Canadian History Roundup – Week of January 22, 2017

A poster advertising the film “Northern Patrol,” features Kirby Grant as a Mountie rescuing a damsel in distress, aided by his faithful dog Chinook, 1953. Library and Archives Canada, e010779201. CC by 2.0

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

*Just a quick reminder: this roundup is coming out early because I’m having surgery while you’re reading this (if you’re reading this on Friday morning/early afternoon).

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

• This week, Borealia began reposting the first in a series of essays on the participation of the Anishinaabeg in the War of 1812. The series originally premiered on Active History. The first article, by Alan Corbiere, draws attention to the many Anishinaabeg warriors who participated in the war. Though Tecumseh, who was Shawnee, is the Indigenous leader most associated with the War of 1812, the majority of the Indigenous warriors were actually Anishinaabeg.
• Active History has devoted this week to exploring the social and political activism of women in western Canada. These articles are drawn from the October 2016 conference on the History of Women’s Social and Political Activism in the Canadian West. This week’s posts were edited by Sarah Carter, Erika Dyck, and Nancy Langford.
  • The series is introduced in a post by Nanci Langford and Sarah Carter.
  • Nettie Wiebe discusses the impact of agrarian feminists, particularly with respect to land ownership and the rights of farm women.
  • Debbie Beaver profiles the Black Settlers of Alberta and Saskatchewan Historical Society, which is dedicated to highlighting the history of black settlers, and their current research project, “In Their Own Words,” about pioneering Black settlers.
  • Susan L. Smith examines the peace activism of Alberta women in the 1960s and 1980s with respect to the opposition to chemical weapons research.
  • Cynthia Loch-Drake argues that Ethel Wilson, noted WW2 union organizer and postwar politician, had a much more significant impact than was previously though, due to her racial privilege, but that her work was hampered primarily due to her gender.
  • Rhonda Hinther discusses the activism of socialist women during WW2, and how the government reacted by sending many of these women to jail.
  • Shannon Ingram discusses the history of the fight for access to abortion in Alberta.
• Apparently this is new series week, since Acadiensis also premiered a new series. This new series, which features collaboration between the Acadiensis blog and Jerry Bannister’s students, kicked off with a post by Mercedes Peters. Peters argues that knowing history is not enough, real action is required. She focuses specifically on the reactions to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Secret Path, and the incorrect assumption that simply recognizing what happened is doing the work of reconciliation. Instead, we must interrogate ourselves and our society, and take action against the forces that allow colonial institutions to exist.
• This week on the Beyond Borders blog, Matthew Barlow looks at the history of Griffintown, a former working-class district in Montreal that was known primarily for being Irish, despite having a diverse population. He discusses the relationship between “imagined Irishness,” memory-scapes, and diasporic identities.
• Over on NiCHE, Philip Wight has a new blog post, the latest in the “Seeds: New Research in Environmental History”series cosponsored by NiCHE and Edge Effects, which examines the environmental history of pipelines. While the article focuses mostly on American history, these are many lessons to be learned for Canadian historians.
• The LAC Discover blog looks at the history of the first federally administered national historic site, Fort Anne National Historic Site in Nova Scotia.
• I’m also on the series bandwagon this week, with a new series here at Unwritten Histories called “Inconvenient Pasts.” In this series, I disrupt traditional historical narratives by talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of Canadian history. The first post looks at the reality of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference.
• Céline Philippe, writing for Histoire Engagée, discusses the resurgence of interest in the Quiet Revolution during the 1980s, particularly with respect to theatrical performances that interrogated the 1960s.
• Steve Clifford is back with part 3 of his three part series on Digitized Canadian Trench Newspapers. This latest installment looks at the publications of the Canadian Army Service Corps, the Canadian Engineers, as well as military camps, training schools, and headquarter’s units.
• This week on the Canadian Museum of Human Rights blog, Javier Torres talks about how personal stories can help us to connect more readily with the past. I absolutely agree!
• Isobel Graham Simpson’s diary has been digitized! This is hugely significant, because Simpson’s diary is one of the few records we have written by a European woman from the fur-trade. You can read it by going here.
• The Graphic History Collective has posted its first poster from the Remember/Resist/Redraw project, entitled “Our Land: 150 Years of Colonialism by Lianne Charlie. Like all of her work, the poster is a beautiful and critical exploration of the colonial landscape. This poster focuses specifically on the impact of the Umbrella Final Agreement treaty on Yukon First Nations.
