“‘The rebel maid’ – Montague F. Phillips will be presented by The Vancouver Opera Society under the direction of Jas. C. Welch, First produced in London England in 1921.” 19121. AM54 – Major Matthews collection. City of Vancouver Archives. (This is a “snipe,” is a glass lantern slide that would be shown in a movie aside from the film and/or trailers. This snipe was used in movie theatres in Vancouver during the 1920s.)
The latest in blog posts, news, and podcasts from the world of Canadian history.
Missed last week’s roundup? Check it out here.
- Ben Bradley posted this really neat image of a proposed standardized fruit stand sign template.
- The Bata Shoe Museum posted this really cool image of shoe buckles belonging to Robert Baldwin. For those young’uns, before Payless was invented, shoes were expensive and you could dress them up with shoe buckles.
- Jessica DeWitt posted this really cool wordcloud of top stories for the #envhist hashtag on Twitter. Some really interesting insights….
- Several weeks ago, Active History had a post from R. Blake Brown about gun rights in Canada. This week, Active History posted a rebuttal to the original post by John Robson, with a new reply from Brown.
- Borealia is back this week with Part 5 of their series on Anishinaabeg warriors from the War of 1812! This post looks at Ashinishaabeg understandings of British policy from this period.
- On March 6th, 1834 the town of York was incorporated as the City of Toronto. The Toronto Public Library has a new post about the history of the city and of the library itself.
- All this week, Black Perspectives, the official blog of the AAIHS, held an online roundtable on Sowande’ M Mustakeem’s Slavery at Sea: Terror, Sex, and Sickness in the Middle Passage.
- Here is the introduction, from Jessica Marie Johnson, explaining the area of Middle Passage Studies and Mustakeem’s book.
- Part 2 is from Doug Egerton, and focuses on the importance of discussing the human stories of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
- Part 3 is from Marisa J. Fuentes, and discusses the history of the body in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, particularly the use of bodies as archives.
- Part 4 is from Jessica Millward; she focuses on honouring the dead and using the concept of “death” as a tool of analysis.
- Part 5 is from Joshua Rothman, who looks at the violence inherent in the Middle Passage.
- Part 6 is by Vanessa Holden, on violence as a language.
- And Part 7 is a response from Sowande’ M Mustakeem herself.
- Ok, this is kind of adorable, but check out this video from a Vancouver TV station called “The Trading Post,” that acted as a kind of Craigslist back in the 1960s.
- Joanne Hammond talks about BC’s fisheries, hydrocolonialism and why reconciliation needs to involve concrete action, not just apologies.
- Beyond Borders is back this week with a new article by Patrick Lacroix. This article uses Henry David Thoreau’s depiction of French Canadians in A Yankee in Canada as a starting point for examining a common line in Quebec Studies that Ronald Rudin calls “the search for a normal society.”
- The Graphic History Collective came out with their third poster this week, entitled “Caregiving Work in Canada.” The poster itself was created by Kwentong Bayan Collective, and the GHC has posted an introduction to the poster by Ethel Tungohan. The poster looks at the role that racialized domestic workers have played in Canadian history.
- This week on Unwritten Histories we have our monthly review of the latest research coming out of the world of Canadian history. There is some really neat new stuff out about the use of age as a category of analysis, the role of history in court cases involving Indigenous rights, and the experiences of ordinary soldiers in the War of 1812.
- This week on Acadiensis, Carole Watterson Troxler reviews Rebecca Brannon’s From Revolution to Reunion: The Reintegration of the South Carolina Loyalists.
- The University of Toronto Journals blog posted an interview this week with Nicole St-Onge on her latest research into the involvement of Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) men in the fur trade.
- This week on Active History is a blog post by Sarah Carter on “Second Century Week,” a centennial event that took place at the University of Alberta in March of 1967, and has been relatively forgotten until now.
- Over on the Engagement blog, Tara Joly examines how settler colonialism operates in reclamation of the Athabasca region’s oil sands and the tension between “Indigenous and settler space.”
- The Virtual Museum of Canada has just launched a new online exhibit called “Sq’éwlets: A Stó:lō-Coast Salish Community in the Fraser River Valley.” It is absolutely fantastic, beautifully designed, and has tons of resources for learning, including classroom activities. Seriously, don’t miss this.
