Canadian History Roundup – Week of April 1, 2018

“Making Maple Sugar, Lower Canada ca. 1837” Phillip John Bainbridge, LAC 2834638

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

Welcome back to the Roundup! Our fearless leader, Andrea, is away this week, so I’ll be doing the roundup for the first time. Here we go!

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

• LAC was once again busy this week, first posting this guide to accessing pre-confederation land patents issued by the registrar general. This is actually sort of pertinent to a project I’m working on now, so it’s an extremely timely post.
  • This week’s flicker album celebrated National Tartan Day, (https://thediscoverblog.com/) and published a collection of Tartan-related photos.
  • They also tweeted this video reminding everyone that it’s sugar season. Have you been to your local sugar shack yet? There’s only a few weeks left if you haven’t!
  • There is a new exhibit on the Métis being curated in Saskatoon until May 13^th. If you’re in the area, definitely check it out!
• Archives across the country were busy creating and releasing fantastic content and collections this week:
  • The Region of Peel archives released this video on what to expect when you come to the archives.
  • The University of Guelph archives posted this video of their daily page turning of the original manuscript copy of Rilla of Ingleside (if they posted a video of a page a day I would absolutely watch)
  • The BANQ posted new family history collections.
  • The Instantanées blog posted this article on Edmund Horne and the birth of Noranda.
  • The Provincial archives of Alberta posted this photo of 105^th avenue in Edmonton from 1989.
• Speaking of busy weeks, it was a big week at NICHE:
  • Part 3 of the “Soundings” Series, a series of articles jointly published by Acadiensis and The Otter-Le Outre, was released. This third installment is Josh McFayden and Andrew Watson, and focuses on energy in PEI agriculture.
  • Part 4 of the “Soundings” series was also published this week. Written by Daniel Sampson, it’s an interesting look at how the James Barry diaries show us that seasonal affective disorder has been around for a long, long time.
  • This really interesting article on how indigenous Hawaiians were deeply involved in the establishment of the pacific northwest economy was also published as part of NICHE’s early career environmental historian collaborative series.
• Last week’s most commonly used words in environmental history according to Jessica Dewitt were ice, wolves, and sheet.
• Graphic History Collective is back with a new Remember Resist Redraw! Their new poster commemorates Charles Roach, who fought to have the oath to the Queen removed as a condition to Canadian Citizenship.
• This week on Unwritten Histories, we had a guest post by Ron Rudin who spoke to us about his Lost Stories project, combining public history, art, and film.
• This week on Active History:
  • Patrick Lacroix reflects on the importance of historical inquiry in a piece titled “Dystopia? It’s a world without History.” 
  • Christo Avalis reminds us that, despite the Trumps and the Fords of the world, populism can be a good thing.
• This week’s History Slam episode discussed the history of Bible interpretation. I know a few people who should listen to this but probably won’t.
• Darryl Leroux has been writing some fantastic twitter essays (along with his actual published works) on the subject of the “eastern Métis” and self-indigenization.
  • See his response to Seb Malette’s report which claims to prove the existence of Acadian-Métis
  • An indigenous Carleton student is also facing the threat of expulsion for questioning the validity of self-identified métis.
• Pam Palmater posted this great essay on the criminalization of the indigenous tobacco trade, which law enforcement should possibly consider adopting as required reading.
• A bit random, but the NCPH published this article on facilitating access to digital sources which I think is really useful, especially from the perspective of someone who frequently works on digital content.
• Speaking of digital sources, Krista McCracken has a new podcast out this week, and it’s all about the use of public domain images.
• The Champlain Society’s new podcast this week discusses the legacy of John Stanley Plaskett, Canada’s pre-eminent astronomer.
• Check out this newly-uncovered history of Chinese survivors of the Titanic! Out here on the east coast, everybody loves the history of the Titanic – not necessarily the movie, but definitely the history. If you’ve never been to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic’s exhibit on the Titanic you should definitely go at least once.
• The Changing Vancouver blog posted these side-by-side photos of 316 and 324 Powell Street along with a history of both locations – from boarding houses to restaurants.
• Jessica DeWitt published a new collection of Comp’s Notes, focusing on “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” by Frederic Jackson Turner.
• This week’s Histoires Engagées covers a round table between different generations of women historians, discussing the problems that have been overcome and the ones that still need to be solved in the discipline and profession of history.
