Canadian History Roundup – Week of August 14, 2016

A family picnic at Lake Waskesiu, Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan (July 1950), Frank Royal. Canada. National Film Board of Canada. Library and Archives Canada, e010955736 CC BY 2.0

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

• Call for Papers! Peer reviewed anthology: Keepers of the Land: Indigenous Women on the Prairies (19^th century)
  • Do you have a story about Indigenous women on the prairies in the nineteenth century? Is it a personal story based in family history? Do you wish to share a song or tell a story that has been passed down through generations? Or are you an Indigenous scholar writing about women who never made it into colonial sources? Please consider submitting a proposal for an upcoming peer-reviewed anthology. For more info, visit: rhondakronyk.ca
• This is a great infographic on loyalism following the American Revolution.
• August 15^th is the national Acadian holiday! Active History and Acadiensis celebrated the day by co-publishing an article by Anne Marie Lane Jonah about public representations of women’s history in living museums. Don’t forget to check out her full length article on diversity in living museums, profiled in my Best New Articles post from May!
• Have you filled out Adam Gaudry and Danielle Lorenz’s survey on indigenizing the academy? Any instructor who has taught Indigenous content is invited to participate.
• On Unwritten Histories we once again have a roundup of the upcoming academic publications in Canadian history for the month of September. There are some great new books to look forward to! Steve Penfold’s latest looks especially interesting, at least to me!
• Borealia has a new article this week! The latest, by Aaron Willis, looks at the crafting of the Quebec Act. Legislators had to balance the need to establish state authority with the challenge of enforcing state sovereignty.
• NiCHE and Edge Effects are collaborating in a new series, “Seeds: New Research in Environmental History,” which highlights the work of members of the American Society for Environmental History (ASEH) Graduate Student Caucus. The first post, by Elizabeth Anne Cavaliere looks at the use of photographs as historical sources in the field of environmental history. She also highlights one of her many finds, a collection of photographs from the 1901 Royal Tour of Canada.
• Sean Kheraj talks about his experiences using a Chromebook as a historian over the past year.
• Zoe Todd has a beautiful new article on decolonizing Canadian anthropology over on the Savage Minds group blog. She speaks to her own experiences, the death of Colten Boushie, the need for Black, Indigenous, and other racialized scholars to work together, and how classrooms are important sites for decolonization work. She ends her article by saying: “Our job, as I see it, is to tend to the relationships and stories that animate the territories we live in, work in, and dream within. Our job is to birth not only decolonized disciplines, but to lovingly and firmly foster the conditions of a decolonized ethos in all that we do. Our job is to build community.” I think that the same should be true for historians, and if you can only read one article this week, read this one.
• The Journal of Canadian Studies is moving over to the University of Toronto Press Journals division.
• Histoire Engagée has yet another interview from its “Question sociale et citoyenneté” series. This latest offering features Martin Petitclerc, one of the conference organizers.
• A new report is out on sessional faculty in Ontario. Spoiler alert, it’s depressing.
• The Special Collections division of the UVic library has a brand new online exhibition on Victorians in WW1. Gorgeous stuff! And so useful for teaching a class on WW1.
• Library and Archives Canada has just passed the halfway mark for the digitization of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces material!
• Emily Dingwall, also over at LAC, talks us through how to find Government of Canada press releases in their collection from 1945 to 2004.
• Over on the BC Studies Blog, Jonathan Swainger reflects on the relationship between racism and crime by discussing the story of Charles Sagar, a leading figure in the early 20^th century Black theatre in Chicago. Sagar apparently left this life behind and moved to Prince George, where he came under attack by the Prince George Police Commission.
• LAC has also digitized a collection of Canadian comic books featuring Canadian heroes, like Johnny Canuck. Meaghan Scanlon takes us behind the scenes to show us how the digitation process worked.
• The latest Flickr Commons album from LAC is on firefighters! My only complaint: we need more shirtless firefighter photographs! 😉
• Brian Pascas is back at the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies blog with Part 2 of his series on Canadian Victoria Cross recipients.
• Check out this cool extract from a graphic novel project on the Siege of Quebec City in 1759!
• Penny Allen takes us on a tour of Canadian War Memorials in London. I’m a sucker for the memorials to animals.
• Urban Spaces Speak has a new podcast that looks at the urban history of Montreal and lacrosse. The podcast specifically focuses on Avenue Shamrock, which is located in the historically Irish district of Griffintown.
• Unwritten Histories had a second blog post this week! On Friday, I talked about my suggestions for having a great first day of class. These suggestions are great whether this is your first class or your hundredth!
• Academics are needed to end gender-based violence! Donica Belisle, on the CCWH Facebook group, has posted the following notice and is encouraging all academics to participate. The survey is available in both English and French:
  • You may be aware that the Minister of Status of Women and officials have been meeting with academia, civil society, front-line service providers and survivors to hear their perspectives on key issues that can help to inform the development of the Federal Strategy Against Gender-based Violence.
    As part of the engagement process, Canadians are invited to complete an online survey on the SWC website to share their perspectives on gender-based violence.
