Category Archives: Canadian history

The Ninth Floor: Finding Black Power in Montreal

By Camille Robert Translated by Thomas Peace This review originally appeared in French on Artichaut magazine and HistoireEngagee.ca In many way, the image of Montreal in the 1960s is defined by the 1967 World’s Fair. Often celebrated as one of the key moments in the Quiet Revolution, official imagery of the city situated it as a centre-point in a modernized and… Read more »

Virtual Histories of Disability and Assistive Devices

Introduction to the Exhibit by Dominique Marshall on behalf of Carleton University’s Disabilities Research Group Machines of the past hold many of the secrets for designers of future technologies. This is why in the 1960s, a mechanic from Gatineau with 2% vision, personally collected precious old Braille printing machines.  Roland Galarneau laboured in his basement for over a decade, in… Read more »

The Digital Historian Project

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Active History is proud to present a video each week from New Directions in Active History. The conference took place at Huron University College on October 2-4, 2015 and brought together scholars, students, professionals and community members to discuss a wide range of topics pertaining to active history. In this week’s video, Neil Orford, a history teacher in the Upper… Read more »

Black History Education through the Archives of Ontario

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(ActiveHistory is pleased to partner with the Archives of Ontario to present resources for educators on Black history in Ontario) Alison Little As educators continue to build inclusive, diverse, and flexible learning environments for their students, there is an urgent need for resources to support critical engagement with the past. To assist classroom teachers, the Archives of Ontario has online… Read more »

Why Non-Indigenous Canadians Need to Share the Burden of the Residential School System

An earlier version of this post was originally published on 49thShelf.com as part of a special series of essays and book recommendations called Talking History. Follow the link to see the rest of the series and to explore the more than 80,000 Canadian books listed on the site. The author would like to thank Crystal Fraser for her comments and feedback. By… Read more »

Violence in Early Canada

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We are crossposting this essay as part of our partnership with the new early Canadian history blog Borealia. By Elizabeth Mancke & Scott See In the months since the 19 October election, Canadians – from Justin Trudeau to church groups preparing for Syrian refugees – are reasserting one of the most recognizable tropes about Canada, that the country is an international… Read more »

The Future of Public History Programs in North America and Abroad

Active History is proud to present a video each week from New Directions in Active History. The conference took place at Huron University College on October 2-4, 2015 and brought together scholars, students, professionals and community members to discuss a wide range of topics pertaining to active history. Continuing the conversation on the future of Public History programs this week… Read more »

A Century Long Debate over Sexual Education in Ontario

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Michelle Hutchinson Grondin, PhD   On February 23, 2015, Ontario Education Minister Liz Sandals announced revisions to provincial sexual education program, which includes teachers explaining “gender expression” in grade five, masturbation in grade six, the hazards of sexting in grade seven, and same-sex relationships in grade eight. [1] Even though the Ontario curriculum had not been updated since 1998, the… Read more »

Archival Literacy and the Role of Universities in Archival Instruction

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 »

Syrian Refugees Now and South Asian Refugees Then: Marion Dewar and the Legacy of Project 4000

By Deborah Gorham In the biggest refugee crisis in decades, four and a half million Syrians have fled the civil war in their country.   As I write, the refugees from the Syrian civil war have become a continuing media event.   We can see refugees drowning; refugees boarding trains, or being prevented from boarding trains.  We see victims starving in Madaya,… Read more »