Tag Archives: 20th century

How Can We Reckon with a Future that Never Was

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By Henry Yu On July 1, the “Paper Trail” exhibit curated by Catherine Clement detailing the impacts of the legal Chinese exclusion of Chinese from Canada in 1923, will open at the new Chinese Canadian Museum located in Vancouver Chinatown. Having spent the last seven years of my life helping in some capacity or another to envision, consult, plan and… Read more »

Alberta and Abyssinia

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By David Webster One textbook on Canadian foreign relations sums up the 1930s with the chapter title “Alberta, not Abyssinia.” Canada was more concerned with domestic politics affairs, not overseas crises such as the Italian invasion of Ethiopia (previously called Abyssinia) in 1935. “All these European troubles are not worth the bones of a Toronto grenadier,” in the words of… Read more »

History Slam Episode 170: Being Fat

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/History-Slam-170.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham In 1984, Participaction ran a television commercial telling viewers that “fat is not where it’s at.” Produced long before the “keep fit and have fun’ messages of Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod, the ad has been cited as an example of fat shaming in Canadian culture. Instead of ideas of ‘movement… Read more »

Human Rights, Justice and the 1920 Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World

Laura Madokoro In this tumultuous year, a number of important historical concepts have been at the forefront of debates and discussions about public health, social justice and racial equality. The language of rights has been critical to discussions of individual and collective responsibility in the context of the pandemic (as evidenced in the positions adopted by anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers). The… Read more »

Year in Review (100 Years Later): Winners at War

By Aaron Boyes and Sean Graham Welcome to the First Decennial(?) Year in Review: Winners at War (100 Years Later) bracket. In 2013, we had an idea to do a recap of 1913. The idea came out of our frustration with the annual recap columns that declared winners and losers, often before the year is even over. As historians, we… Read more »

History Slam Episode 111: From Left to Right

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https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/History-Slam-111.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham In this episode of the History Slam, I talk with Brian Thorn about his book From Left to Right: Maternalism and Women’s Political Activism in Postwar Canada. We talk about the book’s origins, the nature of women’s activism on both the left and right of the political spectrum, and the issues… Read more »

History Slam Episode Ninety-Four: Surprising Deaths of the 20th Century

https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/History-Slam-Episode-94-Shocking-Deaths.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham “Let’s not forget why these babies are here…they’re here to replace us. That is what they are doing. They are cute, they are cuddly, they are sweet, and they want you out of the way. Next time you’re around a baby look in those sweet little baby eyes, you’ll see one… Read more »

Chronic Hunger, Chronic Terror: Agrarian Modernization and the Struggle for Sustainability in Guatemala, 1944-1980

Editor’s Note: This was published on the NiCHE website earlier this week and is a part of a monthly series showing the work of the Sustainable Farm Systems project By Patrick Chassé Blessed with plentiful sunshine and rich soils, Guatemala exports large quantities of coffee, bananas, sugar and more to the United States, Canada, and Europe. Our grocery stores are… Read more »