Canadian History Roundup – Week of February 25, 2018

Unidentified Girl, Buffalo Narrows, Saskatchewan. Rosemary Gilliat Eaton. March 1955. Library and Archives Canada, e010975246. CC BY 2.0.

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

Missed last week’s roundup? Check it out here.

• This week’s most commonly used words in #envhist, according to Jessica DeWitt were: “Environmental,” “Will,” and “Pipeline.”
• Joanne Hammond was on fire this week:
  • First up was a Twitter essay about the relationship between history education and anti-Indigenous racism.
  • I put together a Twitter memory of some of her great commentary on BC Heritage Week last week.
  • Next she responded to one person’s belief that there is little research on residential schools. Ugh.
  • And she shared one particularly awesome Canadian flag submission from 1964.
• Darryl Leroux put together another Twitter essay on his research into the Eastern “Metis,” and one of their female ancestors that they use to claim indigeneity, Marie-Olivia Sylvestre.
• This week on NiCHE:
  • Mike Commito was featured in their Rhizomes series.
  • Jeremy Caradonna reflected on teaching environmental studies over the past ten years.
  • Jessica DeWitt also published the #ASEH2018 Twitter conference schedule and audience participation guide!
  • And on Twitter, they posted this really cool home movie of a trip from Vancouver to Vancouver Island in 1959, and this film of sugaring off in 1941!
• A busy week as usual on Active History:
  • Valerie Korinek remembered activist and historian Neil Richards, who passed away in January.
  • Matthew A. Sears wrote a must-read blog post on the Spartan tradition in Canada, in relation to the Stanley decision.
  • Samantha Cutrara has reposted an Active History post of hers that originally appeared in 2011, in the hopes of encouraging new discussion around the question: “Who is history education for?”
  • Alban Bargain-Villéger just became my husband’s new favourite historian with a blog post historicizing Black Metal.
• Sarena Johnson and Megan Davies are back with another post on the Toronto Public Library blog about Anishnaabeg stories about Trickster in late winter.
• Do you use HGIS? Then Tom Belton wants to hear from you!
• The field of Quebec Studies is facing severe cut backs. The editors of the Institut D’Hisoire De L’Amérique Française have written an open letter to the Minister of International Relations and the Francophonie in protest.
• Find out about the awesome Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada, soon to be published by Canadian Geographic!
• And in more mapping news, the Canadian-American Centre at the University of Maine has just published a new map called “Coming Home to Indigenous Place Names in Canada,” which asserts Indigenous authority through the use of Indigenous place names.
• Everyone’s favourite Unwritten Histories series was back this week! The latest victim volunteer to be interviewed for Historians’ Histories was Blair Stein!
• Check out this great Twitter essay from Kelsey Leonard about Indigenous artists and/or beaders who are also botanists.
• The latest blog post from the UBC Digitizer’s blog profiles their German Consulate Fonds.
• There is a new Canadian history podcast premiering this week, The ShadeTree Files. Check out their first episode, on the 1927 disappearance of the L’Oiseau Blanc airplane. It does not appear to be on Apple Podcasts yet.
• Michael Saad concludes his series on WW1 veteran Arthur Roy Baxter’s life, over at the Laurier Centre.
• Katrina Ponti has put together a comps reading guide for the field of Early American History. Many of the books are also relevant to those who study British North America and the Atlantic world.
• Lots of new stuff from The Canadian Encyclopedia this week, including:
  • A timeline on LGBTQ2S history in Canada.
  • A new entry on aviation disaster SwissAir Flight 111
  • And a new entry on hockey player, Marie-Philip Poulin.
• This week Laura Ishiguro focused on the politics of Canadian history on Wikipedia.
• And the latest episode of Historical Reminiscents featured advice from Krista McCracken on teaching with Wikipedia!
• Andrew Watson spoke with Hunters Bay Radio about Muskoka history (you can find him around the 1:20 mark, and the 24 minute mark).
• Look, it’s me on Histoire Engagée! Catherine Larochelle and Mathier Arsenault kindly translated my review of John Milloy’s A National Crime into French! Even if you’re already read the original, I highly recommend checking this one out, since Histoire Engagée also included a list of suggested readings in French!
• Check out the Archaeological Survey of Alberta Occasional Paper no. 38, released this week.
• The latest biography from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography is for diabetes researcher, Charles Herbert Best.
• The Champlain Society has released their February Findings/Trouvailles blog post. This post, by Erin Schurrs, focuses on George Easton’s diary of his experience in Upper Canada from 1830 to 1839.
• There is another new-to-me podcast this week, On Air from the Intangible Cultural Heritage Blog. The latest episode is all about the disaster of the S.S. Florizel. It also doesn’t appear to be on Apple Podcasts.
