Free form swimming pool at Rideau Towers luxury apartments overlooking City of Calgary, Alberta. Chris Lund. July 1961. 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
- In the latest post in Borealia and NiCHE’s joint series on early modern environmental history, George William Colpitts examined HBC mapmaker Peter Fidler’s travel journals, agnotology (the non-transfer of knowledge), and double-entry bookkeeping as a way of thinking.
- Last week’s most commonly used words in #envhist, according to Jessica DeWitt, were: “California,” “Grizzly,” and “Bears.”
- The Rhizomes series continued on NiCHE this week with an interview with Jessica Dunkin!
- In the first post in a series of reflections on CHESS 2018, David Moon discussed the parallels between Saskatchewan and Saryarka (in Kazakhstan) Steppes in terms of climate, crops, and peoples.
- Alan MacEachern premiered a new virtual exhibit on the Environment and Society Portal, focusing on the life and career of Mabel “MB” Williams, who played a fundamental role in shaping Canada’s national parks.
- Doug Owram spoke with Peter Shawn Taylor about the history of the federal government’s involvement in mega projects.
Military History
- LAC premiered a new mini-series on Canadian nursing sisters of WW1.
- Dion Georgiou put together a Twitter thread on Kristine Alexander’s recent talk on “Siblings, Courtship, and the Transition to Adulthood during the Great War.” Kristine gave this year’s keynote at the Children’s History Society Conference.
- Get your hankies out for this tear-jerker story about lost love in WW2.
Archaeology
- A group of teenagers from Siksika Nation in Alberta are excavating their own history with the University of Calgary’s Aboriginal Youth Engagement Project.
- Another city that needs an archaeological management plan, as I mentioned last week, is Halifax.
History Education
- You must read this blog post by Tom Peace on why we need to take a continental approach to teaching Canadian history before confederation. I heartily agree.
- The Quebec government will be replacing its grade nine history textbook to include one that includes more Indigenous content. The curriculum, however, will remain the same.
Transnational History
- The latest biography from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography is for Newfoundland fisherman and trader John William Froude.
Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration History
- There was another must-read post from Active History this week. Laura Madokoro reflected on the nature of safety both at the border and within our own communities.
- The British Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada is evicting the North Buxton Community Church congregation. The congregation broke away several years ago, but BMEC owns the property itself and has decided to repurpose it. The building itself has historical connections to the Underground Railroad as well as the Buxton Settlement.
- Three Black professional hockey players from Amherst, Nova Scotia, Bill Riley, Craig Martin, and Mark McFarlane, will be inducted into the Multi-Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame.
- Prominent Black Canadian judge, George Ethelbert Carter, has died.
- There is a growing interest in Acadian genealogy.
- Vanessa Holden reviewed Sharon Block’s new book, Colonial Complexions: Race and Bodies in Eighteenth-Century America for The Junto.
Indigenous History
- This week was National Indigenous Peoples Day. A number of presses put together recommended reading lists, including
- Also, as part of National Indigenous Peoples Day, children all over the country are learning more about residential schools, including:
- Basel Alrashdan, who learned about the IRS system from survivor Charlotte Morris (originally from Lennox Island).
- And the students at Sun Valley School in Winnipeg, who spoke with residential school survivor Theodore Fontain, from Sagkeeng First Nation.
- CBC premiered a new interactive map with the locations of the more than 130 residential schools that operated across the country. However, as Madeleine Redfern pointed out, the map only includes schools that were part of the residential school settlement. Not only does this mean the map is incomplete, but it points to the problem with the failure of the settlement and the TRC to properly address unrecognized residential/day schools.
- Haille Poulette (from Eskasoni First Nation) works as an Indigenous interpretor at Louisbourg. This year, she will be wearing an outfit that would have been worn by an 18thcentury Mi’kmaw woman, created by the Potlotek Women’s Sewing Club (Gwenn Marshall, Denise Doucette, and Noelle Doucette).
- An unknown person dropped off a box containing human remains and Inuit artifacts at the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami in Ottawa. While likely (hopefully?) well-intentioned, human remains hold deep spiritual significance for the Inuit, and the way they were returned was emotionally traumatic. The note also failed to include any information about where the remains were from, making repatriation difficult. Content warning.
- Regina’s Davin School (named for Nicholas Flood Davin, who played a key role in developing assimilationist policies at residential schools), will be renamed. Its new name has yet to be determined.
- You must check out this new website, Shekon Neechie, featuring Indigenous history produced by Indigenous peoples. It is absolutely fantastic, and I could not recommend it more.
- Find out about the website itself, how it was created, and where the name comes from here.
- Find out about Kim Anderson’s work on the project in particular, here.
- The website also premiered with several existing blog posts, including:
- Winona Wheeler discussing ethics, methodologies, and approaches to Indigenous oral histories.
- Brenda Macdougall on Metis-focused scholarship.
- Paul Seesequasis discussing the development of the Indigenous Archival Photo Project.
