Canadian History Roundup – Week of December 3, 2017

Christmas Card. c.1923-1928. This card is part of the Canadian Artists Series by Rous & Mann Ltd. Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1991-12-38 Gift of Joan and W. Ross Murray, Whitby, Ontario. Copyright: Expired.

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

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

• The latest episode in the Lesbian Testimony Podcast dropped this week, and features an interview with Michael Riordan on his book, Out Our Way: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Country, for which he interviewed people all across the country about their experiences. This episode also discusses the shifting nature of queerness, and rural queer activism.
  • I seem to have also missed a whole bunch pf previous episodes, so be sure to check them out!
• Paul Seesequasis shared the story of Breaking Through The Ice’s Mother and General Middleton, during peace negotiations in 1885 between Poundmaker and Canada.
• This week’s most commonly-used words in #envhist, according to Jessica DeWitt, were: “University,” “History,” and “Professor.”
• Stephanie Bellissimo has a lovely new blog post about the creation of the fragrant and textural garden created at CNIB in Toronto. Designed specially to be enjoyed by individuals who are blind or visually impaired, it was completed in 1956.
• Lindsay Gibson has written a new blog post for Active History, setting out a list of questions to help members of the public to think critically about the Monument Wars. This framework is based on Peter Seixas’s Historical Thinking project. This is totally going to be a discussion group exercise in a future course…
• This week on the Wilson Institute is a new blog post by Thomas Richards, Jr. about British and American relations in Oregon, and HBC’s declining power in North America in the mid-nineteenth century.
• Joanne Hammond has another fantastic Twitter essay on abandoned farmsteads in the BC Interior, real estate, and settlement.
• There were several new Canadian Encyclopedia entries this week, including
  • The Empress in Victoria.
  • Stirling, Alberta.
  • Mohawk WW1 veteran Edith Monture
• Allison Louise Jones and Rachel McRory have written a blog post about decolonizing archives, including a detailed bibliography.
• The UNBC Library Northern BC Archives and Special Collections, in association with UBC Library, launched the new Northern BC Digital Collection. This is a collection of digitized historical material relating to northern BC. And there is also a youtube channel!
• I’m totally in love with the fact that the Dictionary of Canadian Biography shared the story of Mister Christie in honour of #NationalCookieDay. I did not know he was Canadian.
• The Archives of Ontario also shared some wonderful images of letters to Santa from their Eaton’s collection.
• Gail Dever has kindly compiled some of the questions and answers from the #AsktheLAC initiative on her blog. Check out the rest using the hashtags #AsktheLAC or #QuestionauBAC.
• This week on Unwritten Histories, we looked back on the evolution of Chanukah in Canada, and I shared my secret love for Christmas lights. Ooh. Sparkly!
• Darryl Leroux has another fantastic twitter essay on the Indigenous women who have been co-opted by the so-called “Eastern Métis.” It is really a must-read.
  • And later in the week he published one about how the rise of the “Eastern Métis” is related to fishing and hunting rights.
• New on Nursing Clio this week is a conversation between Janis Thiessen and Emily Contois about Snacks. This interview focuses on the actual work that went into the book, and Thiessen’s approach to doing oral history.
• Check out some epic facial hair from Quebec history, from a new exhibit, Barbus et moustachus/A Hair Affair. And you can see the online version of the exhibit here (you’ll have to scroll down, since I can’t link to it directly).
• Liz Otero has a new blog post on the UBC Digitization Centre featuring some fascinating menus from BC history. These menus are all from the Chung Collection within Open Collections, which is a wonderful source.
• In the latest post in their Rhizomes series, NiCHE featured an interview with Merle Massie this week about her work outside the academy.
• Leah Grandy is back this week with part two of her new series on palaeography on the Atlantic Loyalist Connections blog. This week she talks about transcription!
• Also on the Instantanés blog this week is a light-hearted look at hats from days past, including a link to a Flickr album of relevant photographs and information on relevant fonds. Check out the Flickr album itself here.
• In the latest episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Liz Covart looks at what was happening in the rest of North America during the American Revolution, particularly in the mid-west and western part of the continent.
• Are you a graduate student or non-tenure track academic? Congress 2018 has special funding for you! Find out more here.
• LAC has released the Fall/Winter 2017 edition of their magazine Signatures.
