Canadian History Roundup – Week of October 14, 2018

Young man speaks to two women on the front steps of an old stone building. October 1959. Chris Lund. Credit: 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: “Court,” “Autism,” and “Public.”
• Do you know the history of Toronto’s trees?
• The latest post from NICHE’s Rhizomes series features an interview with Hank Trim, an economist with the Circular Bioeconomy and Supply Chain Economics team at the Canadian Forest Service at Natural Resources Canada.
• The LAC blog profiled the George Ayoub fonds, which contains thousands of photographs of Canadian ships and seaways.

Military History

• The latest entry in Library and Archives Canada’s WW1 Victoria Cross recipients is Private Thomas Ricketts.
• The Canadian War Graves Commission has launched a new online exhibit, “Sharing Our Sorrow,” on the shared grief and remembrance following WW1.
  • Gail Dever has a great summary of the exhibit here, and some of its main themes.
• I really love how the Canadian War Museum shared this comfort package that was sent to soldiers during WW1. One of the most treasured items: KNITTED SOCKS! Ahem. Mr. Unwritten Histories can tell you how wonderful it is to wear hand-knitted socks.
• The fact that the Royal Canadian Mint has a blog was news to me. However, the latest blog post, by Tim Cook, is on symbols of remembrance.

Archaeology

• Find out how archaeologists from Saint Mary’s University are using technology to map the Old Burying Ground in Halifax.
• An ancient Indigenous hunting site that was used continuously for at least 3,000 years has been found in New Brunswick in the area for the proposed Fundy trail Parkway.

History Education

• The latest Dig It column is out, and is by Ryan Dickie on the partnership between Secwepemc Cultural Education Society and Simon Fraser University to make university education more accessible to Indigenous students, particularly around archaeological field schools.
• All educators must read this piece by Maddie Knickerbocker on working to decolonize history education in Canada.
• Also, you should check out the latest entry in the Beyond the Lecture series at Active History. In it, Heather Green discussed how she uses field trips to teach environmental history! And again, the series is still open, so if you’d like to participate, you can go can just email me at unwrittenhistories [at]gmail[dot]com.
• So this past week, the NCPH has been hosting their own Twitter conference, (Re)Active. The conference was organized by Krista McCracken and Jessica Knapp. I’ll talk more about some of the presentations below, but I also want to draw your attention to Jessica Knapp’s awesome presentation on her work with Canada’s History collaboration with Treaty Commissioner Loretta Ross, Cynthia Bird, & Connie Wyatt Anderson to develop three guides to teaching students about Treaties and the Treaty relationship.
• Find out about the recent lecture Inuk educator Angus Andersen gave on Labrador Inuit history, as part of a new project to bring more diverse education to students across the country.
• There is a new book that was launched for children to teach them about Black history in Canada. The book was written by Akilah Newton and Tami Gabay, with research verified by Natasha Henry.
• Akwasi Owusu-Bempah explained how drug legislation in Canada has historically targeted racicalized Canadians. 

Transnational History

• Guy Emerson Mount has written a new review for Black Perspectives reviewing Ana Lucia Araujo’s Reparations for Slavery and the Slave Trade: A Transnational and Comparative History.

Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration History

• Bashir Mohamed has written a new Twitter thread on the KKK in Alberta and the normalization of far-right attitudes.
• Radio Canada’s series “Aujourd’hui l’histoire” has a new episode on the emigration of French Canadians to the United States between 1840 and 1930.
• The latest biography from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography is for lawyer and politician Samuel William Jacobs, one of the first Jews to sit in the House of Commons.
• There are many problems about the traditional narrative of the Underground Railway, including the idea that Canada was always the end point. This article from the National Post shared the history of the Great Dismal Swamp, which was an important refuge and community for African-Americans who were formerly enslaved.

