Man and woman eating a lobster dinner, Prince Edward Islan. July 1952. G. Blouin. National Film Board of Canada. Still Photography Division. Library and Archives Canada, e010949036. 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
- Last week’s most commonly-used words in #envhist, according to Jessica DeWitt, were: “Les,” “Des,” and “Environmental.”
- LAC’s latest Flickr album is all about lobsters. Yes, I know it’s not a perfect fit with this category, but honestly, where else would I put this? Check out the images themselves here. Also, that’s where this week’s roundup image comes from, in case you can’t tell.
- Patrick Chassé is back with the latest CHESS 2018 reflection on NiCHE. His reflection focuses on the politics of seed saving and his own experiences in Guatemala.
- Welcome to the new editors at NiCHE!
- This week the Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto shared an issue from The Canada Farmer, from their collection, published on April 15, 1869.
Military History
- There were several new entries in LAC’s Victoria Cross series this week, including:
- There were also several pieces on the WW1 offensive whose centenary has recently been commemorated: crossing the Canal du Nord
- Radio Canada looked back at the history of WW1 in Saskatchewan, with three new videos.
- Efforts are ongoing to preserve the RCAF Cold War jet currently located in Calgary, the CF-100 Canuck.
- CBC’s Day 6 profiled Reverend William White, a member of Nova Scotia’s No. 2 Construction Battalion, the first and only all-Black Canadian battalion. White maintained a detailed diary of his experiences, which provides invaluable information for historians.
Archaeology
- This week’s archaeology section is all about the Franklin Expedition!
- Check out the artifacts brought up during this year’s excavation — the first items that are jointly owned by the Canadian government and the Inuit Heritage Trust.
- Russell Potter provided more detail on these discoveries here. Which one is your favourite? I like the pitcher best myself.
- And, somewhat amusingly, another artifact from the expedition was found, but in the Glenbow Museum!
- Check out the artifacts brought up during this year’s excavation — the first items that are jointly owned by the Canadian government and the Inuit Heritage Trust.
History Education
- The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives has made available online teaching materials related to the LGBTQ* history of Ontario!
- This week Active History published my latest blog post, a close look at the recent CAUT report on the working conditions of contract faculty. Included is a list of concrete actions that tenured professors can do to help!
- Edward Thomas is seeking the repeal of a 1918 motion by Queen’s University that barred the admission of Black medical students. While no longer in effect, it is still on the books. Which, quite frankly, is disgusting.
- The Canadian Political Science Association Reconciliation Committee has published a resource guide to aid political science instructors in inserting Indigenous content into their syllabuses. There is much here for historians as well.
- Paige Raibmon has written a must-read piece on The Tyee about early relations between Indigenous and European peoples, and how seemingly neutral language in textbooks can in fact be extremely racist.
- And in related news, the Province of Quebec has spent $1.6 million editing history textbooks to ensure that they use proper Indigenous terms.
- Concerns raised by David Alexander Robertson have prompted Edmonton Public Schools to take down their book review site of “not recommended” books, many of which dealt with Indigenous history. Their excuse: reading certain books would require conversations about the legacy of residential schools.
Transnational History
- Check out the latest digital briefing book and companion blog post, on Canadian reactions to Truman possibly using an atomic weapon in Korea in 1950 and 1951.
Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration History
- Check out this wonderful new project from the University of the Fraser Valley and Ishpreet Ananad, chronicling the history of Punjabi Canadians in BC.
- In response to certain Ontario events that I will not go into, Bashir Mohamed put together a Twitter thread on how J.J. Maloney built the KKK in Alberta.
- Ben Goossen wrote a fabulous post on the complicity of Mennonites in the building of empire, including in Canada.
- Patrick Lacroix makes the case for why Canadians and Americans should care about the history of Franco-Americans.
- The McGill University Library looked back at the history of the Sons of Scotland Benevolent Association, including some items from their collections.
- A graduate student, Wyatt Hirschfeld Shibley, is looking to interview Lebanese Newfoundlanders for a research project on their folklore and ethnic identity.
- A Doukhobor grain elevator has been designated as a Saskatchewan Provincial Heritage Property. Still do not understand the fascination with grain elevators. Can anyone explain this to me?
- Ground has been broken for a new memorial to the Nikkei in Steveston, BC.
- There is a new documentary coming out on Alberta’s Sikh history.
Indigenous History
- So, as many of you already know, an ad ran on Saskatchewan radio this week saying that residential school trauma is a myth. Get all the details here. CW: racist jerks.
- A new website is launching next week showcasing the history of NWT musicians in the 1960s and 1970s. So cool! The website will be called Musicians of the Midnight Sun, and is by Pat Braden.
- I don’t normally include information here about museum exhibits, but this CBC article has some really detailed information about a new exhibit in Comox Valley on the Potlatch ban.
- The Gwich’in Tribal Council has donated more than twenty-five years’ worth of records to the NWT Archives.
- In the latest Beyond the Spectacle blog post, Kate Rennard and Jack Davy explain why Edward Curtis’ photographs should only be displayed when accompanied by a proper context.
- Active History premiered a new series on the Justice for Our Stolen Children camp in Regina. The first post was by Stephanie Danyluk and Katya MacDonald, and focused on legislating Indigenous spaces.
- Sean Carleton commemorated the twenty-ninth anniversary of the Oka conflict at Kanehsatà:ke in this Twitter thread.
