Rodeo shot taken at the Calgary Stampede, July, 1960. W. Kirkland. Library and Archives Canada. 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.
Environmental History
- The most commonly-used words in #envhist last week, according to Jessica Dewitt, were: ‘Music,’ ‘Time,’ and ‘Lilac.’ And featured one of my favourite old posts on lilacs!
- I’m kinda obsessed with this blog about BC food history, including their latest post on wild potatoes on Tsilhqot’in First Nation.
- And Jessica DeWitt was back this week with a look at online environmental history pieces worth reading from May and June 2019.
- Climbers found a historical undetonated explosive device while climbing in Jasper National Park. The RCMP believes that it was used for avalanche control, but no date was given for the device besides “back in the day.”
Military History
- The South Peace Regional Archives’ latest soldier spotlight was for Helen Mary “Nellie” Craig, who served in the RCAF in WW2.
- LAC posted part two of their series about records in their collection about D-Day and the Normandy Campaign.
- And on Active History, Caroline D’Amours wrote about the history of the training of the 3rdCanadian Infantry Division for the Normandy Campaign.
- This year, Amherst is marking 100 years since the closure of its POW camp with a new exhibit featuring some of the items belonging to (and made by) some of those prisoners. (Ed. note: Interesting historical fact: Perhaps the most famous prisoner held in the camp was Leon Trotsky.) Content warning: POWs
Archaeology
- Robyn Lacy was back with a look back at week five and six of her work at the Woodland Cemetery.
- Lacy also shared a story about one particular gravestone over on the Woodland Cemetery history blog.
- And Brienna French had another post about their ongoing work, and what happened when they got a backhoe to help.
- Russell Potter continued his series on Beechy Island with a new archival discovery about the actual colour of the headstones on the island.
- Last week Bob Muckle shared some amazing images from the Seymour Valley Field School summer 2019 excavation.
- I seriously have no words about this one. Content warning: settler stupidity, Indigenous ancestors.
- Three years ago, the remains of twenty-one Irish immigrants who died when the ship Carricks wrecked in 1847 were rediscovered. This week, those remains were reburied alongside a new memorial. Content warning: discussion of potato famine, image of a coffin being lowered into the ground.
- Eighty miles of tunnels that were part of the Mascot Mine near Hedley were featured on a new episode of the Youtube series, Exploding Abandoned Mines.
History Education
- Over on the CHA Learning and Teaching blog this week, James Steven Byrne was back with part two of his series on using genre as a teaching tool.
- Karen Dubinsky kicked off a new series on Active History this week about teaching Mary Jane Logan McCallum and Adele Perry’s Structures of Indifference. Dubinsky spoke about her experience using this book in her “Introduction to Canada and the Third World” course.
- Krista McCracken has written a new blog post for ECampusOntario about their recent experience at the CHA and how open educational resources are being developed in the field of Canadian history.
- Over on NiCHE, Arn Keeling posted part 1 of a two-part series on his recent nine-day field school about the history of mining in Labrador Trough.
- This week McMaster hosted a special event on doing history in precarious times for k-12 teachers.
Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration History
- Queen’s University has posthumously awarded a medical degree to Ethelbert Bartholomew, one of the Black medical students who were victims of the ban against Black students. Bartholomew was one of two students who failed to obtain a spot at another medical school.
Indigenous History
- CBC spoke with Elder and Knowledge Keeper Wayne Goodwill, from Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation, about the practice of painting and reading hides and how he is continuing a centuries old tradition.
- The latest blog post on Dibaajimowin shared a story about a day in the life in a Métis hunting camp.
- Six Nations of the Grand River have reconstructed a seventeenth century Iroquoian longhouse, as part of the Kayanase initiative.
- Haida Gwaii Museum has just premiered a new exhibit featuring 1,500 photographs of historic Haida belongings that have been sent or collected from various institutions and organizations by Haida Nation. Curator Jisgan Nika Collison (Haida) spoke with CBC about the exhibit, repatriation, and why it is so emotionally impactful for Haida.
