People in a yellow and red ride at La Ronde at Expo 67. May 1967. Library and Archives Canada.
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Tag: family history (Page 3 of 5)
Woman with her child and husky pups, Killiniq, Nunavut. July 24-August 9, 1960. Rosemary Gilliat Eaton / Library and Archives Canada / e010835964 ; Restrictions on use: Nil
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Are you ready for a mega-roundup? We’ve divided this roundup into weeks, each with its own section.
A young boy holding lollipop. Gar Lunney. April 1961. Library and Archives Canada. Copyright: Expired
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Woman using machinery to bind a book, Industrial School for the Deaf. 1961. Chris Lund. Library and Archives Canada 4301545. Copyright: Expired
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Special thanks to Shannon Stettner for her help with this piece.
If you’ve spent any time either watching television or on social media in the past few months, there is a high likelihood that you’ve run into a commercial, blog post, or Youtube video featuring DNA ancestry tests. Companies like Ancestry.com and 23andMe have been pushing these tests as important ways to find out about your family history. Which sounds pretty cool. However, much like Canada150, many historians find themselves incredibly frustrated by the increasing popularity of these tests. I can neither confirm nor deny that some yell incomprehensibly at the television screen whenever one of the Ancestry.com commercials comes on. Now, there are numerous articles out there explaining the scientific limitations of these tests. For instance, this recent piece on Gizmondo talks about how the results of these tests aren’t always reliable, due to the limited availability of comparative data, which alleles are being used to access ancestry, and just plain error. However, there haven’t really been any detailed discussions about the limitations of these tests from a historical perspective. So, in today’s blog post, I’m going to talk about exactly that, with a particular focus on the complicated nature of historical populations, the “science” of race, the role of white privilege, and notions of belonging and community.
Ted Grant. “At Matilda Newman’s Store.” Africville Nova Scotia, c. 1964-1969. Library and Archives Canada / e002283006.
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J.T. Henderson, “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year: Tobogganing.” 1884. Toronto Lithographing Company. Library and Archives Canada, Arch. Ref. No. R11648, album 9, item 34 ; Copyright: Expired.
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Christmas Card. c.1923-1928. This card is part of the Canadian Artists Series by Rous & Mann Ltd. Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1991-12-38 Gift of Joan and W. Ross Murray, Whitby, Ontario. Copyright: Expired.
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Woman canning salmon outdoors. 1947. National Film Board of Canada. Phototheque / Library and Archives Canada / e010948781. Copyright expired. This photograph was probably taken during the production of the National Film Board of Canada’s documentary “Peoples of the Skeena,” which was filmed in 1947 and released in 1949. The caption of this record has not yet been revised through Project Naming.
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Let’s face it, our favourite classes are the ones with movies. If you’re around my age, you remember being excited by the sound of squeaky wheels and rattling, since it usually meant you were watching a movie in class. The same is still true in university, whether you are a student, a TA, or a professor. However, it can be hard to find good films to show in classrooms that are engaging for students, but also historically accurate. A couple of months ago, there was a fascinating discussion on Eryk Martin’s Facebook timeline about recommended films for teaching pre-Confederation Canadian history. So, inspired by that discussion, and with his permission, I have put together a list of recommended films for teaching Canadian history.
This list is broken down into two parts: my personal recommendations, and recommendations from fellow history professors. I would especially like to thank Stephanie Pettigrew, Donica Belisle, Carmen Nielson, Matthew Hayday, Ian Mosby, Adele Perry, Jenny Ellison, Janis Thiessen, Kesia Kvill, Sarah Dowling, and Liz Huntingford for their fantastic suggestions. Also, I have roughly organized the films and videos chronologically. In my recommendations, I have further divided the films and videos from each other, and included some additional ones I would like to show in class, but haven’t yet.
A couple of important notes or warnings: please make sure that when you are showing a feature film in a classroom that you have the appropriate license to do so. In other words, make sure the copy of the film you are screening has been approved for classroom or public screenings. If you are using the film through your institution’s library, you should be fine, but it’s always good to check. Second, as a recent discussion on Twitter initiated by Tina Adcock has shown, content/trigger warnings are important. I have listed the ones that I think are relevant below, but always use caution when screening films to avoid doing harm to your students.
Also, my husband wanted to name this blog post “Class-y” films, but my better sense vetoed. 😉