    Please share this survey (https://ci.legerweb.com/wix/p4479299.aspx…|187) with your networks and help us strengthen the federal government’s approach to preventing and addressing gender-based violence.
    The deadline to complete the survey is close of business on September 1, 2016.
    Comments are also welcomed by email: EndViolence-FinALAViolence@swc-cfc.gc.ca.
• Canadian History in the News
  • There is a debate over the fate of artefacts from the British Methodist Episcopal Church discovered during the excavation of the site of the future Ontario courthouse. The church was established by freed slaves in the 19^th century in a historic Black neighbourhood. Additional finds include the most extensive collection of 19^th footwear ever found in Canada, the foundations of a synagogue, old factories, outhouses, and working-class homes.
  • Indigenous author Carol Daniels has a new book, Bearskin Diary, which features the fictional story of a First Nations journalist who was a victim of the Sixties Scoop.
  • CBC interviewed Bill Waiser on the search for “appropriate” immigrants for the prairies in the early 20^th century.
  • On August 15th, the Federal Government formally apologized for the forced relocation of Manitoba’s Sayisi Dene.
    • This article gives a great overview of the history of the forced relocation of the Sayisi Dene
    • While this article discusses how photography was central to Ottawa’s decision to forcibly relocated the Sayisi Dene.
  • Buchart Gardens in Victoria, BC kicked this couple out for wearing Victorian dress. Check out this Vox article by Adam Prosk and this blog post by Zoe Todd on why this kind of behaviour smacks of privilege.
  • Anyone want to buy a 1960s nuclear bunker outside of Toronto?
  • Indigenous leaders have requested that Justin Trudeau recognize and apologize for the Sixties Scoop. A class-action lawsuit on the Sixties Scoop is scheduled to be heard by the Superior Court of Ontario on August 23th. Manitoba officially apologized last June, and Saskatchewan has indicated that it is planning to issue an apology as well, though the actual apology has been delayed several times.
  • Last week I mentioned that two developers were in the process of creating a history tour app for Vancouver. Edmonton might be next on the list!
  • There is yet another history app launching! This one, called “Tlli7sa,” preserves the well known Shuswap story and features gorgeous illustrations. The app was created by Marianne Ignace, of the First Nations Language Centre at SFU in collaboration with community elders.
  • École des hautes études commerciales de Montréal is a French-language business school that operates out of Montreal. Two professors from the school recently organized a 12-day bike tour of Quebec to learn about the region’s business history. Um, this is so cool.
  • Time Magazine did a short piece on the history of the Northwest Passage in advance of an attempt by a cruise liner to undertake the difficult trip.
  • On Now Toronto, Joseph Fearon, a personal injury lawyer, presents a short history of the history of attempts to legislate marijuana.
  • This year marks the third year that Kwantlen First Nation has hosted a series of walking tours in connection with the Vancouver Port Authority. Tour leaders, including Sesmelot (Fern Gabriel), share the oral traditions of their community through song.
  • A new article in The New Yorker tackles the mythology of the Underground Railroad. Though the article mostly focuses on the US, it does explore the Canadian connection and how the Railroad was more of a fictional fantasy that anything else.
  • An exploration team has uncovered the second oldest confirmed shipwreck in the Great Lakes. The Washington, sank in Lake Ontario in 1803. It seems to be in amazing condition.
  • August 17^th marked the 50^th anniversary of the last show by the Beatles that was performed in Canada.
  • The Guardian continues its profile of lost cities with Cahokia. Though Cahokia was located in the Mississippi Valley, its decline had important repercussions for Indigenous groups throughout the northern part of the North American continent.
  • Check out this amazing footage of Victoria. BC, from 1907!
  • The Georgia Straight has a great interview with Khelsilem, a member of the Squamish Nation who is using Indigenous languages as a tool for decolonization.
  • Forbes magazine talks about the innovative methods being used at Canada’s Music Hall of Fame. Just ignore the comments about Canadian artists that the author “didn’t even realize were Canadian.”
  • The CBC profiles a Regina high school student who won the Beaverbrook Vimy Prize. She was one of 13 selected for a two week education trip to visit important historical sites from WW1 and WW2. The article also talks about what the students did while on their tour, including personalized research into the life of a soldier.
  • The Torontiost takes a closer look at the history of Yorkville’s Riverboat Coffee House, where many Canadian musicians got their start.
  • Canadian Geographic has an article by Aaron Kylie that looks at the maps of Wilfrid Flood. Flood, who worked for Canadian Geographic in the 1930s and 1940s, also worked for the Department of Mines. The Ottawa Art Gallery has recently acquired a collection of his work.
  • In the wake of the recent designation of the Ottawa River as a site of national historic significance (well, the Ontario side anyways), the Ottawa Citizen takes a look at the history of the waterway and its possibilities for the future.
  • This amazing quilt from PEI traces 400 years of a family’s history. I make quilts myself, so I think this is super cool.
  • The Torontoist has reposted a blog post from three years ago by Kevin Plummer looking at one of Canada’s first athletic heroes, Ned Hanlan.
  • Caroline Duncan writes about the oral history project ongoing at the Saanich Archives.
  • Check out some fun facts about the history of the CNE!

That’s all for this week! Don’t forget to check back on Tuesday for a brand new post from Unwritten Histories!

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