowell, Private William Johnstone Milne, and Lance-Sergeant Ellis Wellwood Sifton.
  • Next was a profile of another VC recipient, Private John George Pattison, who also vought at Vimy.
  • Then they discussed the actual fighting on the first day of Vimy Ridge.
• Also on Vimy this week:
  • The CCGW prepared two new online exhibits
    • The first, Vimy Ridge 9-12 April 1917, traces the events of the battle
    • While the second is a companion to the Dear Bessie: A Wartime Love Story podcast.
  • The University of Saskatchewan has launched a new online exhibit on its student soldiers. Go here to see the exhibit itself.
  • Active History has a new post by Matt Barrett on the historical significance of Vimy for the general public and the consequences of defining national identity through military sacrifice.
  • My former English teacher Robert Wilkins remembered his maternal great-grandfather Edward Brindle, who served in WW1 and fought and died at Vimy.
• Jessica DeWitt posted her latest look at the most frequently used words on #envhist stories. This past week’s top words were “water,” “milk,” and “canyon”. Btw, how awesome are her wordclouds?
• Check out this beautiful button blanket by Kwakwaka’wakw arist Marion Hunt Doig.
• NiCHE kicked off the week with a post by Andrew Watson about his upcoming special issue of the Canadian Journal of History on “the material realities of energy history.” If you remember, I included the CFP for this issue last week, but you can also find out more information in the link above.
• Krista McCracken has a fantastic new post on Active History about the activist work done by archives, and discusses some of the great resources to be found across the country. I can highly recommend the Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives in particular. 😉
• This week on Borealia is a must-read post by Rachel Bryant on Canadian exceptionalism, particularly how the term “exceptionalism” has served to justify and reinforce settler colonialism in the past and the present.
• The Institute for Child and Youth Studies at the University of Lethbridge has just started a new podcast! The first two episodes are already out.
  • Episode one features an interview with Erin Spring about her work on multilevel literacies.
  • And episode two features an interview with Michelle Hogue, about her work with Indigenous students learning math and science.
• Don’t miss this powerful blog post by Waaseyaa’sin Christine Sy n’dizhnikaaz about difficult encounters with settlers of colour.
• Hook and Eye reposted my most recent Active History article!
• This week on Unwritten Histories I posted my monthly review of the most recent journal articles on Canadian history.
• Following their previous Flickr albums for Alberta and BC, Library and Archives Canada has just uploaded an album of images of Manitoba. You can see the images themselves here. I guess they’re going in alphabetical order, so see you next, New Brunswick.
• Zoe Todd has published a new piece on Engagement,  a commentary on a blog series on the environmental anthropology of settler colonialism. As always, it is a must-read.
• This week, the ROM discussed its SSHRC-funded project, The Family Camera Network, where a number of Canadian institutions are working to collect and preserve family photographs and stories, and what the project has accomplished in year one.
• Emily Burton discussed the Oral History Collection at Pier 21, focusing on their Stories of Children, War, and Family Separation. She also talks about some of the insights these oral histories provide.
• There is another new podcast this week, The Transect, examining the archaeology of BC.
• Ben Bradley posted this amazing image of a souvenir decal from the 1950s for Penticton.
• The latest blog post from the Canadian Museum of History is by Kathryn Lyons and James Trepanier and looks at The Gay Sweater, woven entirely from human hair.
• Sean Graham and Active History released their latest episode of the History Slam podcast. This episode features an interview with Jeremy J. Schmidt about the management of water.
• Claire Campbell talked about the upcoming Northeast and Atlantic Region Environmental History Forum on NiCHE this week. The Forum is a workshop to be held in May, and you are invited!
• Leah Grandy has a new post on the Atlantic Loyalist Connections blog about some of the unusual documents that can be found among church records.
• The latest blog post from The Champlain Society’s Findings/Trouvailles blog is out! This latest post is by Tim Garrity and features an analysis of a supposed early map of Saint Saveur.
• Ryan McMahon is telling it like it is in his latest blog post on what is needed for Canadians and the Canadian government to take action on Indigenous issues. As he notes, we need to start with a basic understanding of what really happened in Canadian history. Like, the real history, not the crap you learned in high school. Because damn, most Canadians know too little about the truth.
• Bill Waiser has a new blog post out this week about teacher vacancies in Saskatchewan after WW2, and how the province recruited British instructors to fill these positions. And, as Jason Ellis noted on Twitter, this happened throughout Canada.
• The Canadian Business History Association has just released their latest newsletter.
• Instantanés discusses the 1922 Delorme Affair, a Montreal murder mystery!
• Claire Halstead has a new article on Active History this week on her work on the Halifax Explosion Database. The purpose of the database is to use digital tools to try to determine the true impact of the Halifax Explosion.
• LAC has a new post in their series, “Who Do We Think We Are.” This latest features Arlene Gehmacher, who talks about the importance of historical artwork.
• David Webster wrote a new article for the Canadian Network on Humanitarian History blog about Oxfam Canada, the aid it offered to East Timor in 1975-1976, and the subsequent political fall out.
