Engaging Corporate Heritage: Struggling to Cultivate Institutional Memory

Almost everyone has at least one memory of working with a ‘lifer’ or ‘old-timer.’  In some cases these employees have been at the organization since its inception, in other cases they have worked there for their entire career or as long as anyone can remember. The phrase “can remember” is often at the heart of discussions about institutional memory.

The Society of American Archivists’ glossary of archival and records terminology defines institutional memory as:

“The information in records and in individuals’ personal knowledge that provide an understanding of an organization’s or group’s history and culture, especially the stories that explain the reasons behind certain decisions or procedures.”

All too often memories of an organization’s past projects, milestones, and failures are kept only in the minds of employees.  When an employee moves on, retires, or simply ceases to remember, details these memories are lost to the organization.  Without establishing a culture and practices which foster institutional memory the tangible past of an organization can quickly become non-existent.

Continue reading

Ottawa House: Public History and Active History

      No Comments on Ottawa House: Public History and Active History

By Andrew Nurse, Mount Allison University

Ottawa House by the Sea is a museum on the Parrsboro shore in Nova Scotia.  It is anything but polished. Ottawa House is old, at least by Canadian standards, and it did serve as Sir Charles Tupper’s summer home for nearly two decades. But, it is a far cry from the Georgian-styled “mansion” promised on tourist web sites. One could, in fact, argue that Ottawa House epitomizes everything that is wrong with small-town historic houses.

I don’t want to make this argument. Nor do I simply look to contend that local history sites are potential venues for active history. This point is self evident. Instead, this post tries to make the case that Ottawa House is already the site of a very interesting type of active history, even if that history might not be immediately recognizable as such. Continue reading

History vs. Geography and Sourcemap.com

      3 Comments on History vs. Geography and Sourcemap.com

The interactive map above, produced by Leo Bonanni, the CEO of Sourcemap.com, demonstrates the impressive power of geographical analysis in the early 21st century. The map shows the supply chains for a typical laptop computer and provides a fascinating insight into the complicated mix of natural resources and manufacturing labour needed. It raises questions about the environmental and social consequences of the computers that many of us interact with daily.

To what extent has geography emerged as a more powerful tool than history to shed light on the social and environmental consequences of today’s global economic and political systems? Continue reading

Changing the Wheat Board, Part I: The First Time the Conservative Party Eliminated the Canadian Wheat Board

By Sean Kheraj

Reposted from the Otter.

Last November, ahead of the House of Commons vote on the elimination of the Canadian Wheat Board purchasing monopsony, the federal Minister of Agriculture, Gerry Ritz, and his provincial cohorts from Alberta and Saskatchewan held a press conference to celebrate the achievement of the federal Conservative Party’s long-held policy objective. Alberta Agriculture Minister, Evan Berger proudly declared that “I believe we are giving back a property right, a freedom of choice, to farmers who make large investments, who have the wherewithal to sell their grain to whomever, whenever, at what price they see fit.” Continue reading

Changing the Wheat Board, Part II: Understanding the Impending Transformation of the Canadian Wheat Board

By Shannon Stunden Bower.

Reposted from the Otter.

The current iteration of the Canadian Wheat Board was established in 1935, during a period of regional emergency. Prairie farmers struggled amidst the difficult circumstances created by the twin crises of widespread agricultural drought and the Great Depression. The authority of the Wheat Board was expanded during World War II. In 1965, the Board’s governing legislation was amended to remove any time limit, establishing the Wheat Board as a permanent fixture on the Canadian Prairies. Continue reading

Changing the Canadian Wheat Board, Part III: The End of the Wheat Board: What next?

