Category Archives: History Slam

History Slam 183: American Refugees

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/History-Slam-183.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham On January 1, 2015, Rita Shelton Deverell landed at Miami International Airport from Santiago, Chile for what was scheduled to be a brief layover on her way back home to Toronto. When US border agents scanned her passport, they noticed that it listed her birthplace as Houston, Texas. A Canadian citizen… Read more »

History Slam 182: Shelter

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/History-Slam-182-Shelter.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham Shelter has its World Premiere tonight as part of the Toronto Jewish Film Festival. If you’re in Ontario, you can buy tickets to the virtual screening here. In the decade following the Second World War, the population of Toronto doubled, in large part because of a steady influx of immigrants. By… Read more »

History Slam 181: Always Pack a Candle

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/History-Slam-181.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham I’m one who believes that, at its core, history is about storytelling. Historians tell the stories of those who came before – and the best historians do so in a way that is both engaging and meaningful to the audience. For some, that has included telling their own stories and using… Read more »

History Slam 180: Gold Fever & Disaster in the Klondike

https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/History-Slam-180.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham In 1897, as news that gold had been found in the Klondike spread, over 100,000 of people rushed into the region in search of fortune. Unfortunately for many of them, the press typically didn’t highlight the harsh winter conditions in the Klondike, meaning thousands arrived completely unprepared. As the population grew,… Read more »

History Slam 179: Civilians at the Sharp End

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/History-Slam-179.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham Every May, the City of Ottawa hosts the annual Tulip Festival to celebrate the relationships built between Canada and the Netherlands during the Second World War. Following the war, the Dutch Royal Family gifted tulips to Canada as a symbol of friendship, in part to commemorates the birth of Princess Margriet… Read more »

History Slam Episode 178: The People of Social Work

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/History-Slam-178.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham In this episode of the History Slam, I share the second segment of the 5-part documentary series How We Helped: Stories from Eastern Ontario Social Workers. Using first-hand accounts, the episode looks at who becomes a social worker and delves into their stories. From social workers enlisting in the army during… Read more »

History Slam Episode 177: Imagining a New We

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/History-Slam-177.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham Being in Ottawa, there are unique opportunities for engaging with Canada’s past. One of my favourite is to head to Parliament Hill to explore how the federal government has decided to commemorate Canada’s history. The monuments that surround the parliament buildings offer a pretty clear sign of what those in the… Read more »

History Slam Episode 176: The Third Man

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/History-Slam-176.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham The first time I came to Ottawa to do research at Library and Archives Canada, I was walking back to the hotel at the end of the day and decided to stop at Parliament Hill with a specific goal – to find the statue of William Lyon Mackenzie King. I had… Read more »

History Slam Episode 175: The Burden of Gravity

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/History-Slam-175.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham In the 9 years we’ve being doing the History Slam, I’ve constantly been amazed by the variety of ways in which public historians tell the stories of the past. There are so many unique and powerful storytelling techniques that make great use of historical research. One such example is the new… Read more »

History Slam Episode 174: Captain Cook Rediscovered

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/History-Slam-174.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham Captain James Cook sailed with British Royal Navy through the middle of the 18th century, travelling to Newfoundland, where he made detailed maps, before making three trips to the Pacific Ocean. These travels cemented his place in the European historical narrative, as he was the first recorded European to land on… Read more »