Paul Louch, “Bermuda – Trans-Canada Airlines,” 1958. Library and Archives Canada, R1300-1135. 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.
- Check out this super cool church bell inside a wooden case.
- This week’s most used words in articles on #envhist, according to Jessica DeWitt are: “environment,” “climate,” and “students.”
- So remember how last week I mentioned that Krista McCracken was live-tweeting from the Archives Association of Ontario Conference? Well, the Archives Association of Ontario has created a lovely storify of all of the conference’s tweets!
- LAC posted a series of new blog posts all on the subject of WW1 this week, including
- The Ontario government is starting their own Open Textbooks initiative.
- This week, Instantanés featured a lovely little letter from a father to his son about one whale that seemed to be following his ship. The letter was written by Olivar Asseling, while deployed to the West Indies in WW1, and is signed, “Ton papa qui t’aime beaucoup parce qu’il t’a vu pleurer sur le quai quand le bateau a démarré.” (From your daddy, who loves you so much because he saw you crying as we sailed away.) I’m not crying, that’s just dust in my eyes.
- NiCHE has translated another post into French! This latest is of Josh MacFayden’s post, “Teaching Historical GIS and Restoring Lost Communities in the Classroom.”
- The Archives of Ontario are searching for information about employees of Eaton’s who served in WW1.
- Elliot Hanowski has a new post on Active History this week all about atheism among soldiers in WW1. While we tend to think of people in history being much more religious than we are today, this was not necessarily the case.
- LAC also explored the efforts on the part of the Canadian government to attract new immigrants to settle the West. One of their most frequent claims: gorgeous weather! ROFL
- The Anthropology department at UVic has been producing a really neat new podcast! The latest episode, which just came out, features Katherine Cook, where she talks about activism and research.
- Alexandra Montgomery has written the latest blog post from the Wilson Institute’s blog, Beyond Borders. The post explores why Nova Scotia remained a British colony, despite its strong ties to New England, through an examination of one individual, Alexander McNutt.
- Remember the “Voyages Database,” which is an open-access database of slave ships, trading routes, traders, owners, and enslaved peoples? They’ve just added some new animations and are also now allowing visitors to add data to the site. I can’t tell you enough about how amazing this resource is.
- In honour of the 50th anniversary of Epo 67, McGill-Queen’s University Press has put together a short list of recommended readings!
- Do you remember how, a couple of months ago, UofA’s Faculty of Native Studies hosted a two day conference on the Daniels decisions? Well, they’ve made videos of the panels available for anyone to watch! This is so exciting!
- Ian Mosby has posted a couple of really great Twitter essays this week about the insidious effects of colonialism
- First is one that shows how, in 1964, a physician gave two entirely different recommendations regarding water use for a settler village and a neighbouring reserve.
- And the second is about relocation recommendations in advance of the Centennial.
- If you weren’t lucky enough to attend the BC Studies conference this past week, worry not! Thanks to the amazing people who live-tweeted the conference, you can relieve the experience using the hashtags #unsettleBC and #BCstudies2017. If you want me to make a Storify for the conference, please let me know in the comments below!
- You can also watch a recording of the special session, “Implementing Arthur Manuel’s Vision.”
- This week on the Ben Franklin’s World Podcast, Liz Covart spoke with Coll Thrush about his latest book, Indigenous London: Native Travelers at the Heart of Empire.
- The Bata Shoe Museum posted these lovely booties from the Cowichan peoples.
- Apparently I don’t know my alphabet, because the next provincial/territorial album LAC released is for the Northwest Territories. Oops… Check out the pictures here.
- The Graphic History Collective has launched the 5th poster in its Remember|Resist|Redraw series! This latest, entitled “Twelve Thousand Moons,” features artwork by Angela Sterritt and text by Erica Violet Lee. It tells the story of the “Dance of Decolonial Love.”
- This week on Unwritten Histories, I posted a piece about the history of lilacs in Canada. The response has been so overwhelming!
- This week on Acadiensis, John Macleod remembered noted genealogist Terry Punch.
- If you follow Krista McCracken on Twitter, and you should, you know that she’s been conferencing for the past couple of weeks. So this week on her blog, she talked about some of her experiences, particularly two walking tours.
- The first was a tour of the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art.
- And the second was a tour of the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives.
- Claire Campbell has posted an update regarding her earlier post on NiCHE about using the Berger Report in the classroom. Find out about what worked and what didn’t.
- I’ve mentioned the ROM’s project to catalogue and work with their family photographs collections. This week they posted two updates on the project.
- The first, by Maya Wilson-Sanchez, talks about collaborative and interdisciplinary work.
- The second highlights the creative team behind the upcoming exhibit as well as a list of works cited.
- The Canadian Archaeological Association Blog has a new post by Neha Gupta about the prospects of digital archaeology down the road, and the need for meaningful discussions about this subject between archaeologists and Indigenous communities.
- The Oral History Forum has put out a special issue on religion, collective identities, and oral history!