By Merle Massie

Reposted from the Otter.
Wheat. The Golden Crop of the west, what was once the backbone of prairie farms, is facing a new/old future. Perhaps the low-carb diets and labeling of wheat as a potential allergen in food products (bread: may contain wheat!) is tearing into wheat’s popularity and profitability? Not really. World population is growing exponentially, and wheat still packs a commercial punch – it is highly portable, easy to store, and full of potential food energy. Continue reading

Living History at New York’s Tenement Museum

      2 Comments on Living History at New York’s Tenement Museum

By Jay Young

I recently spent an extended weekend in New York City.  Along with the well-known sights, sounds and tastes of the Big Apple, I was excited to visit the Tenement Museum, a restored five-storey building at 97 Orchard Street that educates visitors about life in the Lower East Side during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  The non-profit museum, which also features an exhibit space, connects people to the history of the building through the vibrant stories of immigrants who made the tenement home. Continue reading

Keeping the Peace or Keeping a Myth?

      1 Comment on Keeping the Peace or Keeping a Myth?

By Dan Macfarlane

National Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa

The federal government’s recent initiatives in foreign policy and glorification of Canada’s military past (particularly in light of the bicentennial of the War of 1812) have given rise to plenty of complaints, including suggestions that the country needs to return to its peacekeeping roots. While I agree with many of the criticisms, I am not so sure that the Conservatives are really taking the country in vastly new international and security policy directions.

Unfortunately, Canada does have definite elements of a militaristic and imperialist past. It therefore does a disservice, even if the aims are admirable, to contend that we need to return to our peacekeeping and altruistic glory days. To illustrate, I’m not even going to get into the many conflicts involving Canada prior to 1945, but will engage just Canada’s peacekeeping legacy. This comes out of the so-called “golden age” of Canadian external affairs, the decade or so following the last years of the Second World War. A cottage industry of shibboleths has arisen about this period, and some historians have argued that there is a peacekeeping myth (with Sean Maloney as one of the most prominent).

Continue reading

Thoughts on the Drummond Report

      2 Comments on Thoughts on the Drummond Report

By David Zylberberg, PhD Candidate, Department of History, York University

Last week the Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services, chaired by Don Drummond, released its much anticipated report. Despite the numerous useful suggestions and rethinking of health-care delivery, this report feels like a missed opportunity. Commissions to fundamentally rethink what services governments provide and how they are delivered do not happen every decade. As such, they are unique opportunities to redesign administrative structures and improve services.

The most famous such commission was the Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Social Insurance and Allied Services, commissioned by the British government in 1941 and chaired by William Beveridge. The Beveridge Report was released in December 1942 advocating a comprehensive system of social insurance to protect Britons from want, “disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness” (6).  Its proposals included a national program of Social Insurance to help poor people, a National Health Care System, Old Age Pensions and benefits for disabled people.

This was done in trying circumstances as the report was commissioned a year after Britain had been nearly invaded and while it continued to be at war against a much larger power with only its former colonies as allies. The Committee deliberated while German tanks advanced through the Soviet Union and its final report was presented during the Battle of Stalingrad, a point when the defeat of its main ally seemed likely and its own invasion possible.

The Beveridge Report’s proposals were implemented between 1945 and 1950, a point in which the British government’s fiscal situation was much worse than Ontario’s currently is. The government owed a massive debt to the United States that was incurred to fund the war, required exports to be one-third larger than imports to meet its debt payments and had converted most of its consumer manufacturing to military needs during the war. Given what the Beveridge Report proposed and Atlee government did, Drummond could have proposed more. Continue reading

Outreach and Collections. Encouraging Community Members to Play a Role in Saving History

Unidentified “orphaned” class photo from the author’s collection

By Melissa Mannon

History by its very nature is a collaborative field. Those working in the field aim to tell the stories of communities. We aim to shed light on diverse groups; to find similarities among us; to tell stories that shed light on the constant evolution of civilization. To properly accomplish the work of history, professionals need to actively reach out to members of our communities so that we develop relationships that invite understanding. Those of us who work to maintain the “stuff” of history – the documents, artifacts, and books – need to explain the value of family items to communities and to encourage unofficial family archivists to value history through a personal lens. We do this through effective “outreach.”

The word “outreach” is an umbrella term used to discuss the work library, archives and museum professionals do to encourage community engagement. Outreach can take the forms of programming and exhibits. Or, when people say “outreach” they may mean going outside of their institution to attend a community event in order to get the word out about their work. Outreach can also mean adopting a social media strategy that encourages the public to talk about collections and cultural heritage.

Continue reading