Tag Archives: Canadian history

Stepping into the Past: Everyday Places that Awaken the Historical Imagination

As summer days begin to wane, we explore some of the everyday places that challenge us to think more deeply about the past. Got a place to add? Send us a message and we will add it to this post!

Recreation to Re-creation: Restoring Natural Heritage in Public Parks

Growing up in Cambridge next to Soper Park, the park became an extension of my backyard.  I spent many days exploring the park, wading in the creek, catching crayfish and racing home-made boats.  As a child the creek seemed mysterious and ancient.  It was dammed with stone and concrete dams, and walled in with massive stones, broken by sets of… Read more »

Announcements: We Demand Conference and Call for Papers Cultural Histories Conference

We Demand: History/Sex/Activism in Canada Conference is being held August 25-28, 2011 at the Coast Plaza Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia.  On-line registration is available until August 17th, and on-site registration (cash-only) will be available at the conference.  For more information about registration fees as well as the conference and film programs check out the conference website or email wedemand2011@gmail.com. … Read more »

“Universal Access to All Knowledge”: The Internet Archive, Google Books, and the Haithi Trust.

In this post, Ian Milligan introduces people to the Internet Archive, the Haithi Trust, and Google Books. Why should we have to travel to archival repositories, especially if they’re in an already convenient form like microfilm? Shouldn’t everybody have access to information, not just the select few who happen to have institutional affiliations? When it comes to access to information, we should be on an even playing field. Lay people interested in history, undergraduates, cash-strapped professional researchers, and all can benefit from several internet resources that put an incredible amount of information at your finger tips.

Active History on the Grand: The Greenwich Mohawk site and Community History

The Greenwich Mohawk brownfield site in Brantford represents both the city’s industrial past and its recent deindustrialization. The 1903 heritage designated Cockshutt Office building on the site is in jeopardy of being demolished by those who want to forget Brantford’s industrial history and recent failures.

Announcement: Parler Fort presents Reshaping Toronto’s Waterfront

The Parler Fort series is proud to announce the launch of Reshaping Toronto’s Waterfront (University of Toronto Press, 2011).  On Monday June 20th at 7:30 pm at Toronto’s historic Fort York Wayne Reeves, Chief Curator for the City of Toronto Museum Services, will discuss the history of Toronto’s waterfront.  Special guests include contributors to Reshaping Toronto’s Waterfront: Gene Desfor, Jennefer… Read more »

A Journey Through Inuit Oral Traditions: Website Review of Listening to Our Past

Listening to Our Past explores the rich cultural heritage of the people of Nunavut.  The website was created by Nunavut Arctic College and l’Association des francophones du Nunavut.  The site aims to present history recorded though oral traditions and oral histories told by Nunavut elders.  The site is tri-lingual and material is available in English, French, and Inuktitut. When first… Read more »

Announcements: Parler Fort Speaker Series and Sunnybrook Hospital Book Launch

This week’s announcements include the Parler Fort Speaker Series at Fort York National Historic Site and the book launch for Sunnybrook Hospital: Our Veterans’ Legacy of Care, a Photographic Journey Through the Decades.

Active History on the Grand: Chiefswood, a Bridge Between Two Worlds

August is laughing across the sky, Laughing while paddle, canoe and I, Drift, drift, Where the hills uplift On either side of the current swift. – “The Song my Paddle Sings,” E. Pauline Johnson From Brantford’s downtown the Grand River meanders lazily, coming back on itself through a large ox-box, before reaching the tiny community of Newport.  Just past Newport… Read more »