Canadian History Roundup – Week of July 31, 2016

Three children diving into outdoor pool (August 1961) Chris Lund. Library and Archives Canada, e010976129 CC by 2.0

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

• Mel Hurtig, creator of the Canadian Encylopedia, died earlier this week.
• Borealia is back from their summer break! Their first post comes from Loren Michael Mortimer, and uses environmental history as a lens to examine the problem of the border and the rights of Indigenous peoples.
• Continuing with their series on « Question sociale et citoyenneté, » Histoire Engagée has a new interview, this time with François Deschamps. Deschamps looks at radical discourse leading up to the Lower Canadian Rebellion.
• There is only one new article this week from Active History. Their latest blog post is a reflection on their WW1 series by editors Sarah Glassford, Christopher Schultz, Nathan Smith, Jonathan Weier.
• The Canadian History Bits blog looks at the work of Norval Morrisseau this week. My husband is a huge fan of his work.
• Veronica Strong-Boag has a follow-up to her previous post on women’s rights and referendums over on BC Studies this week. In honour of BC Day, she looks specifically at referendums in the province during WW1 and the role that suffragists played.
• This week on Unwritten Histories, we have our monthly review of the best new articles. I reviewed the latest issues from Histoire Sociale/Social History and Quebec Studies.
• Chelsey Vowel’s new book has just released in e-book format!
• Sean Kheraj has a new article over at NiCHE. His latest post is a reflection on his experiences at the Canadian History and Environment Summer School (CHESS 2016) conference. The most recent conference took place in southern Alberta where, just last year, the Buffalo Treaty was signed. Don’t miss the amazing 360-degree photos.
• The Council of Haida Nation has a new blog post looking at hereditary leader of the Yáadaas Eagles, Son-I-hat and his family. The article focuses specifically on the longhouse that he built, Náay I’waans, and efforts to restore and preserve the building for future generations.
• It seems to be Anne of Green Gables week over at LAC’s blog. Not only do they talk about the massive Lucy Maud Montgomery collection donated by Ronald I. Cohen, but they also premiered a new podcast episode on Anne and the accompanying photographs on Flickr Commons.
• In honour of the 2016 Rio Olympics, LAC also has a new blog post on the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
• A brand new online exhibit has just opened, Hastings Park 1942, dedicated to portraying the experiences of Japanese-Canadian internees who were housed in the livestock barns there in 1942.
• The Canadian Centre for the Great War has a new blog post out about Victory gardens in Canada during WW1. Though often associated with WW2, Victory gardens were extremely important for supplying Canadian and British soldiers with the food they used to receive before the war through imports.
• Canada’s History Museum is continuing work on its Hall of History. Check out their latest blog post, looking at canots du maître. The canoes are symbolic of a major theme of the exhibit: the relationship between Indigenous peoples and settlers.
• Funke Aladejebi has a new article out in the Education Matters journal, looking at micro-resistance and Black female teachers in Ontario during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.
• And since I missed it last week due to misunderstanding the dates, there is a new issue of the Journal of Canadian Studies!
• Who won Canada’s first modern Olympic gold medal? Chris Bateman talks about runner George Orton who, despite competing as an American, was born in Ontario. He also had a PhD and knew nine languages. Remind me what I’m doing with my life again?
• Canadian History in the News
  • The Maud was lifted from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut on July 30^th!
  • A tree named for a WW1 fighter pilot in Surrey, BC died after living 300 years.
  • Monday was a statutory holiday for most of Canada. This article explains why this holiday is called Emancipation Day in Ontario. The day is also known as Simcoe day, especially in Toronto. Don’t miss Adam Bunch’s Twitter essay that takes a critical look at Simcoe and slavery. In Quebec the day is called August 1^st. 😛
  • A short history of the Gatineau River.
  • The National Post takes a look at the archaeological excavation of Halifax bombers, both planes and soldiers, that flew over Belgium in WW2.
  • Macleans reviews Camelot and Canada, by Asa McKercher.
  • The Ottawa Citizen remembers the five worst bridge disasters in Canadian history.

That’s all for this week! It was rather quiet, hence a shorter than usual list. Don’t forget to check back on Tuesday for a brand new blog post. This month at Unwritten Histories we’re all about back to school. On Tuesday we will tackle the topic of how to write a syllabus for a Canadian history survey classes. You  can help me out by going to this link (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mUeo-uydtGmrE-zH_f-_DYEtjLCvhD6QwFIOvKQG7Vs/edit) and adding your suggestions for recommended readings for Canadian history survey classes. The goal is to create a crowd-sourced master syllabus to help new professors.

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