- Grade eight student Jonathan Lavalley (Oneida) is working on a national heritage fair project about the role of Indigenous soldiers in WW1. I love stories like this!
- The RCMP honoured the first Indigenous RCMP officer in Canada, Ed Kelly of Tzeachten Nation, on the sixtieth anniversary of his appointment.
- Chief Red Pheasant’s Treaty Medal has been returned to Red Pheasant Cree Nation 134 years after being stolen. Global News spoke with Chief Clint Wuttunee about the significance of this medal, and the Manitoba Museum helped ensure its return.
- New research from Brittany Barker has shown a clear association of between residential schools and the current overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system. The piece does actually acknowledge that Indigenous communities have understood this for a long time. Content warning: residential schools, intergenerational trauma, substance abuse, child welfare system.
- This week on her blog, Lauren Markewicz shared her copy of Father Albert Lacombe’s Cree-French dictionary, published in 1874.
- This week on the Imperial and Global History blog, Lori Lee Oates discussed the final report from the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls commission, and discussed the problematic media reaction to the word ‘genocide.’ Content warning: discussions of genocide, genocide denial, missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit folks.
New France/British North America
- Samuel Derksen had a new post this week on Borealia featuring a report on his recent experience at the Annual Meeting of the French Colonial History Society, and how early Canadian history as a field can be benefit from being cultivated as a bilingual space.
- Christopher Moore let us know that the Dictionary of Canadian Biography has published a totally new entry for John Franklin.
- Leah Grandy was back with part two of her series on the Atlantic Loyalist Connections about Loyalist history on the ground. This post focused on the Kingston Peninsula.
- Patrick Lacroix called on historians to do more research on the experience of travel among French Canadians and Acadians.
Political History
- Paul R. Wilson published a new piece on the Canadian Baptist Historical Society blog about the need for more research on working-class Canadian Baptists and the relationship between Baptists and the labour movement.
- Moira Dann wrote an op-ed for the Globe and Mail about George Brown’s more progressive policies.
- The 1919 Strike Conference published Jane McAlevey’s keynote speech on contemporary strike organizing and inclusive labour activism.
- Matthew Hayday spoke with the Ottawa Citizen about the history of Canada Day.
- Shirley Tillotson published a new Twitter thread about a disagreement between Hugh Guthrie and Lucien Cannon on franchise qualifications in Quebec in the 1920s.
Social History
- The latest blog post from the UBC Digitizer’s blog showcased images from their collections relating to fishing.
The History of Gender and Sexuality
- Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Victoria put together a Twitter thread featuring items related to LGTBQ2+ history from their collections.
- The City of Vancouver Archives announced that over 5,400 photographs from the BC Gay and Lesbian Archives have now been digitized and are available online.
Local History
- Lorelei Williams (Skatin and Sts’ailes) and Cease Wyss/T’uy’t’tanat (Squamish) spoke with CBC about why the public needs to know the true history of Vancouver’s John “Gassy Jack” Deighton. During his life, Deighton married two Squamish women, including then twelve-year-old Quahail-ya (Madeline Deighton). He was abusive, but Quahail-ya eventually succeeded at escaping him at the age of fifteen. Williams and Wyss/T’uy’t’tanat argue that this story could be a source of strength and inspiration for Indigenous women. Hear Hear. The story also includes a link to an interview with Quahail-ya from the City of Vancouver Archives. (Ed. note: For those of you not familiar with Vancouver, the Gastown neighbourhood, a downtown area popular with tourists and locals alike, is named for “Gassy Jack.”)
- This week Whistorical looked back at the history of the Rainbow Lodge owners, Alex and Myrtle Philip.
- Heritage Winnipeg shared the history of the Vaughan Street Jail.
- Ken Favrholdt wrote a new blog post for Retroactive about the history of the Riplinger Trail in Alberta.
- The Vancouver As It Is blog looked back at the history of the International Harvester complex on Station Street.