• Harold Bérubé shares a preview of one of his student’s MA thesis on the Simard Brothers and their relationship to Sorel. The text will soon be available online!
• The DCB’s latest biography is of Ontario educator James Elgin Wetherell.
• The latest blog post from Ideas/Idées is by Brian D. McInnes (Wasauksing First Nation), about his recent book on Francis Pegahmagabow, Sounding Thunder. In addition to being the author of this text, McInnes also happens to be one of Pegahmagabow’s great-grandsons.
• This week on the UBC Digitizer’s blog is a selection of photographs depicting the interiors of various buildings, both in BC and around the world.
• Acadiensis has posted its sixth collaboration with students of Jerry Bannister. This latest post, by Shawna McKay, wonders if we excuse Trudeau’s broken promises because we were so traumatized by Harper.
• This week was a double (triple?) feature at Unwritten Histories! Our second blog post of this week was a monthly list of new books that will be coming out next month! And May looks like a particularly good month for Canadian history…
  • And don’t forget to check out the late addition of Gregory Kealey’s new book, Spying on Canadians!
• This week the Canadian Museum for Human Rights looked back at the history of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and how it changed human rights issues in Canada.
• On this week’s ROM Throwback Thursday blog post, we continue to learn more about the 1971 exhibition on Canadian handweaving with excerpts from Dorothy K. Burnham’s journal.
• Vintage Everyday posted a rather random picture of girls running in Winnipeg in 1945.
• LAC posted their monthly updated on the digitization of the CEF files. They are up to the name “Nelles.”
• So remember how the Canadian Opera Company is producing a new run of the Louis Riel opera? Well, on April 19^th they will be meeting with several experts to talk about First Nations song protocols. This is in reference to one scene where the performer playing Marguerite Riel, Louis Riel’s wife, sings a song that is based on the Nisga’a mourning song. Not only was this done without permission, but the song is only supposed to be sung by those with hereditary rights.
• Whistorical takes a look at the history of paragliding around Whistler. Otherwise known as, “what is wrong with you people?”
• The Vancouver as it Was Blog looks at an advertisement for “Orange Meat.” Which is known today as cereal. I’m totally not kidding.
• Eve Lazarus takes a look at the history of Vancouver’s Marine Building, which opened in 1930, and the fascinating story of its neighbour, the then oldest building in the city.
• The St. Catharines Museum has just posted their 6^th podcast episode of Museum Chat Live, featuring an interview with Murray Wicket about race relations in North America.
• And this week on Histoire Engagée is a new post by Martin Pâquet and Karine Hébert. The article is a thoughtful discussion of The Story of Us, with particular attention to the decisions made behind the scenes.
• Canadian History in the News
  • Quebec has designated Pierre Boucher as an official historical figure, Boucher was one of the first settlers to establish himself in New France.
  • The Guardian has been posting more questionable material this week, but it also posted this great piece about the important political work that American (and Canadian) archaeologists do.
  • More Vimy Stuff
    • Justin Trudeau’s speech from Vimy Ridge.
    • Ian McKay has a must-read editorial, imploring Canadians to “honour Vimy’s memory, not its mythology.”
    • Jamie Swift was interviewed by CBC’s As it Happens on Vimy. If you want a laugh, read the comments.
    • The Agenda hosted a 40 minute panel on Vimy.
    • And finally, Yves Engler argues that Indigenous soldiers who fought at Vimy Ridge were victims of colonialism.
  • Evan Dyer questions the mythology around the birth of Canada at Vimy Ridge by examining the 1922 Chanak Affair, when Canada, for the first time, refused to fight in Britain’s wars.
  • Listen to Royal BC Museum curator Lorne Hammond talk about the new exhibit on Terry Fox.
  • Regina is working to create a virtual exhibit featuring local Indigenous stories for Canada150. It is currently seeking submissions.
  • The New York Times has donated its Canadian photo collection to the Ryerson Image Centre. The NYT received the collection of about 25,000 images as a donation by a GTA real estate executive. Is it just me or is that a strange circular route?
  • More Story of Us backlash and responses
    • CBC claims it didn’t mean to offend anyone.
    • Christopher Moore and Ronald Rudin talked about why the series was so terrible.
    • Journalist Yves Boisvert questioned the meaning of “us.”
    • This might be the best response
    • Although this one is really good too.
  • Noted activist Lynn Jones, has donated her documents to the St. Mary’s University archives. The collection documents her work in anti-racism activism in Nova Scotia over the past 45 years.
    • There is more coverage here, specifically regarding the launch and Jones’ thoughts, as well.
  • Adam Lajeunesse has won the 2017 John Wesley Dafoe Book Prize for Lock, Stock and Icebergs: A History of Canada’s Arctic Maritime Sovereignty.
  • The University of Waterloo Library’s Special Collections and Archives have just opened access to ecologist Robert Dorney’s collection.
  • The bodies of Canadian WW1 soldiers are still being unearthed and identified. Find out about the work that Carl Kletke and Sarah Lockeyer are doing to help.