• Alexandre Klein has written a new blog post for Histoire Engagée this week on the concept of “biopolitics” (state power over the physical bodies of its citizens) and public health, with a particular emphasis Quebec.
• Stacey Devlin and Emily Cuggy have put together an absolutely essential guide for anyone, particularly genealogists and family historians, trying to do research on Indigenous ancestors. As the authors note, this is a very controversial subject, particularly for non-Indigenous peoples. I would refer you to Darryl Leroux’s Twitter essay above, Devlin’s previous post on DNA testing kits, and research by Adam Gaudry and Kim TallBear if this is something you’re considering.
• Bill Waiser is back with his latest look at Saskatchewan history. This week he looks at the trials and tribulations of John Rowand’s dead body. That sounds like the title of a folk song, doesn’t it?
• The latest blog post from LAC focuses on the history of the potlatch and its criminalization by the Canadian government. This post is based largely on the correspondence of Kwakwakawakw Chief Billy Assu, Indian Agent William Halliday, and British Columbia Chief Justice Matthew Begbie.
• Nursing Clio also had a new post this week on the efforts of women who served in the British Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) during WW1 to obtain pensions, and what these records can tell us about the impact of the war on women . Keep in mind that Canadian women served with the British VAD as well.
• The Textile Museum of Canada shared this beautiful Grenfell hooked rug depicting Newfoundland and part of Labrador.
• Find out about some of the new acquisitions at the Nova Scotia Archives.
• Queen’s University Library, the Canadian Opinion Research Archive, and the Ontario Council of University Libraries are collaborating to make polling data from the 1970s onward available to the public.
• Jennifer Bracewell talks about her experiences designing a real archaeological excavation that would be open to the public.
• Umm, an archival scavenger hunt? Yes please!
• The LAC blog also released a new Flickr album this week, featuring images of Japanese-Canadians during WW2, including their forced re-location and life in internment camps. See the pictures themselves here.
• The Scholarship and Activism blog spoke with Kathryn Bridge, former curator at the Royal BC Museum about her work on the new exhibit, “Family: Bonds and Belonging.” Kathryn is my supervisor sibling and a dear friend. Best wishes on your retirement!
• NiCHE’s editors have put together their recommendations for environmental history reading for the holidays!
• The Laurier Centre is back with Part 2 of their series on Arthur Roy Baxter. This latest post focuses on his experiences in Sanctuary Wood and at Vimy Ridge.
• Russell Potter has a new blog post on the Franklin Expedition this week, examining whether or not there are human remains on board the Erebus or the Terror. He focuses specifically on the Inuit story, ”the man with the long teeth.” Don’t miss the caption on the main photo. Warning: this blog post contains an image of one of the bodies belonging to one of the Franklin men. It’s at the very end.
• McGill-Queen’s University Press has posted an excerpt from Cecilia Morgan’s latest book, Travellers Through Empire: Indigenous Voyages from Early Canada. The excerpt was originally posted on the Beyond the Spectacle: Native North American Presence in Britain blog.
• Krista McCracken posted the latest episode of her Historical Reminiscents podcast! This episode is part three of her series on “Demystifying Archival Labour.”
• Newly available on the Archive of Lesbian and Oral Testimony website are forty-four interviews from the Vancouver Co-op Radio’s The Lesbian Show from 1989 to 1991, recorded by Louise Hutchinson.
• Taylor Maclean put together a fabulous piece busting six common myths about treaties in Canada.
• Rina Gluskin interviewed Donna Gabaccia for the Rapport blog of the OHASSTA about her work with the Toronto Ward Museum.
• The Vancouver as It Was blog profiles Alan Beech, professional photographer and amateur magician. That’s a cool job title.
• Joseph Lorusso is the latest person profiled by the CHA’s What Can You Do With a History Degree initiative.
• Do you need more ideas about fantastic holiday gifts? Check out this wonderful list of Indigenous creators whose artwork is for sale, assembled by Indigenous Canada.
• Find out more about the great work being done by the Ontario Jewish Archives.
• Aaditya Aggarwal has written a wonderful and moving piece about portraits of the Komagata Maru passengers, and the barrier of knowability.
• The latest article from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography this week is for the “accidental” librarian, Mary Johanna Louisa Black.
