All in One with the Irish Canadian Rangers 199 Overseas Battalion (1914-1918). Canada. Patent and Copyright Office / Bureau des brevets et du droit d’auteur; Library and Archives Canada.
The latest in blog posts, news, and podcasts from the world of Canadian history.
Missed last week’s roundup? Check it out here.
- First up this week is the second of Jessica DeWitt’s wordcloud experiments on articles tagged #envhist. See what she learned this week!
- The latest Haunted Montreal Blog is out! This month’s edition focuses on the ghosts of the Old Montreal General Hospital.
- This week on Borealia is the last post in their series on Anishinabee warriors in the War of 1812. This post focuses on the reactions of the Anishiniabe to the Treaty of Ghent and the end of the War of 1812, where the British effectively screwed them over.
- The St. Catharines Museum has another “Museum Chat Live” podcast. This latest focuses on the construction of the Welland Canal, Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion, and featured a conversation with Carmela Patrias!
- The first post from Active History this week is from Elizabeth Jewett and Andrew Nurse, recounting the recent Mount Allison conference, Quelques Arpents de Neige, on Canadian environmental history.
- This week on Unwritten Histories, I explain why Canada150 gives so many Canadian historians a headache.
- I also would highly recommend checking out this Twitter Essay by Alethea Arnaquq Baril, an Inuk filmmaker, on her thoughts and experiences with Canada150.
- The latest episode of the Ben Franklin’s World Podcast is out! This episode looks at death and suicide in British North America, particularly in relation to the slave trade and the experiences of enslaved peoples.
- Library and Archives Canada has a new Flickr album, featuring images of Alberta! Check the pictures out here.
- The South Peace Regional Archives discusses its work on organizing the Bull Turnbull fonds.
- This week on the Atlantic Loyalist Connections blog is a behind-the-scenes look at their new project, Lost Loyalists, and the research methods that the project relies upon. This post is part of a mini-series that the blog and Unwritten Histories are doing in collaboration. Stay tuned for next week’s new resource guide for Loyalist history!
- Jessica DeWitt is back with Sean Kheraj discussing her picks for the best in #envhist for February 2017!
- This week on Instantaés is a blog post about the fragility of children of New France. While it is definitely depressing, the research is superb and the details are haunting.
- New on Active History this week is the latest episode of the History Slam podcast! Sean Graham speaks with Sylvia Smith about her work with Project of Heart, an organization devoted to teaching the history of residential schools in high school classrooms.
- This week on Acadiensis is another blog post from Jerry Bannister’s students. The latest is by Aaron Clark, and looks at the history of the relationship between Canada and the US.
- Check out this really neat blog post from Vancouver As It Was about lost art at Hotel Vancouver.
- Check out this short Twitter essay from Adele Perry on what I like to call “dark chapter syndrome.”
- This week Active History and Histoire Engagée posted English and French versions of a text prepared by Robert Talbot and the CHA Executive. This text is a proposal for all History Department Chairs about improving the career prospects of history graduates. Don’t miss Jason Ellis’ comments on the Active History post.
- Check out Christopher Moore’s response here.
- Library and Archives Canada takes an in-depth look at the Exchequer Court of Canada fonds and the information you can find within.
- Historica Canada has created a new education guide for Vimy Ridge’s 100th anniversary. This new document is called a History Lens Tool Kit, and was developed according to the Historical Thinking Project framework. I think this is mostly designed for elementary and high school students, but it can likely be adapted for use with university students too. It is a PDF File.
- This week’s new biography from DCB is about Francis Hector Clergue, an American industrialist who was active in the Sault Ste. Marie area.
- In honour of St. Patrick’s Day (sigh), Retroactive has reposted this look at Irish history in Alberta.
- Adam Montgomery has just launched a new website!
- Christopher Moore reviews the latest issue of Canada’s History. The new issue doesn’t seem to be available online yet though.