- The Journal de Quebec shared ten of the oldest images from BAnQ’s collections.
- Chris Bateman published a new piece for the Globe and Mail on Toronto’s ghost signs.
- The Toronto Public Library shared some of the images from their collection documenting the history of Ontario’s “Cottage Country.”
- Radio-Canada looked back at the history of a very fancy arm chair that is central to the mayors of Quebec City.
Digital and Public History
- Colin Coates announced a new series on Active History about the representation of historians in movies.
- Two duelling pistols have been stolen from Harbour Grace museum.
- A new project to archive the Smoke Signals Radio Show, hosted by Mary Lou (Annishaanbe kew, Batchewana First Nation) and Dan ( Seneca Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy) Smoke, is now underway at Western University.
- BAnQ has announced that it is accelerating its digitization strategy.
- Sean Carleton and David Lester spoke with Sheryl MacKay about the Graphic History Collective and the Graphic history of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.
- Check out this cool new interactive virtual reality experience about Fortress Louisbourg in the eighteenth century.
- Parks Canada is engaging in a totally important, and 100% serious debate about whether climate change is causing erosion and endangering the Abbot Pass Hut National Historic Site. Really?
- Ginger Goodwin’s grave has been vandalized.
- So this happened. SMH.
- Áísínai’pi (Writing-on-Stone) Provincial Park has just been designated Canada’s sixth UNESCO World Heritage Site. Let’s hope they keep it in better condition than Wood Buffalo.
Doing History
- This week on Active History, Daniel Rück and Valerie Deacon looked at the unfortunately long history of genocide denial. Content warning: discussion of genocide; Missing and Murdered Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit Folks; the Holocaust; Nazis.
- LAC has announced that the beta testing period is over for their new Collection Search, and it is now live! It’s so much better…
- Less happy news is that they have reduced their access hours for restricted documents consultation.
- Lisa Mighetto has published the first in a three-part series on NiCHE looking at the trouble with conferences.
- You should also check out this Twitter Thread by Jessica DeWitt about her experience with Twitter conferences.
- BAnQ has announced that it has acquired the archives of photographer Michel Dompierre.
- Everyone needs to read this thread by Sarah Williams, on why all scholars need to engage with decolonial, anti-racist, and anti-sexist praxis.
- This week on Unwritten Histories, we had a special guest post by Kassandra Luciuk about the emotional labour of doing family and community history.
Miscellaneous
- Dimitry Anastakis published an op-ed on Lee Iacocca’s impact on the Canadian auto industry.
- I’m not really sure how to describe this except to say that it’s pretty cool.
Podcasts
- This week on the Maple Stars and Stripes podcast, Sandra Goodwin spoke with Anne Conway, the director of the Museum of Work and Culture in Rhode Island, about the history of the area’s French-Canadian population.
- The latest episode of the Notice History podcast was all about the Gouzenko Affair.
- Last week the Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast looked at the history of the Winnipeg General Strike. I have not listened to this one myself, so approach with caution.
- The Ottawa Jewish Archives just premiered a new podcast called 613Archives, all about the history of the Ottawa Jewish community. The first episode focused on the history of the Adath Jeshurun Synagogue on King Edward Street.
- Eve Lazarus published a new episode of the Blood, Swear, and Fear podcast. This week’s episode focused on the so-called “Shootout at False Creek Flats,” which happened in 1947. Content warning: descriptions of violence, gun violence, policing.
Calls for Papers
- The Ontario Woman’s History Network has published a CFP for their 2019 annual meeting. This year’s focus will be the history of women and health. Proposals are due July 15, 2019.
- The Canadian Science and Technology Historical Association has published a CFP for their upcoming 2019 Biennial Conference. This year’s theme will be: “Diversity and Tension: Science, Technology and Canadian Regionalism in Historical Perspective.” Submissions are due August 2, 2019.
How is it already July? It feels like it was January two minutes ago. Sigh. I hope you enjoyed this week’s Canadian history 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. We’re starting a very special summer series that we’ve been planning for a while! See you then!
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