• The Canadian Museum of History posted this image of an Arrow or Assumption sash, believed to have belonged to Patriote leader Jean-Olivier Chénier.
• The Canadian Business History Association had made available all of the videos from their Canada 150 Business History Conference. Supporting materials are available on their conference website here.
• This week Whistorical takes a look at the rise and fall of McGuire, BC.
• Find out about the great work being done by Audrey Rochette, an Indigenous graduate student at UofT, on how to decolonize museums. This past year, she visited Rainy River First Nation and their Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Historical Centre to learn about Indigenous-centred curation.
• While not created specifically for historians, we could all benefit from this new style guide on reporting on Indigenous peoples, created by the Journalists for Human Rights’ Indigenous Reporters Program. Proper language use is important.
• Canadian History in the News
  • This week a number of countries, including Canada, signed an agreement banning commercial fishing in the High Arctic. The ban was developed in consultation with the Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada, and Inuit traditional knowledge played a role in its creation.
  • 50 years ago this month, the planned freeway that was to go through Chinatown, Gastown, and downtown Vancouver was scrapped.
  • Do you know about the history of church pierogi crews in Winnipeg? Try not to drool.
  • Janis Thiessen was interviewed on CBC’s The Next Chapter about Snacks, and talked all about the history of Cheezies. Hungry yet?
  • Alan Sears has written a new piece for The Conversation, arguing that “historical education is central to the survival of democracy.” He makes a great point that history can help us to learn to deal with ambiguity. However, as someone pointed out on Twitter, it seems odd that he focuses so strongly on military history.
    • And there is an accompanying article on CBC, where he discusses how Canadian history is always taught from only one side (heroic or racist). Although I’m not entirely sure if I agree with this.
  • Catherine Murton Stoehr and Randy Restoule explain the importance of the “escalator clause” in the Robinson Huron Treaty, and the role that it will play in the ongoing lawsuit about the government’s failure to abide by the treaty.
  • Sheldon Goldbard, UBC archivist, has just released a new book about student life on campus over the past century. Now I have to find out about the “liberation” of the faculty club…
  • The leaders of the Poundmaker Cree Nation, with support from the Assembly of First Nations and Saskatchewan’s Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, have put forward a petition calling for a formal pardon for Poundmaker.
    • More on this here.
    • And the petition itself can be found here.
  • The government has finally passed a bill to end sex discrimination in the Indian Act.
  • December 6^th was also the anniversary of the shootings at École Polytechnique, so there were several news articles on the subject.
    • Remember them.
  • The Canadian government is refusing to apologize or compensate Yellowknives Dene First Nation for decades of arsenic poisoning from the Giant Mine, something they have been called upon to do since 2008.
  • University Affairs profiled Active History this week!
  • Check out this great interview with Gina Starblanket about her research on treaty implementation and Indigenous-state relations, the true meaning of treaty, and her work on the Chief Paskwa pictograph made after the signing of Treaty 4.
  • Bill Waiser has also written an op-ed about the “opt-in” clause in the census, and the impact that this will have on future research.
  • Merle Massie also wrote an op-ed this week about the lack of support for heritage projects in Saskatchewan.
    • And then she got mentioned in the Saskatchewan Hansard, the official legislature record. Historians are such dorks that we’re always excited when we make it into the historical records.
  • And in more mapping news, Canadian Geographic announced the launch of its first Google Earth Voyager story, which tells the history of residential schools in Canada through the voices of survivors. Check it out for yourself here. Just be aware that it requires you use Chrome, since it is a Google product.
  • In 1979, Prime Minister Joe Clark promised to move the Canadian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. New information has come to light about why he broke this promise. And I’m not even commenting on the Trump situation.
  • Two Quebecois men are searching for their family history in France. Follow Denis et Sylvain Gougeon as they search for their ancestor, Pierre Bougon, dit Goujon born in 1661.
  • There is a new documentary out about the tension between residential school survivors and the Catholic Church. The film, titled In the Spirit of Reconciliation centres on the Indigenous elders of Fort Providence, N.W.T. , particularly Monique Sabourin.
  • The Neil Young online archive is now live! Check it out here. You will neeg to log in through Facebook or Google to access the site.