- This week on the Canadian Museum of History blog is a piece by Jean-Luc Pilon about using scientific methods to learn about a needle case discovered at the Roebuck archaeological site in 1912.
- LAC also has their March 2017 update on the CEF Personal Service Files digitization project.
- The UofT Journals blog has part two of their interview with Nicole St. Onge up this week! This latest interview focuses on oral history and historical passion.
- The Ontario History and Social Sciences Teacher’s Association profiled both Daniel Ross and Krista McCracken for their work on Active History! It’s great to see their work being recognized!
- This week on the UBC Digitizer’s blog is a look at people taking pictures of people taking pictures! They had me fooled for a sec though: the title is “Say Cheese,” so I though they were talking about my favourite food. 😉 Well, besides French fries (or as my friend Danielle Robinson put it, Fries Before Guys. Hell yes! (sorry, sweetie!))
- The CCGW has posted Episode 5 of their Dear Bessie podcast!
- It’s not really Canadian, but check out this post by the appropriately named Isaac Green about the tradition of dyeing the Chicago River green for St. Patrick’s Day.
- It’s a double-post week here on Unwritten Histories! (or should I say triple?). This Friday I also posted my monthly list of upcoming publications in Canadian history for the next month. Where did March go?
- The short list for the Sir John A. Macdonald Prize has been announced! Damn, I see some new book purchases in my future.
- The short list for the Wallace K. Ferguson Prize was also announced this week.
- Mica Jorgenson posted this month’s NiCHE New Scholars March update! She also summarized the discussion from the February meeting on digital environmental history.
- The Museum of Vancouver blog features an interview by Viviane Gosselin with Heather Gordon about Major James Matthews, Vancouver’s first archival collector.
- The BC Heritage Fairs has announced that their blog of the month is NiCHE’s The Otter!
- Also this week from the CCGW is a look at the Lusitania Medallion, one of the collectables produced during WW1.
- Check out Adam Gaudry’s latest article, “The Metis-ization of Canada: The Process of Claiming Louis Riel, Message, and the Metis People as Canada’s Mythical Origin,” on the appropriation of Metis history.
- And read his Twitter essay on the problem of settlers appropriating Indigenous history and traditions. ::coughcoughvancouverolympicscoughcough::
- Whistorical remembers its history of ice stock sliding, a mostly European sport that was introduced in the late 1970s. It’s like curling, but with different stones and running surface.
- The Canadian Encyclopedia has a new entry this week for Zambonis! They are strangely mesmerizing.
- The BC government has just released a new guide to help teachers integrate Indigenous learning into their classrooms.
- Watch Maxime Dagenais talk about the Wilson Institute and Canada150! Max, you sounded great!
- This week Eve Lazarus’s blog has a guest post by Angus McIntyre about his memories of the 1974 Birks Building funeral and subsequent demolition.
- Carleton remembers the history of its St. Pat’s building in honour of St. Patrick’s Day.
- Canadian History in the News
- What are your thoughts on this article to repair “damage” done to the grave sites of previous prime ministers?
- The Toronto Star spoke with Mark Campbell about the history of hip hop in Canada and his work on the subject.
- It’s not really Canadian history per se, but this article on the role of museums and professors as trusted sources of civic information was making the rounds this week, and is fascinating.
- A researcher has discovered 24 folders of drawings by Group of Seven artist Arthur Lismer, a collection that had been lost for decades.
- Canadian Geographic took a look at Sandford Fleming and his invention of time zones.
- The Montreal Gazette has republished an older story about the last execution by hanging performed in Montreal, in 1960.
- PEI’s The Guardian takes a look at East Point Lighthouse, the only one built in 1867 that continues to function.
- Ian Mosby has a great article on the history of iconic Canadian foods in The Globe and Mail this week!
- There is a new documentary coming out on the history of Black men who played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
- This CBC article takes a look at how the renovations on Granville Island in the 1970s changed the face of Vancouver’s urban environment.
- For Women in Aviation Week, a number of early female aviators told their stories this week at the Alberta Aviation Museum.
