Active History

Backward as Forward: Reflections on Canada’s “Modern” Political Scene

May 13, 2013 4 Comments

By Christine McLaughlin

Tommy Douglas, C.M. Fines and Clarence Gillis following the 1944 CCF victory in Saskatchewan.
Original Source: Saskatchewan Archives Board

While it is too soon for the historian to comment on the long-term effects of recent changes on the Canadian political landscape, the larger rightward shift is perhaps best evidenced by the federal New Democratic Party’s decision to “modernize” its constitution at its recent convention by “toning down” references to socialism. Pointing to “pragmatic” economic policies that made the convention floor, one MP went so far as to say “the party is growing up.” It is indicative of our own modern times that alternatives to liberal and neoliberal orthodoxy can be so readily cast as anti-modern. This Whig style of history-telling, which presupposes improvement as natural to the passage of time, is not just questionable history; it obscures the many ways history can and does repeat itself, widening the path for us to repeat its mistakes. Framing a political shift to the right as “modernization” is arguably much more suited to Orwell’s 1984 than 2013. Continue reading →

“The Portuguese in Toronto” Photo Exhibit: An Organizer’s Reflection

May 10, 2013 4 Comments

Three generations of Portuguese-Canadians at Tivoli Billiards Hall, on Augusta Ave., Kensington Market, 1980. Photo by Gilberto Prioste.

From May 13-19, Toronto’s City Hall will feature “The Portuguese in Toronto,” a free photo exhibit. What follows are some reflections on how historians can engage with the public by one of the exhibit’s organizers.

Raphael Costa

On May 13, 2013, the Portuguese Canadian History Project’s (PCHP) photographic exhibit celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of mass Portuguese migration to Canada will open (the inaugural event is scheduled for 5:30, if you are free). Held in the Rotunda of Toronto’s City Hall, the exhibit will feature twenty historic photographs from the PCHP’s catalogue in the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections (CTASC) at York University, along with other images provided by various community members. The enthusiastic and active participation of community organizations and individuals has played a key part in the exhibit. For me, the most refreshing aspect of curating an exhibit like this is seeing just how excited people get about the kind of history – a history, I think, in contrast to the ‘War of 1812-esque’ public history we have seen so much of recently – we want to share. Continue reading →

Eat Your Primary Sources! Or, Teaching the Taste of History

May 9, 2013 8 Comments

By Ian Mosby

History has a distinct taste. Actually, it also has a distinct smell, feel, sound, and look to it but – as a historian of food and nutrition – I always find myself coming back to the taste of history. No, I’m not talking about the musty, acrid taste of dust and mildew as you open up a long neglected archival box or that weird metallic aftertaste you get after sitting in front of a microfilm reader for way, way too long. History can also taste like molasses, cloves, nutmeg, raisins. You know, the good stuff.

At least this is what I tried to prove to the students in History 3240: Food History at the University of Guelph this past semester. Not only did I want to teach them about the versatility of food history as an entry point into the history of science, immigration, colonialism and gender – not to mention business, environmental, or political history. But I also wanted to prove to them that, as budding food historians, they should always make sure to actually eat their primary sources. Continue reading →

The Public Historian in the History Wars: A Report from #NCPH2013

May 8, 2013 1 Comment

Arthur Doughty, the first Dominion Archivist of Canada, believed that ‘of all national assets archives are the most precious; they are the gift of one generation to another and the extent of our care of them marks the extent of our civilization’

By Pete Anderson

I had the good fortune to facilitate a lively discussion on the role of public historians in the history wars at a ‘dine around’ session during the recent annual conference of the National Council on Public History, held in Ottawa from April 17-20. We had representatives from both Canada and the United States of various ages and experiences across the range of the public history community: students, consultants, archivists, parks interpreters, educators, museum professionals, bureaucrats, and heritage professionals, with some attendees wearing more than one of these “hats.”