  • A high school teacher is suing the principal, vice principal, and the school board for defamation after an email suggested that it was inappropriate for the teacher to have taught her students the song “Land of the Silver Birch” because it is racist. The song is based on a poem by E. Pauline Johnson. This article does a good job of contextualizing Johnson, and features interviews with Terri Monture, Bonita Lawrence, and Janet Rogers, all of whom criticized the school board’s decision.
  • Journalist Sam Evans-Brown was interviewed by the Energy Gang podcast this week about the history of hydro-electric power in Canada.
  • In possibly the most Canadian headline ever, Gordon Lightfoot donated three canoes to the Canadian Canoe Museum.
  • Find out about an upcoming graphic novel on the Christie Pitts Riots.
  • Corporal Colin Fraser Barron’s Victoria Cross was purchased by the Canadian War Museum for $420,000. As a precariously employed historian, this is incredibly frustrating.
  • The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is expanding.
  • The last man executed in Halifax, Daniel Perry Sampson, will receive a gravestone that notes his service during WW1. Eighty years after the execution, questions remain about the conviction, since Sampson was a Black man who likely had a mental disability.
  • Do you remember that WW2 helmet belonging to J.E. Gagnon that a man found while renovating a house? It has been reunited with Gagnon’s family this week.
  • The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford has just launched a new website, which is centred around their digitized collection. Check it out yourself here.
  • A group of individuals, including Nancy Janovicek, are working to raise money for a statue of Calgary’s first female alderman, Annie Gale.
    • And Nancy was interviewed about it by CBC! She starts around 25:30.
    • And don’t forget to check out the Twitter account for the project, @AnnieGaleYYC.
  • There is a great deal of concern about what will happen to the archives of the community newspapers that were shut down last week as part of the Postmedia and Torstar deal.
  • Do you remember a Twitter discussion from a couple of weeks ago about Newfoundland bread? Well, CBC picked it up as an article!
  • Canadian Geographic profiled George Dawson, and his Report on the geology and resources of the region in the vicinity of the forty-ninth parallel.
  • Fil Fraser, the first Black broadcaster in Canada, has died.
  • North Shore News spoke with Squamish Chief Ian Campbell about Squamish oral tradition on the great floods that happened at the end of the last Ice Age. These traditions hold important lessons in an era of rising ocean levels.
  • Publisher’s Weekly reviewed Marianne and Ronald E. Ignaces, Secwépemc People, Land, and Laws: Yeri7 Re Stsq’ey’s-Kucw.
  • Le Devoir reviewed Chris Dummitt’s Unbuttoned.
  • There is a new documentary about mountain biking and its origins in BC. Huh. Who knew.
  • I can’t figure out if I put this in a previous roundup, so just in case, check out Roberto Rocha’s really cool interactive map showing the history of construction on the island of Montreal from 1600 to 2015.
• Halifax Explosion 100^th Anniversary Redux
  • CBC put together a short history of the Explosion, for those who aren’t necessarily familiar with the details.
  • They also put together a list of all of their news coverage of the commemoration, dating back several months. Most of them are listed here, but the list also includes more information about the actual commemoration that I didn’t include.
  • And so did the National Post.
  • And even The New York Times had a story about it.
  • Find out about the story of Dispatcher Vincent Coleman, who tried to save the lives of over 700 train passengers but lost his own.
  • And don’t miss Arthur Moxton’s story. Moxton lost his wife, four children, his parents, and sister-in-law to the explosion.
  • And the story of firefighter Billy Wells, who was only meters away from the epicentre of the explosion, but survived.
  • The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic exhibit on the Explosion is coming under fire for claiming that only one Africville resident died in the explosion and for ignoring the experiences of Black Nova Scotians.
  • Global has created an interactive map of documenting where most of the victims of the Halifax Explosion lived.
  • And if the Explosion itself wasn’t bad enough, Halifax was immediately hit by a snowstorm afterwards.
  • Historica Canada has a wonderful new video series called “Think Like a Historian,” which is designed to teach students how to deal with primary sources. Their latest focuses on letters and sketches from the Explosion.
  • The Canadian Encyclopedia premiered several new entries relating to the Explosion, including one on Widows and Widowers of the Halifax Explosion, People on the Margins of the Halifax Explosion, and Children of the Halifax Explosion.
  • The Nova Scotia Archives retweeted some maps showing areas of Halifax that were destroyed in the Explosion.
  • They also retweeted Private Joseph Settle’s description of the Explosion.