- This isn’t really Canadian history news, but it is important for Canadian historians: This week, Trent University announced that it would be getting rid of at least 50% of the library’s books, and replacing that space with “innovation clusters.” Which is complete and utter horses@#$. As you can imagine, the Canadian historical community has been quite outspoken in their opposition to this move.
- This article features a discussion with Matthew Hayes on the subject.
- Janet Miron and Joan Sangster wrote this blog post on the subject for the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations.
- Check out this Storify that I created featuring the Twitter discussion on the subject.
- And Matthew Hayes was interviewed by CBC Ontario Morning.
- CBC Radio has a project called “Legends,” featuring dramatizations of stories from the oral traditions of Canada’s Indigenous peoples. This episode focuses on the stories of the Blackfoot from southern Alberta, based on stories told by elders of the Blood Tribe (Kainai). This is the first I’ve heard about the project, but is seemingly dates back to 2012. Regardless, it sounds awesome.
- Maclean’s explores the involvement of Indigenous peoples in Vancouver’s Canada150+ campaign, which has been designed to “deliberately [challenge] our collective amnesia.” Celebrations are supposed to be centred around the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada and in Vancouver.
- The field of archaeology is booming in Nova Scotia, and archaeologists are working largely in conjunction with developers.
- Which is making things complicated for Nova Scotia Museums with too many artefacts and not enough space!
- Also on Canadian Geographic this week is an article about the symbolism and historiography of the North Pole.
- As Crystal Fraser, Ian Mosby, and Andrew Kurjata pointed out on Twitter regarding this absurd CBC article, titled “B.C. author tells the horrific story of so-called ‘Indian hospitals,’” the ‘so-called’ and the use of scare quotes is offensive and harmful, not to mention ridiculous. Check out their thoughts here, and the article here.
- For a non-asinine look at the same book, check out APTN’s coverage.
- This article, by Robert Everett-Green, discusses the history of slavery in Canada, particularly in relation to the English translation of Marcel Trudel’s ground-breaking book about the same subject.
- In more apparently lost artwork in Vancouver news, check out this article about a new exhibit on Charles H. Scott’s work.
- The Montreal Gazette also republished another story this week, a short history of homelessness in Montreal in the 20th century.
- CBC has obtained guides for the revised grade 9 and 10 history curricula for Quebec. While it includes more information on Indigenous history, it still has significant problems.
- The home where L.M. Montgomery lived in Ontario is set to become a museum. Watch out, PEI!
- Nunavut’s Education Minister has proposed a new bill rolling back targets for Inuit language instruction. So a number of Inuit educators and academics are calling for the territorial and federal government to invest more money in Inuit language instruction.
- Metro News speaks with Morgan Ross about his Old Toronto video project, including “heritage minutes” about historic or important Toronto locations.
- Bill Waiser has a new blog post out about Prince Albert National Park and their elk problem in the 1940s.
- Daniel Ross has another new article in Spacing. This week he takes a look at the history of the Yonge Street Mall in the 1970s.
- This week, CBC’s The Current discusses what Canada150 means for Indigenous communities.
- In more historical lighthouse news, check out this CBC article about the Long Eddy Point Lighthouse in New Brunswick, which has just been designated a heritage site.
- UVic and the BC Legislature have collaborated to digitize their Official Gazettes of the Province of British Columbia! The collection is freely available, is text-searchable, and goes from 1871 to 1897 (so far as I can tell)!
- Ok, not sure how I feel about this, but the Canada Blooms show is themed around the Secret Path documentary this year.
- The Montreal Gazette takes a look at the history of Montreal’s Grand Séminaire.
- Ryerson University will soon house the archives of Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich.
- The entire archival collection of the Chronicle-Journal of Thunder Bay has just been donated to the Thunder Bay Museum to be digitized.
- Take a virtual tour of Griffintown, Montreal’s historic working-class Irish district. It’s not the same tour that I’ve used in my classes, but it’s pretty neat!