Indigenous History

• The UofA Faculty of Law blog was back with part two of their look of significant court cases on the issue of Aboriginal rights, including:
  • The recent decision on Mikisew Cree First Nation v Canada
  • Behn v Moulton Contracting ltd (collective rights and individuals)
  • R v Sioui (treaties and the Indian Act)
  • R v. Morris (provincial government interference with treaty rights)
  • R v Côté (ancestral practices)
• The Guardian published a piece on how the mercury spill at Grassy Narrows spurred Indigenous activism in Canada, specifically with respect to the Ojibway Warriors Society.
• Evelyn Peters, Matthew Stock, and Adrian Werner published their new book, Rooster Town: The History of an Urban Métis Communitythis week. Find out the role that newspapers played in the demise of Rooster Town. Though I’m not sure why the article started by talking about another book… Also, look out for an upcoming review of the book here on Unwritten Histories!
  • The University of Manitoba also published a profile of Rooster Town!
• There is an ongoing campaign to convince McGill University to change the name of their sports teams (the “Redmen”). As an alumna, I fully support this, and I would encourage you to sign the petition here. At the same time, you should check out this Twitter thread by Allan Downey on the history of universities using “Indian” symbols, images, and mascots.
• The City of Vancouver has returned the Fraser River burial site to Musqueam First Nation.The burial site is part of c̓əsnaʔəm, also known as the Marpole Midden, a historic Musqueam settlement.
• More not-shocking news: a CBC investigation has uncovered how the Oblate religious order covered up the sexual abuse of Innu children in Atikamekw for decades. Content warning.
• Sean Carleton is looking for anyone who has had experience with ensuring that their Independent Assessment Process testimony (from the TRC) will be kept rather than destroyed. INAC is refusing to provide any information on this.
• Do you know about Inuk filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk’s newest film, on the forced displacement of the people of Kivitoo?
• Sarah York-Bertram wrote a special guest post this week, commenting on the recent Mikisew Cree First Nation decision.

New France/British North America

• Rick Laprairie discovered the oldest known reference to Toronto, appearing on a French map from 1678 as “Tarontos Lac.”
• In the ongoing debate about seigneurial systems on Borealia, Allan Greer has replied to last week’s post by Benoît Grenier and Alain Laberge.
  • And Christopher Moore commented on this latest post.
• And, later in the week, Borealia posted the newest post in their series on Cartography and Empire. The post was by Claire Campbell, on how (and why) an American cartographer massaged the actual and figurative border between New England and Nova Scotia.

 Political History

• Ben Gilding has written a guest post for the University of Toronto Press Journals blog about the “notwithstanding clause” and the intentions of the framers.

Social History

• The latest blog post from Instantanés focuses on the weekly comedy sketch tv show, Chez Miville, which ran between 1956 and 1970 on Radio Canada.
• ::insert “boots were made for walking joke” here:: for this new post by the Chilliwack Museum and Archives on the tools of the shoe repair trade.

The History of Gender and Sexuality

• The latest new entry from The Canadian Encyclopedia is for Cairine Wilson, the first woman appointed to the Canadian Senate.
• I highly recommend checking out Anishnaabe activist and writer Naomi Sayers’ piece on The Huffington Post on the erasure of Indigenous women, girls, and two spirit folk’s stories from the historical narrative, particularly around issues of human rights and sex work. Included in the article are discussions of Lizzie Cyr, Tina Fontaine, and Cindy Gladue. Content warning.
• I have really mixed feelings about this next entry. This week Historica Canada released the results of a new poll, testing Canadians’ knowledge of women’s history in Canada. Aside from the problems with the poll, (which Donica Belisle pointed out focuses mostly on the history of white Anglophone women in the 20th century), it was also reported by several news outlets as being a poll assessing Canadians knowledge of “historically significant women.” I could (and likely will) write a whole blog post on what is wrong with this, not the least of which is the way in which a focus on “significant” women tends to reinforce the idea that women only deserve to be remembered for doing something deemed “significant,” which in turn reinforces the idea that women’s history is outside of mainstream Canadian history. However, since this is the roundup, and not a blog post, I’ll just leave it here for now.
• Also, this week was the anniversary of the “Persons Case.” But, rather than link to some article repeating the same old story, you should check out:
  • Chelsea Vowel’s awesome Twitter thread on the how discussions around the Persons Case illustrate how the category of “women” is used to refer to white women only.
  • And Maddie Knickerbocker’s fantastic Twitter thread on the problems with celebrating the Persons Case, and some ideas for much cooler people to celebrate.
• One of the women receiving the Alberta Order of Excellence this week is Rosella Bjornson, who became the first female commercial pilot in Canada in 1973.
• Whistorical is back with part two of their series on women’s history. This week, they profiled Nancy Greene. 
• Marilou Tanguay wrote a new piece for Le Devoir  on their women’s page under the direction of Solange Chalvin. From the beginning of her tenure in 1963, the page become must more explicitly feminist and politicized.

Local History

• The St. Catharines Museum commemorated the 120^thanniversary of the Decew 1 Generating Station.
• Do you know the history of Vancouver’s The Cobalt building?
• Guest writer Sydney Hampshire has written the latest post from Retroactive, on heritage barns in Flagstaff County, Alberta.
• Heritage Winnipeg looked back at the history of the Old Kildonan Church and cemetery, established by the Selkirk settlers.
• The Nova Scotia Museum is celebrating its 150^th anniversary by learning about their first curator David Honeyman. Here’s what they’ve published so far:
  • The introductory post for the series, which they are calling #FindingHoneyman
  • A timeline of his life and career
  • And a look at a geology map by Honeyman.
• Eve Lazarus’ latest blog post is on a fascinating ghost sign on South Granville Street for White’s Grocery.