• Speaking of sexism and racism in the academy, Stanford held an all-white, all-male history conference. Here’s the response from the Coordinating Council of Women in History.
• Nursing Clio featured the deeply personal history of Kyle Stephens, reflecting on the impact of the #MeToo movement when it has impacted your own history.
• The Canadian Dictionary of Biography released a new biography this week. This one is on Frederick John Fulton, lawyer and member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly, 1900-1909.
• The BC Museums association has launched a new podcast! You can find out more here.
• UBC is changing it’s street signs to include Musqueam translations.
• The Université de Montréal blog released this fascinating post on how horses facilitated the urbanization of the city.
• The archaeology podcasting network released an episode on pseudo-archaeology. If TV series like Oak Island make you yell at the television as much as me, you need to listen to this podcast.
• The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies published these photos on their blog of the beginning of skiing at Banff. Considering how much snow we’ve gotten this week, this still seems pretty apropos. Sadly.
• Speaking of the absence of spring, the Canadian Encyclopedia has updated their entry on floods in Canada to reflect the impact of climate change.
• Can you help identify this polar bear from Labrador? A woman sent a photo of this heirloom to the ICH blog, trying to find out more information about it’s provenance.
• Canadian History in the News:
  • April is Sikh Heritage month! Celebrate it by reading up on the Komagata Maru.
  • Canadian Geographic posted their recap of the 3^rd episode of The Terror. You can also read this blog post for more information on books behind the series. I still won’t be watching it.
  • Haudenosaunee women are overcoming sexism and stigma and finding their place in lacrosse.
  • The CBC has released a new database on the use of deadly force. It covers fatal encounters with all police forces in Canada between 2000 and 2017, analyzes victims by race and ethnicity, and what kind of violence was used (gunshot, physical force, etc.)
  • The NDP has responded to the Pope’s refusal to apologize for residential schools, tabling a motion in the House of Commons.
  • Jully Black talks colonial privilege at Canada Reads, taking issue when Jeanne Beker called The Marrow Thieves “too dark.” I haven’t been following Canada Reads very much this year, but I have to admit, seeing the clips of this exchange did make me cheer.
  • Have you been following CBC’s “Finding Cleo” podcast? If not, what are you waiting for? The podcast follows the investigation into a family separated by the sixties scoop, and a sister’s search for her siblings. It is gut-wrenching. And absolutely necessary to know about.
  • The name debate continues; this time a Quebec town is debating a street named after John Colborne due to his role in suppressing a French-Canadian rebellion, resulting in the death of about 70 patriotes.
  • Le Devoir published an article re-examining Champlain’s history of interaction with indigenous peoples, asking whether or not the cartographer and explorer was as peaceable as generally portrayed. Definitely worth thinking about.
  • If you’re familiar with the Bruce McArthur case in Toronto, then it probably won’t surprise you that a CBC investigation has uncovered that Toronto gay village has experienced this before, resulting in the death of 14 gay men.
  • A bit random, but check out this CBC article on the hidden history of the women who built the computer age. Marie Hicks also has a fantastic book on this subject, and her twitter feed (@histoftech) has some great information on how difficult it is to find information on women in the advent of the digital era due to their mischaracterized roles – photos of women would be labelled as a “receptionist” or “assistant” when in fact they were much more integral to the project.
  • CBC British Columbia uncovered this video from their archives, a 60-year old video of the Ripple Rock explosion.
  • A professor at the University of Guelph, Alejandro Marangoni, has been studying the history of chocolate for 15 years. That means this research was being done while I was doing my masters there and I had no idea. What a wasted opportunity.
  • The study of language, history, and ArcGIS come together to help map out Wabenaki canoe routes. This is an amazing project I’ve heard rumours about on campus and I’m so pleased to be able to read more about it!
  • Canadian Geographic delved into the nostalgia behind the traditional Montreal bagel debate (ST-VIATEUR OR NOTHING!).
  • A couple undergoing home renovations found newspapers from the turn of the 20th century in the floorboards. They really need to take some more photos and share the contents. I can pass on some ideas for digitization….
  • Congratulations to these three high school students on their history prize from the Government of Canada!
  • And, finally, if you live in Vancouver and have run across this man selling baklava and wondered about his origin story, wonder no more.

That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed this week’s roundup. If you did, please consider sharing it on the social media platform of your choice! And don’t forget to check back on Tuesday for a brand new Historians’ Histories. See you then!

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