- Kaitlin Wainwright has written a new blog post for Active History on the importance of context with respect to public artwork. While she speaks specifically in reference to the “Fearless Girl” sculpture, she also references debates in Canada about public memorials and art.
- The latest biography from the DCB is of Alexander Dougall Blackader, a noted physician who specialized in children’s health.
- Stephanie Bellissimo, with help from Adam Montgomery, has posted a really neat story about the Steep Rock hoax, about a UFO landing!
- The We Go Home project, from Voice of Witness, focuses on the experiences of Indigenous peoples living on reserves in Canada and the US. In this blog post, the editor of this project, Sara Sinclair, talks about her work on the project, and the importance of creating safe space.
- Retroactive is back this week with a new post about how Alberta’s boreal forest has evolved over the millennia.
- In the latest edition of the ROM’s blog series on Canada 150, Heather Read explores Amos Pewter, an artisanal pewter studio established in Nova Scotia in 1974. The pieces featured in the post are stunning.
- The Two Nerdy History Girls has reposted a neat article about 18th century shortgowns, the kind of clothing worn by working and enslaved women. They show just how much we can learn from looking at clothing.
- Tara Williamson has a great piece examining Canada150 through the trope of the ‘vanishing Indian.’ Her article looks back over 500 years of history, and focuses on efforts to erase Indigenous personhood.
- Jenny Ellison has a wonderful article from the Canadian Museum of History Blog all about hockey fan rituals, particularly the history of octopus-tossing. You can’t make this stuff up folks…
- Ok, maybe it’s not strictly Canadian, but Brock University has organized an authentic chariot race for high school students for the annual Ontario Student Classics Conference. Um, why didn’t we do this when I was in high school? All I got was some space-thing where we were supposed to “help design” modules for the ISS.
- One of my favourite criminal history blogs, Criminal Historian, had a story this week featuring a Canadian seaman! John Metcalfe — the Canadian — was charged with stabbing a telephone operator named Annie Standen in the back, in the UK in 1908. He disputed his arrest, claiming, “they take no notice of doing one or two in my country.” ::raises eyebrow::
- This week on the CCGW is a short guide to patches on the uniforms of Canadian WW1 soldiers. Apparently it was hard to tell people apart when they were all dressed in khaki.
- This week the UBC Digitizer’s blog takes a look at some of the famous people in their collections, like Ada Cavendish and Luther McCarty, neither of whom I had ever heard of before.
- Rhonda Gossen has written the latest blog post for the Canadian Network on Humanitarian History blog, all about the legacy of Canada’s support for gender equality in Pakistan.
- Blair Stein has a really fascinating article about the Canadian climate and Canadian identity, particularly in relation to the aviation industry. It is an absolute delight, and the fact that I laugh whenever people here in the Lower Mainland freak out over winter is totally unrelated. 😉
- Most people don’t realize this, but the city of Richmond, where I live, is actually a series of islands on a sandbar. We’re totally screwed when the big earthquake hits, but it’s really pretty!
- The official Heritage Winnipeg blog looks at efforts to fund a renovation of the Leacock Estate, a heritage home in the city. The goal is to transform the property into a safe environment for girls who are survivors of trauma. The blog post looks at the history of the Leacock Estate, and talks briefly about what kinds of renovations will be made.
- Listen to Matthew Hayday’s talk at about Canada 150 and celebrating Canada, part of the Building Canada Lecture Series, from the University of Guelph and the Guelph Civic Museum.
- Harold Bérubé has put out several blog posts this week about the 375th anniversary of Montreal’s founding. Each one covers that day’s particular celebrations. The new blog posts cover:
- The St. Catharines Museum has posted Walk F from “St. Catharines A-Z,” published in 1856.
- Eve Lazarus explores Vancover’s strange fascination with parking lots.
- This isn’t strictly a blog post, but the Canadian Museum of History has posted a photo of this gorgeous sofa table, which is part of a virtual exhibit on the John and Heather Harbinson Collection of Canadian furniture and decorative arts. See the exhibit here.
- Joseph Gagné talks about the history of dogs during the Seven Years War, in response to that new Pedigree dog commercial. (Check the commercial out here. You really need to see it to believe it.)
- The Canadian Encyclopedia has a new entry this week for Gerturde Guerin, a noted Indigenous rights activist and elected chief of the Musqueam. Which is super cool because I live in Musqueam territory!
- Joanne Hammond also posted a really neat Twitter essay about what archaeologists can learn from studying arrowheads. It’s really quite amazing.
- Canadian History in the News
- Quebec’s ongoing problems with their history curriculum are back in the news again!
- A family bible lost at Ypres was returned this week. An American soldier picked it up and brought it home, and one of his descendants tracked down the original owners, from Quebec.
- A new grocery store owner in Vancouver found a ‘ghost sign’ while renovating! Ghost signs are previously outdoor signs that have been painted on walls for businesses that no longer exist. Many of these walls were incorporated into new buildings, and it was cheaper to just cover them rather than remove them.
