Krista McCracken In June 2015 following the closing event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada I wrote an Active History post about “The Role of Canada’s Museums and Archives in Reconciliation.” Over a year has passed since the TRC concluded its work and much of what I wrote in that post is still true. I still wholeheartedly agree… Read more »
By Jay Young and Krista McCracken This post comes out of a workshop on “Active Archives” at the New Directions in Active History conference in October 2015 in London, Ontario. Archives, as places of knowledge, sometimes have the reputation of being intimidating for the uninitiated. Outreach activities—from social media engagement to student workshops—help overcome this stereotype, and show that archives… Read more »
by Krista McCracken Discussion around the value of contributing to Wikipedia and its use as a resource has been occurring since the establishment of the collaboratively written encyclopedia in 2001. You don’t have to look very far to find someone decrying the crowdsourced material as rubbish or others proclaiming it as the best thing since sliced bread. In between these… Read more »
by Krista McCracken Archives document people, organizations, and communities from almost all walks of life and are most commonly referred to for their historical value and viewed as repositories of things of intrinsic and lasting historical value. This is also true in the case of literary archives and the personal archives of creative practitioners, but these archives have the added… Read more »
By Krista McCracken Over the past few years one of the many hats I’ve worn at Algoma University has involved providing introduction to archives sessions and educational programming around our archival holdings. This work often leaves me thinking about archival literacy and the skills historians need to be successful at archival research. Archival research is a vital part of historical… Read more »
by Krista McCracken Last week 50 women gathered at a church along the North Shore of Lake Huron to celebrate their shared memories, reminisce over local connections, and reflect on the national Canadian Girls in Training (CGIT) movement. This year marks the 100th anniversary of CGIT. I volunteered during the local anniversary celebration and learned about what CGIT meant for… Read more »
by Krista McCracken There are currently over 800 food banks and 3,000 food programs across Canada. Each month approximately 850,000 people access services provided by food banks. The distribution of food to people in need is not a new occurrence. But the food bank model, as we know it today, was started in the United States in the 1960s by… Read more »
by Krista McCracken The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) held its closing events in Ottawa from May 31 – June 3, 2015. The event included the release of an executive summary of the TRC findings and Calls to Action made by the Commission. The 388 pages of the summary highlight the work of the Commission and the material… Read more »
by Krista McCracken Whitefish Island is tucked in near the northern bank of the St. Mary’s River that runs between Sault Ste Marie Ontario and Sault Ste Marie Michigan. The island is minutes from downtown Sault Ste Marie but is devoid of development and has rural feeling. It is tear shaped, approximately 1 km long, and home to many species… Read more »
By Krista McCracken The Ontario government recently announced significant changes to the health and physical education curriculum in Ontario schools. This revision includes updating the outdated sexual health education curriculum that hasn’t been changed since 1998. The previous curriculum was designed in an era before text messages, smart phones, and the social media. Very similar to the curriculum changes proposed… Read more »