Digital and Public History

• Ok, how cool is it that Rick Duthie wrote a play as part of his dissertation on the Sudbury mining strikes?
• The Canadian Children’s Museum is undergoing renovations, and is seeking input about what they should include.
• Lauren Markewicz put together a great Twitter thread on the Royal Alberta Museum’s bison displays.
• In the latest post in their ongoing series on web archiving, this week the UBC Digitizer’s Blog explained why web archiving is so important for government information.
• You need to check out Leah Grandy’s latest blog post on Acadiensis, on the New Brunswick Loyalist Journeys project. Sooo cool.
• Christo Aivalis did a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) this week! Check out the discussion here.
• The latest exhibit from the Virtual Museum of Canada is on the Monastery of the Ursulines of Québec City. It includes a 3-D virtual tour!
• They also have a new Community Story on Irvin “Bingo” Hauser, carnival performer.
• As promised, there were two additional NCPH Twitter presentations that are of particular note for Canadian historians.
  • First is Krista McCracken’s wonderful presentation on community-centred Indigenous archives, based on their work with the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre.
    • Krista also collected their presentation here, if you’re not into Twitter.
  • And Lindsay Kernohan also put together a great presentation on why we need to rethink historical plaques, focused on Canadian examples!
• So, as you know, this week pot was legalized in Canada. I think the Royal Ontario Museum wins all the awards for how they celebrated the occasion.
• Renovations are ongoing at Quay Wall at Fortress Louisbourg, so it doesn’t, you know, fall into the ocean.
• A 144-year-old fire truck that may have seen action during the Halifax Explosion has been temporarily returned to Halifax.
• This Magazine did a great profile of the Home Made Visible project.
• Go behind the scenes at the Royal BC Museum!
• Check out this profile of the Waterloo Digital Library newspaper photograph collection from The Waterloo Region Record.

Doing History

• Brian Mulroney felt like he had been snubbed after LAC announced that they were funding research for Paul Martin’s memories, because he did not receive the same offer.
• A wonderful and enormous collection of Vancouver posters has just been donated to the SFU library.
• Check out this really cool interview on Histoire Engagée by Gaëlle Étémé with Gabriella Kinté, on her work as the owner of the Racines Bookstore in Montreal, which highlights literature and art by racialized peoples.
• Stephanie Pettigrew has put together her monthly look at upcoming publications in Canadian history!

Miscellaneous

• Do you ever wonder what happens to all those gifts that are given to various prime ministers?

Podcasts

• In the latest History Slam episode, Sean Graham spoke with Daniel Heidt about the newly released book, Reconsidering Confederation: Canada’s Founding Debates, 1864-1999, out of the Confederation Debates project.
• Check out the latest episode of Krista McCracken’s Historical Reminiscents podcast, on place-based learning. The episode focuses on Krista’s recent experience working with students from Huron University College.
• This week, the Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast focused on the sinking of the SS Princess Sophia, nicknamed as the “unknown Titanic of the West Coast.”
• In the latest episode of the Witness to Yesterday podcast, Patrice Dutil spoke with Xavier Gélinas about the founding of the Parti Québecois.
  • The interview is also available in French here.
• The Museum Chat Live podcast has released their third episode on the fallen workers of the Welland Canal.
• And in the latest Juno Beach and Beyond Podcast, host Alex Fitzgerald-Black discussed the Juno Beach Centre Association Summer Institute.
• The latest episode of The Secret Life of Canada podcast focused on photographer C.D. Hoy of Quesnel, BC.
• Mary Jane Logan McCallum and Adele Perry were interviewed about Structures of Indifference! 
• The latest episode of History Chats featured Erika Lee speaking on “Local, National, and Transnational Histories of Immigration to the America.”

Better Late Than Never

• Last week, Stéphane Lévesque wrote a piece on commemoration and historical consciousness in Canada. Don’t miss Lindsay Gibson’s comment on the piece!

Calls for Papers

• The British Association for Canadian Studies has issued a CFP for their annual 2019 conference. This year’s theme is “The State and Canada.” Proposals are due November 30.
• The University of Ottawa History Graduate Student Association has issued a CFP for the 15^th edition of the Pierre Savard Conference. Proposals are due December 7.
• Active History and the Juno Beach Centre are collaborating on a series for the 75th anniversary of D-Day, which will next year. They are seeking blog posts to be part of the series. For more information on the series and how to submit, go here.

It’s a bit on the longer side, but it’s been a great week for Canadian history! 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 for a look at my favourite scholarly articles published in September 2018! See you then!

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