- In more WTF is wrong with some people news, a school in Fort Nelson hired two white guys to wear “headdresses” and tell Indigenous stories.
- Shirley Tillotson was interviewed by the CBC about a liquor heist at Halifax City Hall, right after the Halifax Explosion. Dun dun dunnnnn
- Natasha Henry is doing more kick-ass work on teaching teachers how to integrate Black Canadian history into their existing curriculums.
- CTV has a short history of the “notwithstanding clause.”
- The Vancouver Sun has a new article about internment camps for men of German, Austrian, or Ukrainian heritage that were established in BC during WW1. Despite the growing awareness of the Japanese-Canadian internment camps of WW2, few Canadians know anything about the camps from WW1.
- There is a new exhibit going on at UofT on the history of treaties in Canada.
- As part of the new exhibit, organizers have also produced treaty maps that are free to download. These would be fantastic teaching tools!
- Catherine Carstairs spoke with the CBC this week about why marijuana was made illegal in Canada in the first place. Turns out that it is something of a mystery…
- Because apparently Joanne Hammond isn’t doing enough, she’s also helped to establish a new column for Kamloops This Week , called “Dig It” that looks at local history.
- The Canadian Museum of Human Rights has announced the winners in its photography exhibit for Canada150.
- There is another photography mystery in need of solving! Who is this man and where is he?
- This year is the 25th anniversary of the Yonge Street Riot.
- Simon Black is releasing a documentary to coincide with this anniversary, that explores anti-Black violence in both the past and the present;
- He also wrote a piece on the Riot for Now Toronto;
- And Shree Paradkar discusses the new documentary while also exploring the following question: ‘Was the Yonge Street Riot a riot or an uprising?’
- This past week, students from five Toronto schools gathered together at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto to talk about how to integrate Indigenous culture into their classrooms. This is so fantastic!
- Mark Blackburn has an update on three men — Peter Ittinuar, Zebedee Nungak, and Eric Tagoona — who are fighting for recognition and reconciliation after being forced to participate in psychological experiments as children in the 1960s, part of what was called “The Eskimo Experiment.”
- The BS from the discovery of the HMS Erebus lives on…. 3 years later, and the Canadian government is still negotiating with the British government for the transfer of ownership. Meanwhile, artefacts from the ship are currently being sent to the UK for their first exhibition, and the exhibit is being paid for entirely by the Canadian Museum of History.
- Sophia Reuss has a new article for Richochet about the important work that cultural institutions, like museums and archives, should be doing in response to the TRC’s Calls to Action. The article features an interview with Krista McCracken and Jessie Thistle. This is a must-read.
- Janet Rogers(Mohawk/Tuscarora) revisits Chief Dan George’s “Lament for Confederation,” to see what’s changed. TL;DR, not much.
- Anthony Morgan has another great, new piece on the anniversary of the Charter, and about how it fails to protect Black Canadians, particularly in the areas of law-enforcement and justice.
- A scholarship has just been created to honour the first Black police officer in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
- A new totem pole, carved by Charles Joseph, has just been raised outside of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts to serve as a reminder of the legacy of residential schools. For those of us who aren’t in Montreal right now, the article also includes a detailed image and an explanation of some of the symbolism.
- Some cool archaeological finds have emerged during the construction of a new building in Halifax. The old boot is my favourite.
- The ROM exhibit I mentioned above on family photographs, called “The Family Camera Project,” has just opened! Find out more about the exhibit and about how you can participate here.
- Salon.com takes a look at the history of Black baseball players in Canada.
- An official sponsor has been found for the new HMCS ship, Margaret Brooke, the first one named after a living Canadian woman. Margaret Brook was a nursing sister who was decorated for gallantry for her service in WW2.
- Mona Parsons is being honoured with a status in Wolfsville, Nova Scotia, where she lived until her death in 1976.
- Look! It’s adorable baby historians!
- Better Late than Never
- Buzzfeed has a great article from Corey Mintz around the relationship between food and colonization in Canadian history.
- The CBC remembers what it was like to teach students about AIDS back in 1987.
- Michael Pagliaro has donated his personal archives to Library and Archives Canada.
- Calls for Papers
- Histoire Sociale has put out a call for a special issue on the relationship between slavery, memory, and power. The issue is to be edited by Audra Diptee, and the deadline to submit is June 15th, 2017.
- Jennifer Adese, Robert Alexander Innes, and Zoe S. Todd are seeking proposals for an edited collection that explores the term “Indigenous Celebrity.” Abstracts are due on July 1st, 2017.
- AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples has put out a call for papers for a special issue on Adoption and Indigenous Citizenship Orders. This special issue will be guest edited by Damien Lee and Kahente Horn-Miller. Abstracts are due July 7th, 2017.
- Ezra Winton and Dana Claxton are seeking chapter proposals for a new edited collection called Insiders/Outsiders: The Cultural Politics and Ethics of Indigenous Representation and Participation in Canada’s Media Arts. Proposals are due May 31st, 2017.
That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed our latest 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 special guest post! This should be an interesting week… See you then!
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