I have come across the following Canadian genealogy, history and heritage websites, social media, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too.
This Week in Canadian History
First Canadian parachute jump in 1912
In May 1912, promoters of an “Aviation Meet” at Hastings Park announced plans for the first parachute jump out of a plane in Canada.
In May 1912, promoters of an “Aviation Meet” at Hastings Park announced plans for the first parachute jump out of a plane in Canada.
The “birdmen” were pilots Phil Parmelee and J. Clifford Turpin, and a parachutist named Professor Morton.
If you wish more about the parachute jump, go to
Rationing during the Second World War
According to new sugar rationing controls in the Second World War in 1942, sugar bowls were to be removed from tables in all restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, and institutions across the country. Sugar was to be served only by request and in reasonable quantities, generally understood to mean two lumps.
If you wish to read about rationing, go to http://wartimecanada.ca/archive-categories/rationing
Social Media
(Video) Royal Alberta Museum prepares for the move downtown
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/royal-alberta-museum-prepares-for-the-move-downtown-1.3407345
Behind the closed doors of the old Royal Alberta Museum, staff is culling exhibits from the 2.1 million artifacts in the museum's storage rooms that will be displayed at the new location downtown.
Upcoming Canadian Events
Conferences
NEW! 32nd Gene-O-Rama of the Ottawa Genealogical Society
The conference will be held from April 1 – 2, 2016 at the Confederation Education Centre, 1645 Woodroffe Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario which is at the corner of Hunt Club & Woodroffe Streets.
Registration is at http://ogsottawa.on.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/GOR-2016-Fee-Calculator.pdf
If you need further information, go to http://ogsottawa.on.ca/Gene-O-Rama/
UNLOCKING THE PAST 2016
International Genealogy Conference UNLOCKING THE PAST 2016 will be held on Saturday, April 23, 2016 at the The Beach Club Resort, Parksville, British Columbia of the Qualicum Beach Family History Society in British Columbia.
The featured speakers will be Colleen Fitzpatrick and Chris Paton, and registration is now open at http://www.eventbrite.ca/e/international-genealogy-conference-unlocking-the-past-2016-tickets-18765135024. It includes an early bird price.
The website is located at http://www.qbfhs.ca/
Genealogy on the Cutting Edge 2016
The Ontario Genealogical Society will be holding its annual conference from June 3rd to 5th at the Toronto’s International Plaza Hotel, Toronto.
Speakers and agenda has been announced this past week. Registration will open in January. Registration is now open at http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference/registration/, Keep up-to-date with the latest news by following their website at http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference/, or their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/171812826485725/
Our Canada – Your Family: Building a Nation 2017
The Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society will host the 2017 annual conference, and they have a call out for presentations.
The conference will be held in Ottawa on June 16-18, 2017 at Algonquin College. The theme of the conference is Our Canada – Your Family: Building a Nation.
DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS IS FEBRUARY 15, 2016
To submit proposals or ask questions, please contact the Conference 2017 Program Committee at: program.conference2017@ogs.on.ca. For more information about OGS or Ottawa Branch respectively, please visit: www.ogs.on.ca or www.ogsottawa.on.ca.
Great Canadian Genealogy Summit
The summit will be held in Brampton, Ontario from October 21 to the 23, 2016 at the
Courtyard Marriott.
On January 30, 2016, the Great Canadian Genealogy Summit will be holding a draw of all registrations and one lucky winner will have their registration fees reimbursed.
In order to qualify you MUST have paid for your registration before January 29th, 2016 - at midnight http://ogsottawa.on.ca/Gene-O-Rama/
Registration has opened at http://www.cangensummit.ca/product/full-weekend-registration/
Newspaper Articles
Nova Scotia
Acadia Lifelong Learning class finds pieces of local history in Starr's Point
Participants in an Acadia Lifelong Learning (ALL) class got to explore local history through a hands-on archaeological excavation in Starr’s Point.
Prince Edward Island
Historic Charlottetown showcased in outdoor heritage exhibit
The exhibit will be unveiled on Heritage Day and run until Feb. 29 in some storefront windows.
Ontario
Early Guelph neighbourhood gets heritage designation
Guelph now has its first heritage conservation district.
Nearly a decade after it was first suggested, the Brooklyn and College Hill area has been designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, city staff announced Thursday.
Canada salutes Black History Month with WWI batallion issue
The latest stamp in Canada Post’s Black History Month series, which began in 2009, salutes the No. 2 Construction Battalion, formed 100 years ago in 1916.