• This week on the Toronto Dreams Project Historical Ephemera Blog is a must-read post about Lucy Maud Montgomery and mental illness. It is only within the last few years that historians have learned that Montgomery (likely) lost her battle with depression and committed suicide.
• Gail Dever discusses the new interactive map of Toronto’s commemorative plaques.
• The Canadian Museum for Human Rights also has a blog post this week discussing their new traveling exhibition, “1867: Rebellion and Confederation.” This post is the first in a series, and focuses on the 1837-38 Rebellions.
• The Queen’s University History department blog features a post by Duncan McDowall, about the history of gender inequality at Queen’s. I wish I could say that things were dramatically improved, but that’s just not the case.
• Krista McCracken talks about the #1Lib1Ref initiative, calling on librarians, researchers, and archivists to improve Wikipedia’s citations. Canadians should absolutely also participate!
• The latest issue of The Canadian Geographer looks at the history of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River!
• The Lost Stories project has announced that Terry Horne has been selected as the artist for the story, The Kidnapping of Stó:lō Boys During the Fraser River Gold Rush.
• The Vancouver As It Was blog talks about the unfortunate story of Richard Thomas Llewellyn, early submariner, and what happened to his poor wife and children afterwards.
• LAC has another blog post from a guest curator in honour of Canada 150! James Bone talks about the three-pence beaver stamp, the first Canadian stamp, designed by none other than Sir Sandford Fleming, inventor of standardized time zones. It’s a really cool story. I actually collected stamps for a while when I was a kid; no doubt they are gathering dust at my parents’ place.
• Krista McCracken also has a another blog post this week, talking about the upcoming Indigenous Collections Symposium: Promising Practices, Challenging Issues and Changing the System!
• Gail Dever talks about a really cool website where you can see a collection of nearly 12,000 images from the history of Canadian prairie towns.
• LAC has posted their latest podcast, which looks at their collection of material relating to Glenn Gould. Did you know he was Canadian?
• Harold Bérubé has posted two additional blog posts in his ongoing series about Montreal’s 300^th anniversary, celebrated in 1942.
  • In the first, he talks about the beginning of the celebrations on October 15^th, 1941.
  • While the second looks at the religious celebrations, which took place on October 19^th, 1941.
• Vintage Everyday posted some neat images of Canadian history this week.
  • The first is an image from 1927 of four women in bathing suits posing with a cow at the Pacific National Exhibition(???)
  • And the second is of a female taxi driver in Manitoba in 1956.
• Also this week on NiCHE, Jim Clifford reviewed the documentary Guardians of Eternity: Confronting Giant Mine’s Toxic Legacy, about the Giant Mine, located outside of Yellowknife.
• The Canadian Museum of History has posted some new pictures showing the new Canadian History Hall!
• The University of Toronto Journals blog has a new post by Éric Gagnon Poulin about the history of Mirabel airport, otherwise known in Montreal as “that old airport in the middle of nowhere,” or “huh?”
• The City of Vancouver Archives has a new blog post talking about some of its holdings that entered the public domain on January 1^st. Ooh, new toys to play with.
• The South Peace Regional Archives has a fascinating piece about the first Chinese woman to live in Grande Prairie, at least that we know of.
• The Carleton University blog talks about the Agnes P, the last steam vessel to operate on the Rideau Canal. It was launched in 1913, and sailed until she was too badly vandalized to be repaired.
• The BAnQ (Library and National Archives of Quebec)’s blog talks about the life of Pierre-Georges Roy, a central figure in the archive’s history.
• The History blog takes about an aviation collection belonging a Canadian woman, Evelyn Louise Way, that is about to go on display. Too bad the exhibit is in the US.
• The Royal Ontario Museum’s Textile division has posted a wonderful image of a headdress from the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation of BC.
• The Arcadia blog takes a look at the history of Haida Gwaii, and how the Haida have fought to protect their land from logging.
• Canadian History in the News
  • In honour of the 100^th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion, the Champlain Society will be republishing papers from the Halifax Relief Commission this fall.
  • John Lutz examines the life of Grafton Tyler Brown, a prominent BC artist from the late 19^th century. Though born in the US and recognized initially as an African-American artist, he was able to successfully pass as white to such an extent that his death certificate listed him as white. It’s a really fascinating article, and a definite must-read.
  • In honour of Canada 150, the city of Vancouver is planning to highlight the Indigenous history of the region through a series of “Canada150+ events.” The goal behind series is to highlight the complicated history of Canada rather than simply celebrating it.
  • Find out more about Kent Monkman’s latest art installation, Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience.
  • Jana G. Pruden, writing for The Globe and Mail, talks about two important Canadian inventions: the Wonderbra and the jockstrap.