- Alan Corbiere reflecting on what Indigenous peoples can learn about matters of identity from Aadizookaanag (sacred stories).
- Kim Anderson profiling the Kika’ige Historical Society, a professional performance art troupe.The troupe was formed by Kim Anderson (Metis, Associate Professor, Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph); Dr. Lianne Leddy (Anishinaabe, Assistant Professor, Indigenous Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University) and Dr. Brittany Luby (Anishinaab(l)e(nd), Assistant Professor, History, University of Guelph). Included are videos of some of their performances.
- Robert Alexander Innes asks historians to critically examine James Daschuk’s argument with respect to Edgar Dewdney’s involvement in the 1880s starvation policy, as well as whether or not Daschuk’s book is actually so original.
- Innes also argues that the starvation policy was an act of genocide, and calls on historians to pick up on the work done by Lou Lockhart, a consultant for Cowessess First Nation, to determine the number of deaths that resulted from the Canadian government’s policy of starvation.
- Finally, Mary Jane Logan McCallum considers archives as places of possibility and contestation for Indigenous researchers, based on her personal experiences.
- Check out this neat conversation, initiated by Adele Perry, on cross-referencing town locations with treaty boundaries. Tyla Betke’s work created such a map in ARC; it is absolutely amazing, and you can see it here.
- LAC also announced the availability of digitized issues of two prominent Indigenous newspapers, Ha-Shilth-Sa and Windspeaker.
- More here.
- Archaeological investigations have begun at the site of the former Muscowequan residential school in Saskatchewan. Community members of Muskowekwan First Nation believe that there is a cemetery on site, with the bodies of 30 to 35 children, and they should be remembered. The community is trying to preserve the building, at the behest of their Elders, since it is the last remaining residential school in Saskatchewan.
- The owner of the land upon which the Battleford Industrial School cemetery sits is uncertain about permitting future visits to the site.
- Indigenous remains that were held by the City of Montreal are being returned to the Mohawk of Kahnawá:ke for reburial. There will also be a new museum and cultural centre in the Old Port featuring the history of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador.
- In a new post for Public Seminar, Robbie Richardson explored eighteenth-century allegorical figures of America in London and the ambiguity of British imperial imagery.
- Bryanna Brown (Inuk) is calling for a statue remembering Shanawdithit, the last survivor of the Beothuk, in St. John’s. This call comes alongside a similar proposal from Christopher Sheppard, who is arguing that a statue of Shanawdithit should replace the existing statue of John Cabot outside Confederation Building. Both are also calling for an end to Discovery Day, and more recognition of the history of Indigenous peoples in the area.
- Do you know the history of T’se’K’wa, formerly known as Charlie Lake Cave?
New France/British North America
- Allan Greer has a new blog post on Active History, arguing that the use of treaties of cessation by British colonizers, starting in New England, was markedly different from those agreements made by French and Spanish colonizers.
- The story behind this mustard pot is so cool.
Political History
- Myra Tawfik continued her look at copyright history with this discussion of tariffs and duties on imported books, particularly French ones, in the mid-nineteenth century.
- Jennifer Bonder looked back at Canadian and American trade relations from the 1860s to the 1930s, and how Canadians have weathered periods of American protectionism.
- Christopher Moore has some thoughts on Patrice Dutil’s recent interview on the Witness to Yesterday podcast.
Social History
- The McGill University Library took a look at the Black Whale Cookbook, a community cookbook that provides a snap shot of life in the Gaspé in the 1930s and 40s.
- While I still think clowns are creepy, this adorable miniature Bergeron Circus Parade is pretty cool.
- This is an interesting take on Group of Seven artist Franklin Carmichael’s untitled portrait of an unnamed Black man. Not really sure what to make of it.
- This summer, Kesia Kvill and I will be running a special mini-series, reviewing each episode of CBC’s new show, Back in Time for Dinner. Check out our review of the first episode here.
The History of Gender and Sexuality
- The federal court has approved a settlement that will compensate members of the military and other agencies who were discriminated against because of their sexual orientation, from the 1940s onwards.While there is financial compensation, there will also be several reconciliation and educational programs that come out as well.
- LAC, the University of Ottawa Library, and the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists Educational and Research Institute launched a new online portal dedicated to Canadian women in STEM. Check the portal itself out here.
- The Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity has launched an initiative to raise money and collect stories for the upcoming LGTBQ+ museum. Find out about the work they’ve been doing in PEI, particularly with gay-rights activists Nola Etkin and Jim Culbert.
- Bill C-66, which will allow Canadians (or their relatives if they have passed away) to apply to erase criminal convictions for buggery, gross indecencies, and anal intercourse, has passed.
- Part of a former centre for the LGTBQ+ community in Toronto, the St. Charles Tavern, has been unveiled during the construction of a new condo building.
Local History
- Heritage Toronto has designated Toronto’s first Industrial Heritage District, Leslieville.