  • Arthur J. Ray’s Aboriginal Rights Claims and the Making and Remaking of History has won the 2017 Canada Prize in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
    • And Mylène Bédard’s Écrire en temps d’insurrections : Pratiques épistolaires et usages de la presse chez les femmes patriotes (1830-1840) won the French prize!
  • Andrew Coyne believes that historians and everyone else aren’t paying enough attention to George Brown in our Canada150 celebrations. Do I think he has a point? Yes, but at least there has been some work done on him; the same cannot be said of so many other important parts of Canadian history.
  • The federal government is continuing to mistreat residential school survivors. Forced to release papers from the St. Anne’s residential school, they only did so after almost entirely blacking them out.
    • And they especially look insensitive after APTN posted this interview with one of the St. Anne’s Indian residential school survivors.
  • This week the Canadian government and the leaders of the Métis Nation signed an accord at a summit in Ottawa. This accord outlines how the two parties will work together in a government-to-government relationship. Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom to see the accord itself in PDF form.
  • A Calgary artist, Ben Rankel, is publishing a new graphic novel about the deadly Frank rocklide of 1903, which buried one side of the town entirely and killed more than 90 people.
  • Halifax Poet Laureate Rebecca Thomas is calling on the city to “be bold” by reviewing, replacing, and contextualizing the city’s many commemorations of Edward Cornwallis. And if they want to keep him, they should place more Indigenous artwork around the city.
  • The Provincial Archives of Alberta turned 50 this year!
  • Remember how I mentioned a few weeks about that Concordia students were organizing and preserving the Negro Community Centre archival collection? Well, there is more information this week on what that will mean!
    • And additional information is available about the role that the Negro Community Centre played in Montreal.
  • A cottage once owned by Sandford Fleming, who invented standardized time zones, is falling into disrepair and desperately needs renovations.
  • Some neat new artefacts have been discovered near Fredericton that are about 12,700 years old. Their analysis reveals some fascinating insights about the Indigenous people who used those tools.
  • There is a new film out about the thirty years of punk music in Victoria.
  • This week the BBC interviewed Betty Akhurst, a War Bride who moved from London to rural New Brunswick. At 19. Damn.
  • There is new information out this week about a medical experiment performed by the McIntyre Powder company on hundreds of unwilling Ontario miners. The powder was aluminum-based and was supposed to cure lung disease, but actually ended up causing neurological problems.
  • The Historicist reposted a piece by Jamie Bradburn about Easter 1910 in Toronto.
  • Winnipeg’s Nutty Club may be designated a heritage building.
  • The Seymour River Valley Japanese-Canadian logging camp was officially commemorated last week as one of the 56 sites of historical significance to British Columbians of Japanese ancestry.
  • While Halifax might need to review the meaning of “reconciliation,” the Law Society of BC will be removing a statue of Justice Matthew Begbie from their building. Known as the “Hanging Judge,” Begbie sentenced six Tsilhqot’in chiefs to death for defending their lands and people during the Chilquotin War. Mary-Ellen Kelm explains why this is such an important move.
  • There is a new mobile device video game based on the APTN documentary series Mohawk Inronworkers. You can pretend to be a Mohawk ironworker and build some of the most important buildings in North America. Omg, so cool!
  • Find out about the history of Black baseball players in Canada. Jackie Robinson was not the only one.
  • Go ghost hunting at Fort Garry, in room 202! That is, if you aren’t scared of horror movies like I am.
  • So I’m not sure if it’s worth including this or not, but there is a new play being staged in Victoria about the case of John Butt, who was tried for sodomy in 19^th century Victoria. The play is apparently a musical, with singing and dancing, but from what I’ve seen, it’s horrifyingly inaccurate.
  • The Star interviewed Grant Bristow, who was an undercover CSIS agent in the late 1980s. Bristow infiltrated white supremacist groups with links to South Africa.
  • A number of Canadian soldiers who participated in a prisoner of war training exercise in the 1980s are claiming that they were tortured.
• Better Late than Never
  • It seems I accidentally missed the last few ROM’ Throwback Thursday posts!
    • March 16: Weaver’s Shed Roof.
    • March 30: Asparagus Brunch.
  • From April 23 to May 14^th, 40 individuals will participate in a Pilgrimage for Indigenous Rights, organized by Mennonite Church Canada, Christian Peacemaker Teams, and a number of Indigenous and religious groups. The pilgrims will walk from Kitchener to Ottawa, more than 300 miles, to raise awareness around the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada.
• Calls for Papers
  • Left History is seeking submissions, particularly those on politics in Trumpist America, the history of sexuality, approaches to history, and the environment.
  • The Harriet Tubman Institute of York University will be presenting their 8^th Annual Summer Institute this August. They are seeking papers that relate to African Diasporas. Find out more here.

That’s all for this week! The predominant themes seem to be Vimy, The Story of Us, and podcasts. Interesting…. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this week’s roundup. If you did, please considering sharing this post on the social media platform of your choice. And don’t forget to check back on Tuesday for a brand new Historian’s Histories! I’ll keep our special guest a mystery for now. 😉 Happy Easter and see you then!

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