- Allan Downey (Dakelh (Nak’azdli Whut’en, Lusilyoo Clan)) was profiled on the McMaster website for his work on Haudenosaunee ironworkers and lacrosse players.
- A new study released by the McMurray Métis shows that Syncrude was actively involved in the eviction of the Moccasin Flats community in the late 1970s.
- The University of Waterloo has just acquired some new Indigenous language historical books.
- You may remember me mentioning in a previous roundup a database of Indigenous athletes, created by Vicky Paraschak, that was in progress. Well, it will soon be available to the public!
- TVO profiled a group of Indigenous liaisons who work with archaeologists to ensure that excavations are properly conducted in accordance with Indigenous beliefs. If only they hadn’t used scare quotes around the word liaisons in the title.
New France/British North America
- This week on Borealia, Allan Greer published a provocatively-titled post, “There was no Seigneurial System.” In it, he argues that the seigneurial system was largely an invention by historians.
- Julia Lewandoski kicked off a new series on Borealia on Cartography and Empire. In this first post, she explored land tenure pluralism in the St. Lawrence River Valley.
- This week on the Atlantic Loyalist Connections blog, Christine Lovelace profiled Nehemiah Beckwith, who was in fact a Planter, not a Loyalist.
- This week on Unwritten Histories, Stephanie Pettigrew published a new entry in our Ordinary Women series, on Jeanne Dugas of Acadie!
Political History
- The latest post from the Canadian Museum of History blog was by Xavier Gélinas, and focused on the life of Quebec premier, Daniel Johnson.
Social History
- Anne-Marie Buisson has written a new post for Histoire Engagée this week, on the history of sign language in Quebec, the difference between American Sign Language and la langue des signes québécoise, and how sign language is related to questions of identity.
- Jeffrey M. Pilcher looked back at the history of the University of Toronto Scarborough’s Culinaria Research Centre, on food studies, history, and culture.
- Did you know that non-Indigenous students also attended residential schools?
- This is a very pretty mustard pot.
- If you need even more evidence about why vaccination is so important, check out what happened before vaccinations were available.
The History of Gender and Sexuality
- Jonathan Petrychyn has written a new blog post for the University of Toronto Press on the history of queer film festivals in Canada.
- The BC Gay and Lesbian Archives collection has been fully processed by the City of Vancouver archives and is now accessible!
Local History
- Amateur and local historians are reinvestigating the 1955 crash of a jet in London, Ontario.
- The latest blog post from the Chilliwack Museum and Archives blog looks at the history of an iconic produce stand, Christine’s Produce Stand.
- The Vancouver As It Was blog looked back at the history of the Park Lane district in Vancouver.
- Heritage Winnipeg looked back at the history of Barber House, located in North Point Douglas.
- Find out which six spots Heritage BC have deemed as “at risk,” including Victoria High School, which I remember well from when I lived in Victoria.
- Whistorical marked fifty years of the Green Chair.
- In part two of her look at the North Shore’s Spirit Trail, Eve Lazarus takes us up from Moodyville to Lonsdale.
Digital and Public History
- The latest blog post from the UBC Digitizer’s blog focused on web archiving at UBC library.
- Find out about this new project from Gilberto Fernandes, “City Builders: A History of Immigrant Construction Workers in Postwar Toronto.” You can see the website itself here.
- We here at Unwritten Histories are big fans of David Frank’s latest post on the Acadiensis blog, about how the Labour History in New Brunswick online project was saved.
- Gabriel Thériault reviewed the first edition of Les Rendez-vous d’histoire de Québec for Histoire Engagée.
- I was really sorry to hear that Julie Payette has announced that she will not be presiding over the 2018 Governor General’s History awards.
Doing History
- Do you know the history of Western University libraries’ founding father?
- The Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives are doing inventory! Check out some of the items they found in the process.
- The latest Instantanés blog post looked back at the earliest forms of photographs.
- Krista McCracken put together a wonderful Twitter thread about archives as spaces for community dialogue and conversation.
- The City of Winnipeg Archives has a new blog! And their first post is about why the archives deserve a better facility.
Miscellaneous
- Did you know that the McIntosh apple is from Canada?
- While not specifically about Canadian history, this is a fantastic video about 1910s clothing, with cool info on knitting history!
Podcasts
- In the latest History Slam podcast, Sean Graham, Aaron Boyes, and Jeremy Garrett play with Canadian history baby names!
- The St. Catharrines Museum Chat Live podcast aired part two of their look at the fallen workers of the Welland Canal.
- There was a new episode from the Nature’s Past podcast, a recording of a panel from the 2018 CHA on “Carbon Democracy and Canadian History.” The panel featured Heather Green, Hereward Longley, Joshua MacFayden, Dan Macfarlane, and Andrew Watson.
- The latest episode from the Witness to Yesterday podcast is all about Donald Creighton.
- Christi Belcourt and Isaac Murdoch, with special guests, recorded a special edition of Sacred Earth talk Radio on Indigenous place names and the erasure of Indigenous histories.
Calls for Papers
- Harold Bérubé, Michele Dagenais, Valérie Poirier, Jean-Christophe Racette and Dan Ross are organizing a symposium on writing urban history, to be held next September in Montreal. They are currently seeking paper proposals, which are due December 15.
This week’s news has left me too worn out to come up with something snappy for my sign off. So I will just say this: take some time for some self-care this week. I know I will. 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 brand new blog post. We’ll be taking a close look at a certain area of Winnipeg. See you then!
Leave a Reply