- Chris Ryan is back with his ongoing series on the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton:
- First he posted the report’s financial assessment of the proposed plans.
- Followed by the summary of recommendations, and the complete report itself.
- Finally, the first of more than 50 submissions to the Local Government Review.
- Check out these awesome photographs of Vancouver from the 1950s and 1960s, taken by Fred Herzog.
- This week, Patrick Lacroix examined how Franco-American communities in nineteenth century New England celebrated St. Jean Baptiste. Known in these parts as my birthday.
- Check out these images of the week of June 21st in 1980s Whistler.
- In honour Canada Day, Maclean’s put together a photo essay featuring comparisons of modern and historical images of various Canadian cities.
- This project, featuring songs created from Ottawans’ love stories, is quite lovely.
- While the project to recreate Don and Phyllis Munday’s climb of Mount Waddington, BC’s tallest mountain sounds neat, this article is really problematic. Not only does it credit Munday with “discovering” the mountain, they describe it as the “Mystery Mountain” that was later named Mount Waddington. There is no mention of its original name, and I couldn’t find it anywhere online. However, the mountain lies within the traditional territories of the Xwemalhkwu and Tsilhquot’in peoples.
- LAC celebrated the Outaouais region of Quebec this week. Not only did they post a new Flickr album, and you can see the photos themselves here, but they also put together an accompanying blog post on the history of the region.
- Michael Kluckner has written a special guest post for Eve Lazarus, on Kits Point in the summer of 1923.
- Young historian, Cole Osiwy, is calling on Winnipeg to honour the role that street cars played in its history.
- Heritage Winnipeg revered the Pantages Playhouse Theatre.
Digital and Public History
- Dean Beeby at the CBC says that the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada has unfairly denied Lorne Greene a plaque.
- LAC posted a new Flickr album featuring images of racing. See the photos themselves here.
Doing History
- Gillian Leitch reflects on how archival collections are created, the role of happenstance, and asks anyone with material relating to the Scottish history of Montreal to get in touch with the Archives of the St. Andrew’s Society of Montreal (and with the relevant archives for other subjects.)
- Experts at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick are helping those with photographs and videos damaged by the spring flooding.
- Go behind the scenes of the City of Montreal Archives!
- Many congrats to Krista McCracken on her recent funding news! Also, will you share with us your secrets for successful grant applications?
- This week on Unwritten Histories, we posted a new Historians’ Histories, featuring Andrew Nurse!
- And Stephanie Pettigrew was back this week with a look at July’s upcoming publications in Canadian history.
- While not specifically related to history, you need to check out this important study by Malinda S. Smith, with visual designs by Nancy Bray, on the representations of Indigenous peoples, women, and visible minorities at Canadian universities.
- X-rays are now being used at the University of Western Ontario to restore damaged daguerrotypes. This is so cool.
Miscellaneous
- Check out these neat images documenting the history of Vancouver’s flagship HBC store.
- There is apparently a new documentary coming out on Canadian graphic design in the 1960s and 1970s, and the role it played in shaping national identity.
- Jason Colby spoke with CBC about the changing relationship that people living in what is currently known as British Columbia have had with orcas.
- Fellow history nerd alert: History Bites is now on Youtube! See the videos themselves here, with more to follow!
- The Toronto Public Library took a nostalgic look back at images of typewriters in their collection.
Podcasts
- In the latest episode of the Historical Reminiscents podcast, Krista McCracken discusses slow scholarship.
- In the latest episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Liz Covart spoke with Lisa Brooks about her new book, Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Philip’s War.
- As promised, here is the direct link for Kristine Alexander’s interview on the War and Society podcast. She spoke about letter-writing as an important opening for the study of family in wartime.
- This week on the Witness to Yesterday podcast, Greg Marchildon spoke with Dennis Molinaro about his recent book, Exceptional Law: Section 98 and the Emergency State, 1919-1936.
- There is a brand new podcast from the Juno Beach Centre, called Juno Beach and Beyond: Canada’s Second World War Podcast. There are already two episodes available. The first episode featured Marc Milner, speaking on the involvement of Canadians during the Battle of Normandy, while the second featured Desaree Rosskpf, speaking on how Canadians who fought at Normandy experienced and remembered the battle. There are new episodes every second Wednesday!
Better Late Than Never
- Kevin Plummer put together a really fascinating article on how Vancouverites fought to have baseball games on Sundays in the 1950s. The Lord’s Day Act was still in effect at this time, which prohibited sporting activities from taking place on Sundays.
Calls for Papers
- Histoire Engagée is looking for contributors who would be interested in writing blog posts related to women’s/gender/feminist history.
- The Royal Society of Canada is organizing a conference in 2019 that will celebrate the role that women have played in the creation of Canada. Proposals are due September 1.
That’s it for this week! It was actually rather busy, especially here at Unwritten Histories. In any case, 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 blog post that is sure to make you thirsty. See you then!
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