Turner & Townsend to restore Canada’s historic concert hall
UK consultant Turner & Townsend has been chosen to project manage the multi-million dollar restoration of Canada’s historic concert venue, Toronto’s Massey Hall, over the next seven years.
Behind the scenes: What you’ll find in the archives at the Peterborough Museum & Archives
http://www.mykawartha.com/shopping-story/6237452-behind-the-scenes-what-you-ll-find-in-the-archives-at-the-peterborough-museum-archives/
The museum stores and exhibits important collections that include the key stories, images and artifacts of both the land and the people of Peterborough,
Continued Neglect of Gore Heritage Buildings an Embarrassment
https://raisethehammer.org/article/2828/continued_neglect_of_gore_heritage_buildings_an_embarrassment
The danger at 18-28 King Street East was that the proposed demolition would merely make long-term property speculation easier by levelling the site and removing any heritage "complications". The fact that the owners did not present clear plans of what they would do with the site of the Gore buildings made it obvious that we would be looking at a huge vacant lot facing Gore Park for years to come.
Royal Canadian Mint plans circulating dollar for suffrage centennial
http://www.coinworld.com/news/world-coins/2016/01/rcm-plans-circulating-dollar-for-suffrage-centennial.html
https://raisethehammer.org/article/2828/continued_neglect_of_gore_heritage_buildings_an_embarrassment
The danger at 18-28 King Street East was that the proposed demolition would merely make long-term property speculation easier by levelling the site and removing any heritage "complications". The fact that the owners did not present clear plans of what they would do with the site of the Gore buildings made it obvious that we would be looking at a huge vacant lot facing Gore Park for years to come.
Royal Canadian Mint plans circulating dollar for suffrage centennial
http://www.coinworld.com/news/world-coins/2016/01/rcm-plans-circulating-dollar-for-suffrage-centennial.html
Canada is planning to celebrate the 100 anniversary of suffrage with a circulating commemorative dollar coin in 2016.
During World War I, some women in Canada were finally allowed to vote, and in 1919 all women over the age of 21 gained the right to vote in a federal election.
Alberta
A brief history of Calgary newspapers: A front page history of our city's papers
Calgary has a long newspaper history, with the earliest printing press arriving in our city by rail, addressed to "The end of the line."
History Matters: Fur trade casualties
http://thestarphoenix.com/opinion/columnists/history-matters-fur-trade-casualties
http://thestarphoenix.com/opinion/columnists/history-matters-fur-trade-casualties
One of the great myths of Saskatchewan history is that the two-century-old fur trade ended when Canada acquired the region from the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1870.
British Columbia
Vancouver prompted WWII sell-off of Japanese-Canadian-owned property
The city of Vancouver played a far more significant role in the federal government’s decision to sell Japanese-Canadian-owned property during the Second World War than previously thought, says a Victoria professor
Haggis a treat for new director of Centre for Scottish Studies
Professor Katie McCullough, the new director of Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Scottish Studies, admits to a secret liking for Scotland’s national dish, haggis.
Canadian Stories this Week
Mocavo and Findmypast are coming together
Did you read this notice last week? I was particularly upbeat by this because I do have subscriptions to both companies, and now they are together.
This means that Findmypast will inherit Mocavo's digistied newspaper collection, which I find is very good, especially since I found the marriage of my great-great-aunt in New York, which I had been researching for many years. All information had pointed toward Yarmouth, Nova Scotia as the place of marriage, but while she was in New York visiting her brother in Brooklyn, she met a fellow from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and they got married in Queens. He took her on an American cross-county trip to San Francisco where his family had migrated, and it was there that she settled, and lived the rest of her very long life.
To read more about the merger, go to http://blog.eogn.com/2016/01/18/findmypast-and-sister-site-mocavo-come-together/#more-11624
The Voyageur Database
Have you heard of this before - The Voyageur Database - which is made from the microfilms of the Protonotaire Montréal Greffes de notaires fonds of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationale du Québec?
It is a project headed by Nicole St-Onge at the University of Ottawa that has digitized over 35,000 fur-trade contracts of indentured servants who were hired in Montreal between the 1730s and 1830s. It is the largest collection of its kind for the fur trade.
The Saint-Boniface Historical Society migrated the core data to an online platform on its website so that researchers, genealogists, and other interested parties could use this resource.
The resource is located at http://earlycanadianhistory.ca/2016/01/12/colonial-history-in-the-age-of-digital-humanities/
And that was the week in Canadian news!
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