  • This week marks the 100^th anniversary of the sinking of the S.S. Florizel, one of Newfoundland’s worse maritime disasters. Find out more here.
• Danielle Robichaud introduces the new Waterloo Digital Library of digitized primary sources from the University of Waterloo Special Collections and Archives, and the University of Waterloo Archives.
• Jesse Donovan (Métis) has an important critique of the use of the term “Métis” in the Canadian media.
• Read this story from Tyron Cawston (Chief Joseph Nez Perce/Wenatchi) about what his great-great-grandmother had to do to cope with Indian agents in the Allotment Era.
• Heidi Coombs-Thorne has written a new blog post for the Acadiensis blog about the agency of the Southern Inuit of Labrador with respect to medical needs, and how they mediated their relationship with the Grenfell Mission. Who else loves that article by Roy Porter?
• The latest episode of the Witness to Yesterday podcast is about Reconsidering the Legacy of Vimy, featuring an interview with Ian McKay.
• Nolan Reilly reviewed Janis Thiessen’s Not Talking Union: An Oral History of North American Mennonites and Labour for the Oral History Centre blog.
• Julian Peters featured a new section of his graphic novel on the Siege of Quebec, this time focusing on the Massacre at Saint-Joachim.
• This week Instananés goes behind the scenes to show us how they process new fonds, and the challenging process of cataloguing. They use the newly acquired Studio Boudrias fonds as an example.
• Find out about the new digital exhibit from Dalhousie Libraries’ University Archives, documenting 200 years of history at the institution. Check out part 1 and part 2 of the exhibit itself here.
• And in more online exhibit news, check out this new one from the City of Coquitlam, featuring archival scrapbooks.
• Do you know what a bridge tender is/was?
• This week the Canadian Centre for the Great War looks at the origins of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.
• Find out about Inuit whaling traditions both past and present, and the devastating impact that the ban of whaling has had on many communities.
• Whistorical remembers the week of March 1 in years past.
• In Bill Waiser’s latest blog post, he writes about hard Saskatchewan winters.
• The Toronto Railway Museum posted a little Twitter thread about the 1929 CN Mimico Station train robbery!
• In honour of the anniversary of Emily Carr’s death and the upcoming International Women’s Day, Eve Lazarus takes us on a tour of Carr’s James Bay.
• Check out this neat initiative that connects UBC Library’s Open Collections (including historical documents) to interactive maps!
• A new Heritage Minute is coming next week, and it’s for LM Montgomery!
• So the federal budget came down this week, and a lot of people are (rightfully, I think) upset about the funding that was given to the Secret Path foundation.
  • Carey Newman (Half Kwagiulth/Salish, Half Settler) explained the problem succinctly.
  • Aylan Couchie (Anishinaabe from Nippissing First Nation) has a must-read Twitter essay detailing where the money is going, and why this is a problem.
  • Sean Carleton elaborated on Carey Newman’s remarks.
• Black History Month
  • Cheryl Thompson has a wonderful blog post on the history of Black beauty culture in Canada. I cannot wait to read her book!
  • Jamie Bradburn has a must-read article on the last segregated Black school in Ontario, S.S. #11, which only closed in 1965. Although my sense is that there are still schools around the country that are informally segregated.
  • Funke Aladejebi has a must-read blog post on Active History about the political act of “rooting for everybody Black,” disrupting both the myth of Canadian racial equality as well as dominant historical narratives that silence or obscure Black history in Canada, particularly with respect to the issue of education.
  • CBC Radio Ideas interviewed Wendell Nii Laryea Adjetey on his research on government surveillance of Black activists in the 20^th century.  Also featured in the interview are Saje Mathier, Sheldon Taylor, Syrus Marchs Ware, Simone Browne, and Robyn Maynard.
  • Terri Coles has a new article in the Huffington Post about Black Canadian heroes, including Mary Ann Shadd, Harry Jerome, Portia White, Elijah McCoy, Rev. Addie Aylesstock, Lincoln Alexander, Marie-Joseph Angélique, Josiah Henson, and Rosemary Brown.
  • Bashir Mohamed shared these wonderful pictures of Black students at Edmonton public schools from the 1920s and 1930s.
• Canadian History in the News
  • Vimy Ridge is in the news again, as the residents of Glenhurst Avenue in Toronto are trying to restore its 1928 name, Vimy Ridge Avenue. It’s not totally clear why the change happened in the first place.
  • Advances in DNA technology has allowed police to identify a bone fragment as belonging to Mary Rose Keadjuk (Inuk, from Kugluktuk), who disappeared in 1990.
  • Survivors of the Indian Hospitals are remembering their horrific experiences as the lawsuit approaches.
  • One Alberta man is offering to share his land with any Indigenous family that “wants to live a traditional lifestyle.”
