Spring 2014 History Matters lecture series line-up announced

ActiveHistory.ca and the Toronto Public Library are pleased to announce the Spring 2014 History Matters lecture series.

This season’s series focuses on the theme of “Aboriginal Peoples in Canada: Past and Present.” The lectures are part of the TPL’s Thought Exchange programming.

“What Sir John A. Macdonald Thought About ‘Indians’ and Other Courtroom Tales”
William Wicken
Wicken discusses the January 2013 federal court decision regarding non-status and Metis people in which he was an expert witness, and how historical research has shaped current legal and constitutional understanding of Aboriginal peoples’ place in Confederation.
Thursday March 20, 2014
7pm
Dufferin/St. Clair Branch

“Before Ontario: Archaeology and the Province’s First Peoples”
Marit Munson, Susan Jamieson, Anne Keenleyside, Ron Williamson, Kris Nahrgang, Neal Ferris, and Andrew Stewart
Heritage Toronto presents an exploration of the latest archaeological insights into the lives of Indigenous people in Southern Ontario prior to contact with Europeans. Join the editors and some of the contributors to Before Ontario: The Archaeology of a Province (2013) for a panel discussion.
Wednesday April 2, 2014
6:30pm
Toronto Reference Library Atrium

“Hunger, Human Experimentation and the Legacy of Residential Schools”
Ian Mosby
In the 1940s and 1950s Aboriginal people, including children, were the involuntary subjects of biomedical “experiments” conducted by government researchers. Historian Ian Mosby talks about his groundbreaking research into this grim episode in Canada’s past.
Tuesday April 29, 2014
6:30pm
Annette Street Branch

“Remembering Toronto’s Indigenous and Colonial Pasts”
Victoria Freeman
What is the Indigenous and colonial history of the Toronto area and why don’t Torontonians know more about it?
Thursday February 27, 2014
7pm  POSTPONED, NEW DATE TBA
Spadina Road Branch

History Matters started in 2010 as a venue for professional historians and graduate students to present their research to a broader audience outside the university and interact directly with their local communities. Successful series of lectures followed in 2011 and 2013. These lectures are also accessible to the general public as podcasts featured here on ActiveHistory.ca.

We hope to see you there!