  • CBC interviewed Roberta Bondar, Canada’s first female astronaut, about her experiences. #lifegoals!
  • Members of the Black community of New Brunswick, especially the Black History Society, are calling for the removal of the term “Negro” from local landmarks. How is this still a thing?
  • Did you know that we sort-of invaded El Salvador in 1932? I certainly didn’t!
  • Sean Kheraj was interviewed by the CBC about the history of pipelines in Canada! Granted, this was in relation to the spill in southern Saskatchewan, but it’s still great to see a historian being interviewed about contemporary events!
  • The Montreal Gazette, talked with Phyllis Lambert, a Montreal architect who played an instrumental role in shaping Montreal’s urban landscape.
  • The Montreal Gazette also remembered when the old walls and remaining fortifications of the city were torn down in 1803. I bet the city is kicking itself now…
  • The Fort Needham Memorial Park in Halifax has a plaque dedicated to the Halifax Explosion. Too bad that the plaque actually has the story wrong… It’s still there, if anyone wants to go take a picture for me!
  • The CBC spoke with Leonore Newman about the history of Canadian cuisine.
  • Hell froze over: A major publication reviewed a book about Canadian history that isn’t related to war or politics. ::gasp:: Publisher’s Weekly reviewed Sarah Carter’s Imperial Plots: Women, Land, and the Spadework of British Colonialism on the Canadian Prairies. Excuse me while I pick myself up off the floor.
  • Did you know that the Soviets accidentally dropped radioactive material in the Arctic in 1978?
  • CBC spoke with Ronald Rudin about the Lost Stories Project, specifically about the commemoration of the leper colony on Sheldrake Island.
  • Joely BigEagle-Kequahtooway is calling on the city of Regina to remove the name of Edgar Dewdney from local monuments. Dewdney was central to establishing the reserve system in Canada, deliberately starved Indigenous peoples in order to force them onto the reserves, and sent their children to mission schools. This seems like a no-brainer to me.
  • Traditional clam gardens are returning to the Gulf Islands in
  • Find out about the history of the Alliance laurentienne, one of the first separatist organizations in Quebec.
  • A vault that has been hidden in a Toronto building since the 1960s was finally opened, to reveal boxes, documents, bank cheques, and a pair of skates. So cool.
  • Check out the creepy death hand of D’arcy McGree!
  • Hollywood is making another movie about an event from Canadian history, but this time they’ve completely written Canada out of the story. Did you even realize that the new film Gold is about Bre-X?
  • Find out what it’s like to live with a historic landmark right on your front lawn. I don’t know about you, but sign me up!
  • Thompson Rivers University has launched an initiative to help professors share ways of incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing into a university setting. The project is being coordinated by the executive director of Aboriginal learning at TRU, Paul Michel.
  • Someone accidentally-on-purpose tore down a historic building in Toronto, and people are really upset.
  • Also in honour of Canada 150, artist Amir Baradaran is installing an augmented reality art installation at Montreal’s Place des Arts which will feature Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community members of Akwesasne, telling stories about their community’s history. So cool!
  • My favourite museum, Pointe-à-Callière, has unveiled a new interactive and multimedia installation that showcases the archaeological history of Montreal.
  • Do you think that Mount Royal should be a UNESCO world heritage site?
  • The Halifax Explosion will be featured on a new stamp and coin in honour of its 100^th anniversary.
  • Kevin Littlelight is also calling on Ottawa to remove the name of Sir Hector Langevin from the Langevin Block outside of the Parliament Buildings. Langevin was the principal creator of the residential school system, so this also seems like a no-brainer to me.
  • Meet a 100-year-old Canadian man who has survived one disaster after another, including the Halifax Explosion, a train wreck, a near-torpedoing, a near-drowning, a ski accident, and skin cancer. Holy crap.
• Better Late than Never
  • Tammara Soma discussed the history of food in Toronto during the 20^th century, particularly with respect to the impact of urbanization.
  • Arthur Bear Chief discussed the process of writing his book, My Decade at Old Sun, My Lifetime of Hell, about his experiences at residential school.
  • The Anglican Church of Canada announced that it will be making a formal and national apology to the victims of former minister, Ralph Rowe, who sexually abused Indigenous boys during the 1970s and 1980s.
  • 2nd Lt Cameron Park has written a blog post for the Canadian Army’s website about the Sadnwick Cairn in Comox, BC, and one particular soldier commemorated thereupon, Lieutenant Thomas Wilkinson.
  • There are some more details about Louis Kamookak’s involvement with the new Iqualuit exhibition on Inuit knowledge and the search for the Franklin Expedition, as well as a sneak peak at some of the stories to be showcased in the exhibit.

That’s it for this week! Don’t forget to check back on Tuesday for a special guest blog post!

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