Toronto’s lack of history, heritage and culture is a myth, but does it thrive in the city’s municipal structure?
Posts under ‘History and Everyday Life’
Contextualizing G20 Policing in Toronto
A brief trip through Toronto’s 20th century past can show us two things: firstly, that police violence and arbitrary use of power has a long history in Toronto. More importantly, however, we see that citizen action can spur meaningful regulatory change. We can do something.
The Moral Economy of the 2010 Toronto G20 Crowd?
A brief discussion of the G20 peaceful protests largely overlooked in the mainstream media, and the relevance of historian E.P. Thompson’s work to our times.
Waving the Flag in Distress
Today is the one-hundred and forty-third anniversary of Canada’s Confederation and the formal birth of the country’s federal political system. And instead of waving the flag in a perfunctory fashion (yes, I know the Queen is visiting), I’d like to wave it in distress over the present dysfunction in our federal politics by briefly singling [...]
International Museum Day at the Canadian Museum of Civilization – May 18th, 2010
Since 1977, International Museum Day has taken place across the world on, or around, the 18th of May. This day is meant raise public awareness towards some of the daily challenges that museums face and allows members of the public a glimpse into the way a museum operates. Each year the International Council of Museums (ICOM) [...]
Giving voice to history
by Laura Madokoro Last week, the first event by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on residential schools was held in Winnipeg. In the same week, British Prime Minister David Cameron issued an apology on behalf of the British government for the “unjustified and unjustifiable” killings of thirteen people in Londonderry, Northern Ireland in 1972 – [...]
The possibilities of digital media and print publication
The use of new digital media in conjunction with conventional print publication is one of the many important contributions that Joy Parr’s recent Sensing Changes: Technologies, Environments, and the Everyday, 1953-2003 (2010, UBC Press) makes to our understanding of the past. The book examines how Canadians living in environments affected by megaprojects built after the [...]
Historical Perspectives on Oil Gushers
This post draws comparisons between the April-May British Petroleum oil crisis and the 1862 oil gushers in Oil Springs, Ontario.
Walking History: Jane’s Walk in Toronto and Vancouver
68 cities recently took part in Jane’s Walk, an annual weekend of free walking tours honouring the vision of urbanist Jane Jacobs. Ordinary people, Jacobs argued, can learn about and improve their surroundings by observing their daily environments at street level. These walks also bring out the histories of place through members of the local [...]
How Useful is the Library of Congress’ Twitter Archive?
On Wednesday 14 April, the United States of America’s Library of Congress (LOC) announced a deal with the popular social networking service, Twitter, to archive all public messages on the site right down to the first “tweet” from @jack (Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder) on 21 March 2006, at 3:50 PM. Response to the news can [...]