- There are several new entries that premiered this week from the Canadian Encyclopedia, including:
- This week Krista McCracken has a new post blog about the 4Rs Youth movement, an organization designed to facilitate exchanges between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youths. She discusses their new dialogue framework, released this week, called Seeding Reconciliation On Uneven Ground: The 4Rs Approach to to Cross-Cultural Dialogue. It’s a fantastic framework that I think all educators should read.
- Remember how I mentioned last week that the ROM Blog was doing a series that explored Canada 150 through material objects? The first blog post is out, and looks at the Sarah Savarey Hat Box.
- This week on Histoire Engagée is a blog post by Camille Robert explaining the history of International Women’s Day (or as we call in my household, International Woman of Mystery Day. Don’t ask. 😉 )
- Over at BAnQ’s blog, Instantanés, is a post about Judith Jasmin, whose personal diaries were recently acquired by the archives. Jasmin was a noted reporter in Quebec, and these diaries record her thoughts and experiences from her adolescence.
- In keeping with the theme of IWD, Active History has a new post by Samatha Cutrara about the portrayal (and at times depressing invisibility) of suffragists in Canadian children’s history books.
- Historica Canada released a new Heritage Minute! This latest looks at the Edmonton Grads, a Canadian women’s basketball team that was the most successful sports team in Canadian history.
- Also for IWD, the Canadian Legal History Blog has some reading recommendations for you.
- Krista McCracken also has a new post this week about her work editing Wikipedia, particularly as a form of activism around Indigenous history and representations of women and minorities.
- Retroactive is back with their second infographic on the results from the Archaeological Research Permit Management System. This latest infographic looks at archaeological permit holders.
- Earlier in the week, Matthew Hayday gave a talk on Canada 150, commemoration, and civic engagement.
- This week on NiCHE is a new blog post by Mo Engel, Shannon Stunden Bower, Andrew Tappenden, and William Van Arragon on their HGIS project, “Between the City and the River,” on the history of the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton. It looks absolutely amazing!
- This week on the blog of the Quebec City Archives, they remember a time when the St. Lawrence froze solidly enough that you could walk on it!
- Erika Dyck gave a talk on the history of LSD and LSD experiments in Saskatchewan in the 1950s.
- The Nova Scotia Archives posted this really cool picture of an old stove!
- The ROM also posted a really amazing image, a gorgeous 4-piece wool riding habit from the 19th century.
- Read this blog post by Sarah Shulist on racism, language, and privilege. Or, how not to be a jerk when talking. Like that time when a well-intentioned woman told me that I should use half the embroidery thread recommended in a kit, like she did since she was “such a Jew.” Promptly followed by, “Oh, I hope you’re not Jewish.” That was fun.
- LAC is back with another installment in their Who Do We Think We Are blog series. This week’s guest curator is Isabelle Charron, and she talks about early maps. She also mentions The Red Violin, which is my absolute favourite movie of all time (and no, not just because it is partly set in Montreal. 😛 )
- I’ve mentioned this previously, but Mary Grace Kosta is doing 150 biographies of “Indigenous history makers” leading up to July 1st. She’s created a Storify that allows you to follow along. It is superb, so don’t miss it!
- The finalists for the Canada Prize in the Humanities and Social Sciences have been announced, and the list incudes several historians!
- A new website was launched today, called Waterloo County House of Industry and Refuge. Coming out of Wilfrid Laurier University’s Social Innovation Research Group, the website documents the history of one of Canada’s first poorhouses, Waterloo County House of Industry and Refuge. And I’ll be using this next time I teach post-Confederation history, thank you very much. Can you tell I’m drooling?
- Somehow I missed this last week, but there are two new episodes from the Canadian Centre for the Great War’s podcast, Dear Bessie. Episode 3 focuses on Harry’s enlistment, while episode 4 features his training. Note – Although the blog post is supposed to be about episode 4, the audio is actually for episode 3. I’m not sure what happened, but I’m guessing that this will be corrected soon.
- This week the UBC Digitizer’s blog showcases parts of their UBC Publications collections.
- Also new from the Canadian Centre for the Great War is a blog post about military snipers in WW1.
- The Nova Scotia Archives is asking for your input for their Canada150 exhibition.