While our conversation flowed freely, three questions emerged in different forms time and time again:

What is the role of public historians in history wars?
How do we strike a balance between professional ethics and the obligations of employment?
Who will champion our cause if and when we can’t speak for ourselves? Continue reading →

The New History Wars?: Avoiding the Fights of the Past

May 7, 2013 11 Comments

By Sean Kheraj

[audio: http://seankheraj.com/newhistorywars.mp3] Audio from Montreal History Group May Day Symposium, 26 April, 2013 [16:56]
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Library and Archives Canada Building, Ottawa

The new history wars are not battles over the meaning of Canadian history. They are battles over public financing of historical research and historical preservation. Historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, librarians, and archivists all have a stake in these important conflicts and debates. Recent federal efforts to commemorate the War of 1812 and to create a Canadian Museum of History by rebranding the Canadian Museum of Civilization have triggered new arguments among historians that echo the history war debates of the 1990s, but these arguments distract from the broader (and more important) challenge of the steady reduction of federal public financing for historical research and preservation. Continue reading →

“American Commune”: two views of a documentary about the 1970s counterculture

May 6, 2013 3 Comments

By Colin Coates and Daniel Ross

“The rise and fall of America’s largest socialist utopian experiment”
-Program blurb from the 2013 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival

This post, inspired by the documentary film American Commune (2013) by Rena Mundo Croshere and Nadine Mundo, takes two different looks at the history of a 1970s countercultural commune located in the southern US. The first is a broad reflection on how we frame the stories of utopian experiments, while the second explores how communes were the subject of special scrutiny by the North American state. Continue reading →

History Slam Episode Twenty-Two: Madeleine Kloske

May 3, 2013 No Comments

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By Sean Graham

On Wednesday night there was a screening of four documentary films as part of Northern Scene in Ottawa. The evening’s feature film was Dan Sokolowski’s Degrees Northand it was preceded by three shorts: Andrew Connors’ Come Back Little Star, Daniel Janke’s Finding Milton, and Lulu Keating’s Dawson Town Melted Down. Each of the films presented a different point of view on the North to the capacity crowd at the Mercury Lounge in the ByWard Market.

In this episode of the History Slam I talk with Madeleine Kloske from the University of Ottawa about the four films. In addition to the films, we also chat about preconceptions and stereotypes of the North as we wrap up Northern History Week. Continue reading →

From Exploration to Climate Change: Northern History in the Anthropocene

May 2, 2013 2 Comments

Caspar David Friedrich, Das Eismeer (The Sea of Ice), 1823-24

By Tina Adcock

I groaned when I saw the headline. “Google Street View braves Canadian Arctic to chart little-known territory,” it read. “Iqaluit mapping expedition sees Google staff hike along remote city’s snow-covered trails and risk wrath of polar bears.” Even the writers and editors at the Guardian aren’t immune to the occasional bout of polar fever. But I can’t blame them. The rhetoric of exploration—of braving dangers on remote, inhospitable, and unknown frontiers—continues to sell newspapers and garner page hits. Public demand for tales of northern adventure, hardship, and heroism in high latitudes remains strong. Continue reading →

History Slam Episode Twenty-One: Marketplace at Northern Scene

May 2, 2013 No Comments

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By Sean Graham

For the first four days of Northern Scene, the Panorama Room at the National Arts Centre was transformed into a marketplace featuring some of the region’s top artists. In this episode of the History Slam I talk with three of those artists about their work and the changing face of the northern art scene. First, I chat with Lyn Fabio about her use of intestine to create artistic works. I then talk with Shirley Moorhouse about northern Labrador and questions of what constitutes Inuit art. That is followed by my conversation with John Sabourin as we discuss his ability to weave narratives into his work. While Marketplace at Northern Scene has closed, be sure to google each of them up and check out some of the phenomenal work coming out of the North. Continue reading →

Picturing uranium, producing art: A.Y. Jackson’s Port Radium collection

May 1, 2013 1 Comment

A.Y. Jackson “Radium Mine” (1938), one of a series of oil paintings and sketches of the Port Radium mine by the iconic artist.

By Carmella Gray-Cosgrove

In November 2012, as newspapers reported, an “all-but-forgotten” painting by A.Y. Jackson, “Radium Mine” (1938), emerged from the private collection of a prolific prospector. The painting went to auction, selling for an astounding $643,500, and, fleetingly, popular news sources grazed the surface of a subterranean history that disrupts the very bedrock of Canadian identity. In the foreground of the painting, a craggy outcrop slopes down into the pale blues and greys of Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories—just hidden from view is the head frame of a radium and uranium mine that produced ore for the American nuclear arms program in the 1940s and 50s. Continue reading →

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