  • The Chronicle Herald has put together a list of ten objects that tell the story of the Explosion.
  • There is only one ship left afloat that witnessed the Explosion, but it is nearly derelict.
  • Most articles and projects on the Explosion are based on archival sources from the Nova Scotia Archives. The most important of these sources is the Halifax Relief Commission records.
  • The 100 Years 100 Stories project has been completed, tweeting the stories of 100 people affected by the Explosion in the lead up to the anniversary. You can look back on their posts by visiting their account(@100YearsStories ‏) or using the hashtag #100years100stories
  • Carolyn Ray traced the history of her family, who survived the Explosion, but lost everything. Like so many, they were forced to leave Nova Scotia to find work and never returned.
  • The Ottawa Citizen spoke with Doug Snair, one of the few remaining survivors. He was one and a half at the time of the Explosion.
  • Catherine Martin is telling the story of her great-aunt in a new play about the Mi’kmaq experience of the Explosion. The Mi’kmaq village of Turtle Grove was less than two kilometers from the epicentre of the Explosion, and the community was devastated. Martin’s play is based largely on Mi’kmaq oral tradition.
    • The Globe and Mail has a great piece on this oral tradition, centred around a conversation with Cathy Martin of Millbrook First Nation, who conducts ceremony each  year to honour the Mi’kmaw victims of the Explosion.
  • LAC has created a guide to their holdings relating to the Explosion.
    • LAC also shared some amazing film footage of the aftermath of the Explosion.
  • Even 100 years later, Halifax is still marked by the disaster.
  • Check out these amazing colourized images from the Explosion and its aftermath.
  • Jacob Remes looks back at the Explosion and how it is remembered in an era of climate change. He discusses the complex nature of disaster, how class shapes the experience of disaster, disasters and the nation, disaster aid, and holding those in positions of power to account. The Explosion holds many lessons.
  • Claire Halstead was interviewed three times this week about her work on the database of those who were killed or inured in the Explosion. I’m super excited to see her getting the recognition she deserves for this fantastic resource!
    • First, she was interviewed by The Signal.
    • Next she spoke with Halifax Today.
    • And finally she was on CTV news! Her interview starts around the seven-minute mark.
  • The Nova Scotia Archives has also updated their Halifax Explosion Remembrance Book. Check it out for yourself here.
  • The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto blog has a new post featuring some of the letters that were received by Archbishop McNeil from his Halifax counterpart, Archbishop Edward McCarthy about the aftermath of the Explosion.
  • This week the HUB History podcast talked about the Halifax Explosion, and the close relationship between that city and Boston.
  • The Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast also re-aired their episode on the Halifax Explosion.
  • Keith Grant re-shared a Twitter essay from last year, containing excerpts from a letter by eye-witness Ralph Smallman.
  • Halifax’s trees remember.
• Better Late than Never
  • Long before online dating, in 1957 in Toronto, two people were matched by a dating computer program.
  • The Ottawa Citizen spoke with Jean-Marie Leduc about his skate collection, and his work with Sean Graham and Julie Léger on the new book, Lace Up: A History of Skates in Canada.
• Calls for Papers
  • The Oral History Association has issued a call for papers for their 2018 Annual Meeting, to be held in Montreal. This year’s theme is “protest.” Paper proposals are due January 31.
  • Several more of the CHA Prize Competitions opened this week, including
    • The Best Article on the History of Sexuality
    • The Eugene A. Forsey Prize on the best essay/thesis in labour history
  • The American Council for Quebec Studies has issued a call for papers for their 21^st biennial conference. This year’s theme is: “tastes, textures, relations.” Proposals are due April 1.
  • The Canadian Nautical Research Meeting has issued a call for papers for their 2018 annual conference. This year’s theme is “Lower Lakes, Upper Lakes: Connecting Maritime Heritage,” with a focus on the border. Paper proposals are due March 1.
  • Kayla Isomura is in search of fourth and fifth generation Japanese-Canadians and Japanese-Americans for an art project about internment that will be featured at the Nikkei National Museum and Culture Centre in the summer of 2018. Find out more and how to sign up here.

Once again, I separated out any blog posts or news article on the Halifax Explosion, simply to make reading this a little easier. Let me know if you would be interested in seeing mini-roundups on big events like anniversary or discoveries. 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 the return of Best New Articles!

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