The Unwritten Rules of History
Welcome back to our monthly series, “Upcoming Publications in Canadian History,” where I’ve compiled information on all the upcoming releases for the following month in the field of Canadian history from every Canadian academic press, all in one place. This includes releases in both English and French. To see last month’s releases, click here.
Because, let’s face it – who has time to catch up on all the journal articles published in Canadian history?
Welcome back to the Best New Articles series, where each month, I post a list of my favourite new articles! Don’t forget to also check out my favourites from previous months, which you can access by clicking here.
This month I read articles from:
Here are my favourites:
Exposition annuelle du printemps du Jardin botanique, intitulée “Harmonie et fleurs de Suisse”. (Annual spring expo at the botanical gardens,, entitled ‘Harmony and The Flowers of Switzerland.’)– Avril-Mai 1966. VM94-Ad-057-004. Archives de la Ville de Montréal. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
The latest in blog posts, news, and podcasts from the world of Canadian history.
I’m really excited to announce that NOTCHES: (re)marks on the history of sexuality has just published a new blog post written by yours truly! The post is based on my own research, so if you’ve been curious about what kind of work I do when I’m not writing here, check it out! Here’s a short preview:
In 1965, a Jewish couple living in Venezuela contacted the Jewish Child Welfare Bureau (JCWB) of Montreal and asked about the possibility of adopting a Jewish child. The JCWB declined their request and told them that due to the small number of Jewish children eligible for adoption, they only placed children with permanent residents of the city. They tried to entice the Venezuelan couple to adopt children that were harder to place: mixed-race children born to white Jewish mothers and Black Canadian fathers.
Montreal’s Jewish Child Welfare Bureau reflected the widely held view in Jewish communities that reproductive intra-faith sex was vital to shoring up racial-religious boundaries and to reproducing Jewish religion and ethnicity. Indeed, Jewish institutions such as the JCWB regulated reproduction and reproductive outcomes, including adoption, in order to construct and preserve Jewish identity in interracial and interethnic contexts.
Check out the rest here!
I. Padraic Ryan, “The headquarters of Library and Archives Canada on Wellington Street in Ottawa, Canada.” CC BY-SA 3.0.
Welcome to back to Unwritten Histories! As promised, this week we have a special guest post by Dennis Molinaro. You may know him better as the Canadian historian who uncovered top secret documents showing that the federal government approved wiretapping on Canadian citizens during the Cold War. Being something of an expert on the subject, he has kindly agreed to provide a short guide to submitting ATI Requests, or “Access to Information” Requests, something all historians should know! Enjoy!
Dennis Molinaro holds a PhD from the University of Toronto and his research focuses on the historical use of emergency powers and their effect on society. He is currently completing a second book on Canada’s role in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance and its covert Cold War wiretapping programs. He teaches at Trent University.
Paul Louch, “Bermuda – Trans-Canada Airlines,” 1958. Library and Archives Canada, R1300-1135. Copyright Expired
The latest in blog posts, news, and podcasts from the world of Canadian history.
[The guest post that was planned for today has been postponed. Instead, here is a meditation on a history that is very personal to me. Special thanks to Pete Anderson for his help in researching this post, and for providing the photograph below.]
Spring is a very special time of year for me. For the most part, this has to do with lilacs, my favourite flowers. When I was a little girl, my elderly neighbour, Mr. Sullivan, had the most amazing lilac bush. He had planted several seedlings together when he first bought the house in the 1950s, so that by the 1980s, they had grown together into this massive tree. Every May, since this was Montreal, the tree would explode into bloom. This was my favourite time of the year, and one I looked forward to for months. The tree was next to my second-story bedroom window, so whenever my window was open, the scent of lilacs permeated my room. Mr. Sullivan would also bring over armfuls of lilac flowers for my family, and I always begged to be allowed to put a bouquet of them in my room. Over the years, lilacs have come to represent spring, joy, and wonder for me.
So, when I spotted a blooming lilac bush during a run the other day, I got to wondering about the history of lilacs, particularly in Canada. My husband was dubious; after all, who really cares about the history of a particular flower, even if it is really pretty? But, as I’ve discovered with my research, there is more to this flower than meets the eye.
Germain Beauchamp “Pause crème glacée à l’Expo 67.” 1967. BAnQ Vieux-Montréal P809,S1,DBP054. CC BY-N.C.-N.D. 2.0
The latest in blog posts, news, and podcasts from the world of Canadian history.
Several weeks ago, a new blog started showing up in my social media feeds, A History of the Yukon in 100 Objects. Just FYI, titles like that are catnip for me! After some investigating, I discovered that this project was created by Amanda Graham — a faculty member at Yukon College — for the students enrolled in her course entitled “Northern Studies 200: Research in the North.” The project echoes the BBC and the British Museum’s “A History of the World in 100 Objects,” but reconfigured for a classroom setting. Graham was kind enough to agree to talk to me about this project so that I could in turn share it with you! I’ve talked previously about the importance of active learning in Canadian history, as well as the possibilities of digital history. However, such activities can often seem intimidating, so I hope that this blog post, the result of that conversation, will convince you that they are worthwhile additions to any classroom!
But first, allow me to introduce Amanda Graham!
Amanda Graham, BA, Dipl. NOST MA
Amanda Graham was the first graduate of the college’s Northern Studies program. She joined Yukon College in 1992 as managing editor of The Northern Review, taught northern studies, and served as Chair of Social Sciences and Humanities in the old Arts and Science Division for two terms (1994-1998). In 2004, Graham resigned to coordinate UArctic programs at Yukon College and to teach northern and circumpolar studies and, variously European and Canadian history. She piloted a successful service learning course that linked coursework and reflection to voluteer work with the Arctic Winter Games.
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