- The Laurier Centre has a new blog post by Eric Story looking specifically at the case of WW1 veteran, Private Andrew McGahey. This blog post looks at the debate over McGahey’s eligibility for a pension in compensation for the debilitating injuries he received during the war and the problem of “pre-existing conditions.” I find it interesting that while the article mentions that McGahey was Indigenous, Story does not discuss what role this might have played in efforts to deny him his pension. I would love to hear more about this case.
- LAC has a blog post explaining how they are working to make Government of Canada publications available through the Depository Services Program accessible to the public.
- The Nova Scotia Archives has published a new blog post this week, featuring an interview with Lois Yorke, their recently retired Provincial Archivist.
- This article from The Argus, by Olivia Levesque, looks at the HBC blanket as a symbol of our colonial past. I would also say that it is a symbol of our colonial present.
- The McGill Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections blog has an article about early donor John Robson’s contribution to their collection.
- This week on the Watson is an article about some of the museum collections available on the Queen’s campus.
- The South Peace Regional Archives has a profile of Private William Goldie, who was unfairly labelled a deserter in WW1 for falling into a lake. According to my family legend, my Great-Uncle Joe was training aboard a ship during WW2, when he fell off. His comrades tried to throw him one of those ring-shaped life preservers, but it hit him in the head. By the time they pulled him out of the water, he had developed a concussion and pneumonia. He missed the entire war, but still collects a pension. I talked about this for a class project in Grade 3, and the teacher actually called my parents because she thought I made it up. If only…
- The St. Catharines Museum blog has posted another excerpt from an 1859 walking tour of the city.
- The Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at UBC has posted a webcast from the Archives Association of BC. This webcast, titled “Talking with First Nations,” features talks by archivists who work in local First Nations archives and resource centres.
- Christopher Ryan has a cute short blog post about a number of Ontario premiers riding the subway. Apparently the premiers of Ontario used to be called “Prime Minister” for a time.
- The Canadian government has announced the launch of the Federal Science Library, a web portal that allows you to search government science library collections, including historical publications.
- The DCB’s new biography this week is for Raoul Dumouchel, sports aficionado.
- There is a new podcast out looking at the Louis Riel Opera. The latest episode features an interview with Adam Gaudry, talking about Riel himself.
- Also on the St. Catharines Museum blog this week is a behind-the-scenes peak at how museum technicians care for an antique Fire Pumper.
- Eve Lazarus talks with Mark Truelove, the artist behind Canadian Colour, an effort to colourize historic photos. I love these projects.
- Also super cool, especially for those who like sparkly things, this article from the Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor looks at the Bessborough Tiara, purchased by the 9th Earl of Bessborough for his wife upon his appointment as Governor General of Canada in 1931. So shiny….
- Canadian History in the News
- This fascinating article from the Times Colonist is about the importance of family archives.
- You need to read this amazing essay by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein about her experiences being Black in Canada, racism and the Canadian national myth, and the importance of understanding Black history in Canada.
- The Mi’kmaq confederacy has reasserted their claim to PEI. While There have been peace and friendship treaties between the Mi’kmaw and various colonial regimes, they never surrendered their rights to the land.
- The McCord Museum has a new exhibit on Expo 67, and this article from the CBC showcases some of the cool items on display!
- BAnQ Rimouski just received the largest donation in its history, a collection of materials from the Saint-Germain Seminary. This new fonds includes 350 boxes of documents and more than 20,000 photographs.
- Le Devoir also discusses the representation of women on Wikipedia and the DCB’s website. Spoiler alert: it’s depressing.
- Daniel Ross (who just defended his dissertation!) has an article for Spacing this week, looking at Yonge’s street period as “Sin Strip” in the 1970s.
- In 1974, a grenade exploded at a cadet camp barracks in Valcartier. This incident was covered up, and cadets were provided with only limited financial assistance for medical care. This week, the government formally apologized for the unfair treatment of the cadets who were killed or injured and agreed to provide financial compensation.
- Ok, this is kinda funny, but the government is trying to finally appeal a number of “zombie laws,” out-dated legislation that remains on the books. Among those targeted include legislation regarding waterskiing at night and duelling. It’s time to get our your duelling pistols, gentlemen!