    • Sean Carleton offers some important thoughts.
  • I love stories like this: the old pumping station near Jacques Cartier bridge is getting a makeover!
  • Ian Mosby was interviewed by the CBC about his research on the long-term impact of residential schools on the health of survivors!
  • The inventor of the pizza pop (who was from Winnipeg) has died. I think these are like pizza pockets, but I’m not sure…
  • Find out about some of the current and forgotten traditions of UBC graduating classes.
  • The Canadian Museum of History has repatriated ceremonial spoons to the Nisaga’a in time for their lunar new year, Hoobiyee. Yay!
  • The Langevin Bridge signs in Calgary have been removed from the renamed Reconciliation Bridge.
  • CBC looked at the issues of cultural identification that Qualipu Mi’kmaq First Nation, which includes Mi’kmaq from across Newfoundland, is facing. Established in 2011, it has received more than 104,000 applications. The article also looks at the history of the Mi’kmaq in Newfoundland, who were not recognized as First Nations under the Indian Act when Newfoundland joined confederation.
  • THIS magazine reviewed Joan Sangster’s new book, One Hundred Years of Struggle: The History of Women and the Vote.
  • Find out about Royden Loewen’s latest research!
  • Dylan Miner (Wiisaakodewinini (Métis)) was interviewed by Briarpatch about his new work with Jonathan Lockyer and Bryan Palmer, reprinting graphics from the Industrial Workers of the World that date from the beginning of the organization to the end of the 20^th century.
  • There is some confusion about what’s happening to vinyl LPs and CDs at CBC and Radio Canada. Some reports suggested that they are being digitized and destroyed, but they seem to be suggested that they will repurposed? I’ll let you be the judge.
  • Darcy Lindberg (mixed-rooted Nehiyaw (Plains Cree) from Wetaskiwin, Alberta) looks at the history that Indigenous peoples in Canada cannot forget in the wake of the Stanley decision, and calls on all Canadians to join Indigenous peoples in this unforgetting.
  • Help us make Senator Beyak history.
  • I’m so glad to see that Paul Seesequasis’ (Willow Cree, Treaty 6) project of sharing images of Indigenous peoples on social media was profiled in the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix this week.
  • The Thunder Bay Public Library has launched a new website for their WW1 Thunder Bay Centennial Project. Check out the website itself here.
  • The wandering archives of the Greater Victoria school district may have found a home.
  • Find out about the winners of the 34^th annual Yukon Heritage Awards.
  • A father and daughter are teaming up to record and preserve Acadian music.
  • Police are looking for the family of L.B. Middleton, whose stolen WW1 medal were recovered in Medicine Hat.
  • Find out what grade 10 student Madyson Arscott is doing to fight colonialism in schools.
  • Trent University opened the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies this week.
  • Travis Lupick reviewed Robyn Maynard’s Policing Black Lives this week for The Georgia Straight.
  • In this article for The Eyeopener, Lidia Abraha discusses the nearly complete absence of courses on Black Canadian history at Canadian universities. As part of her research, she spoke with Mark Campbell and Charmaine Nelson. This is a significant gap that must be closed!
  • The Vancouver is Awesome online magazine posted an article this week, remembering the construction of the Marpole Bridge, which conncted Vancouver and Richmond.
    • Though as Joanne Hammond noted, “Remembering also that this bridge, and the current Arthur Laing bridge, were built atop the Musqueam ancestral village and burial ground of c̓əsnaʔəm, which was awesome first.”
  • I believe that I mentioned last year that the life-jacket and parachute of a Royal Canadian Navy Liuetenant, Barry Troy, washed up in Florida, sixty years after he went missing. Well, they will be displayed at the Shearwater Aviation Museum in Halifax.
  • You need to read Chris Bateman’s piece for The Globe and Mail, where he was able to find the identity of a little girl in a 1913 image of the Toronto Ward.
  • CBC spoke with Don McNair about the history of Vernon, BC’s WW1 Internment Camp.
  • I love hearing about fun historical discoveries during restorations.
  • Looks like the Canada Science and Technology Museum found at least one buyer for their artifacts.
• Better Late than Never
  • The family of Wifred Boomer Hardin, the University of Windsor history department, the Leddy Library, and the Chatham Sports Hall of Game are receiving an award for their work on the Chatham Coloured All-Stars baseball team online exhibit!
• Calls for Papers
  • The Canadian Studies Network has launched its 2018 prize competitions!
  • The deadline to submit to the Canadian History of Education Association conference has been extended to March 20!

That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed this week’s 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 from the month of February 2018! See you then!

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