Laura Ishiguro, Nicole Yakashiro and Ayaka Yoshimizu What can one racialized migrant woman’s life teach us about resistance and community-building in today’s context of rising conservatism, nationalism, and securitization? The open educational resource (OER) we’ve created centres on the life of Kiyo Tanaka-Goto, a Japanese woman who lived much of her adult life in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES), especially during the interwar… Read more »
by Jess Wilton Threads of gender dysphoria unite the yellowing pages of adolescent diaries with the smudged print of typewritten letters in the Erica Rutherford fonds at the Prince Edward Island Public Archives. A trans artist who settled on Prince Edward Island (PEI), Rutherford passed away in 2008. She left behind numerous artworks that have been on display at the Venice Biennale as… Read more »
by Meredith J. Batt Atlantic Canadian port cities have some of the most colourful and vibrant queer spaces and stories. Saint John, New Brunswick is no exception. In 2020, the first summer of the pandemic, I celebrated my 25th birthday in Saint John by attending a drag show hosted by Justin TooDeep (portrayed by Alex Saunders) and Saint John’s jewel of… Read more »
The Indigenous and Northern Housing plan within Canada’s current National Housing Strategy is a good start, but it does not go nearly far enough to meet the long-standing housing needs of First Nations communities. With the new Liberal platform prioritizing the rapid development of affordable and sustainable homes, Prime Minister Mark Carney has a chance to begin remedying some of the historical and ongoing injustices that First Nations peoples encounter regarding housing on reserves. This can be accomplished by integrating the AFN’s proposal into the National Housing Strategy, providing a streamlined process for First Nations to benefit, and working directly with First Nations to meet the specific needs of each community, steering clear of the paternalistic dynamics that have largely fueled the housing crisis experienced by First Nations communities throughout Canada.
A Conversation with Sarah Worthman Sarah Worthman is executive director of the NL Queer Research Initiative (NLQRI), a social science research collective based out of Newfoundland and Labrador. In February 2025, she sat down to talk with series editor Jess Wilton about her work on queer history in the province. Jess Wilton: What type of work do you do at the NLQRI? Sarah… Read more »
June Chow The right to know through Canada’s Access to Information Act and the right to personal privacy under the Privacy Act hang in perpetual balance at our national archives. In 2021, an ATIP request submitted to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) sought to open a set of historical government records that remained Restricted within its Chinese Immigration records series, namely, C.I. 44 forms and… Read more »
by Meredith J Batt and Jess Wilton The queer history of Atlantic Canada is embedded in the region’s landscape and its people. As we guide you across the region exploring some queer nooks and crannies along the way, we will introduce you to the way queer pasts, presents, and futures collide and overlap. It’s spring and we begin in Northern… Read more »
by Jess Wilton Cradled by the Atlantic Ocean, the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island (PEI), and Newfoundland and Labrador occupy a unique place in queer and Canadian history. “Queering Atlantic Canada: Stories, Histories, and Archives of Atlantic Canada” is an ActiveHistory.ca series guest edited by Jess Wilton. Over the next year, this series will offer an introduction to the work… Read more »
https://media.rss.com/whatsoldisnews/2024_11_21_18_13_38_2ebd34b5-ffb5-4e95-9f8b-7641b4bf0779.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham This week I talk with Cristina Vatulescu, author of Reading the Archival Revolution: Declassified Stories and Their Challenges. We talk about the Soviet archives that have been declassified over the past 20 years, how to approach newly available material, and how trustworthy the Soviet documents can be. We also discuss the individuals… Read more »
Active History is on its annual August hiatus. In honour of syllabus-writing season, we are reposting a selection of teaching-related articles from the past year. Today’s repost features Melissa J. Nelson and Natasha Henry-Dixon’s article of 22 February 2024. While you’re here, we also invite you complete our survey. This is the final instalment in a three-part series on the… Read more »