- Check out this cool interactive map that shows the differences between Toronto in 1954 and today.
- The Little Shuswap Indian Band in BC has just begun carving its first new canoes in over sixty years.
- I’ve avoided discussing the controversy this week over Lynn Beyak’s idiotic comments, mostly because I refuse to give her any more credence than necessary. But it’s worth checking out this article by Tabatha Southey on the matter, this article by Tim Fontaine, and this 2015 article by Crystal Fraser and Ian Mosby.
- I’ve also been avoiding talking about the train wreck that is Joseph Boyden, for much the same reason, but I would recommend this piece by Shady Hafez, recommended on Chelsea Vowel’s website.
- Friggin adorable: Amy Milne-Smith at Laurier is having her students use Peeps to depict Victorian crimes. OMG, yes! If any of you are fans of Lauren Willig’s Pink Carnation series, you’ve already seen some of the scary amazing things people can do with Peeps…
- These volunteers in New Brunswick are trying to save the province’s traditional hooked rugs.
- While over in Nova Scotia (Cape Breton to be exact), Mike Hartigan is trying to preserve the ancient profession of wheelwright.
- The last Lancaster Bomber in Canada is currently under restoration and is getting a new paint job.
- 50 years ago this week, the Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine tunnel in Montreal opened to traffic.
- Also on the topic of the tunnel is this article talks about how it was built on one of the oldest settler villages on the island of Montreal, Longue-Pointe.
- The Canadian Museum of History just opened their new exhibit on the history of hockey. Check out some of the artefacts on display here.
- A number of lithographs of Vimy and Ypres from a New Brunswick collector will be on display next month in the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC.
- Several roundups ago, I mentioned Adrian Duke’s augmented reality app, Wikiupedia, which to tells Indigenous stories as you walk around Vancouver. Check out this interview that CBC did with him this week. I can’t wait for it to come out.
- So some of you may have heard about the CBC Canada 150 documentary series, Canada: The Story of Us. Like most historians, I’m more than a little skeptical. However, apparently Charlotte Gray and Tim Cook were involved in the production of the show. So I guess we shall see…
- This week on the Historicist, Jamie Bradburn talks about Ted Rogers and Anti-McCarthyist protests at UofT.
- I’m pushing the history label a bit, but check out this CBC article about the closure of the Canadian embassy in Iran back in 2012.
- This week on CBC’s Firsthand is a story about the first reported race riot in North America. This riot took place in Birchtown, Nova Scotia, in 1784.
- The Edmonton Police have been releasing a series of comic books depicting their 125-year history. This latest edition features the first mayor of Edmonton, Matthew McCauley. I’m a little bit uncomfortable with this, since local police forces and the RCMP were played important roles the oppression of Indigenous peoples throughout the prairies, and I’m not sure how this subject is handled in the comic books. So read at your own risk.
- In more super cool app news, check out this article about a new app called ATC Cree, from the Athabasca Tribal Council, designed to help people learn Cree.
- Louis Cornellier at Le Devoir talks about controversies over historical education in Quebec and Canada while reviewing Quel sens pour l’histoire? Analyse et critique du nouveau programme d’histoire du Québec et du Canada, edited by Marc-André Éthier et David Lefrançois.
- This article from Hakai Magazine looks at the debate over the arrival of humans in North America. And don’t forget to review this article from Sarah Shulist about why this debate reinforces settler colonialism by privileging scientific information over Indigenous histories.
- Better Late than Never
- Find out about the history of the Jewish Public Library of Montreal!
- CTV talked with some of the former inhabitants of Africville about the central role that their church played, and what happened when it was demolished.
- Canadian Heritage has revealed the five finalists in the competition to design the new national Memorial to the Victims of Communism. I thought that this had been scrapped, but I guess not.
- Find out about the former Toronto residential neighbourhood of South Parkdale, demolished to make way for the Gardiner Expressway.
- Thanks to my husband again for this one: check out this neat blog post from the Richmond Archives about attempts to develop the area known as Sturgeon Bank.
It seems like the theme this week was online exhibits, which I think is fantastic! As always, I hope you enjoyed this week’s roundup. If you did, please consider sharing this post on the social media platform of your choice. Don’t forget to check back on Tuesday for a new blog post all about Canada 150. See you then!
Leave a Reply