- The Canadian War Museum is premiering a new exhibit for the 100th anniversary of Vimy Ridge, and you can see some of the items on display here.
- Mike Commito has a new article for Vice Sports about the St. Patrick’s Day Richard Riot in 1955. Also known as the reason why Montrealers laughed at Vancouver’s riot a few years ago. 😉
- BAnQ has acquired the archival collection of the Séminaire de Rimouski.
- There is some new research out about life in ancient North America based on core samples from two lakes near Grande Prairie, Alberta.
- Renovations will begin soon on the Lake Loon School, one of the segregated schools for African-Nova Scotians.
- Canadian Geographic has created a new interactive map about the history of ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ, or Qikiqtaaluk (Baffin Island) and the island’s Inuit communities.
- This is a neat short story by André Alexis that provides an alternative view of Sir. John A. Macdonald, mourning the loss of his daughter Mary (who was born with hydrocephalus) and reflecting on whether it was him or The Prime Minister who had ordered the executive of the Métis leaders.
- In 1890, Vancouver residents argued over where to place the post office. Clearly a life or death decision.
- The Torontoist is back with another edition of their series on Toronto’s historic plaques. This latest post by Erin Sylvester looks at the Sacré-Coeur Parish, the first French-language church for francophones in Toronto.
- Did you know you can use historical research when looking for a “missed connection”? 😉
- The Historicist has reprinted an article by Jamie Bradburn about battles between the Protestant Orangemen and Irish Catholics in 19th century Toronto.
- The historic Black church formerly known as Cornwallis Street Baptist Church in Halifax has voted to change its name in solidarity with the local Mi’kmaq community. It’s currently accepting suggestions for its new name. This is awesome!
- The Toronto First Story app has a new walking tour! First Story is an app that allows listeners to go on guided walking tours that showcase Toronto’s Indigenous history. Anyone want to do one of these with me during Congress?
- Toronto is creating a new park named in honour of Dr. George Robert Grasett, a doctor who treated Irish immigrants after arriving in Canada.
- This article from Le Devoir pokes fun at the concept of nostalgia, particularly in relation to the new exhibit at the McCord museum on Expo 67.
- The cover story of the March 2017 edition of National Geographic is “What you don’t know about the Vikings.” The article includes a (fairly uncritical) look at the work of Dr. Patricia Sutherland and Dr. Sarah Parcak. For more on the controversy over their respective work, see Teva Vidal’s guest posts on Unwritten Histories from July of 2016.
- Better Late than Never
- Last week on the Canadian Heritage Matters blog by Stephanie Bellissimo, she posted a fantastic blog post about her work with photographs of Indigenous peoples, and her attempts to implement a project similar to LAC’s Project Naming.
- Similarly, this article looks at attempts by Julie Crooks to do much the same thing with a collection of images of Black Canadian families, the descendants of formerly enslaved peoples who fled to Canada.
- This is an interesting take on Sable Island as a national park, discussing why we remove rats after labeling them an invasive species, but keep the horses, which are also imported. But horsies are pretty! says the girl who has never seen a horse except from the highway.
- Ok, maybe you won’t think this is as cool as I do, but check out this 19th century toilet from Toronto! From inside a house!
- This is a neat blog post from Forbidden Vancouver on the history of Trounce Alley, Shanghai Alley, Canton Alley, Market Alley, Beatty Lane, and Hogan’s Alley in Vancouver.
- Not sure what I think of this, but Dawson City is hoping to have its mine tailings designated as a heritage site.
- This article from the Toronto Star looks at the history of British Home Children and speaks with the British Home Child Advocacy and Research Association about their work uncovering the stories of the children buried in an Etokicoke cemetery.
I’ve never really understood the impulse towards St. Patrick’s Day, but then again, I can’t drink and I’m not Irish. 😉 Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this week’s roundup. If you did, please consider sharing this post on the social media platform of your choice! And don’t forget to check back on Tuesday for our latest resource guide! See you then!
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