Family History Weekend 2012 at Vankleek Hill, Ontario

Two years ago, some friends from Ottawa and I went to Vankleek Hill to take in a Genealogy Fair!

First, we attended pretentions at the Champlain Township Public Library that morning, and later in the afternoon, we went over to the Vankleek Hill Arena/Community Centre to see the such displays as the Tweedsmuir Histories. We also went to the newspaper office of The Review to look at their online digital archives webpage of their website http://thereview.ca/Archive_Landingpage.html, and to talk and be interviewed by the newspaper’s editor, Louise Sproule!

This year, they are doing something a bit different – it will be a two-day affair.

Various venues around town will host the event, which is planned for the weekend of October 27-28.

On Saturday, they plan to have antiques appraisals given by Janet Carlile, who is best known for her work on CBC Television’s "Antiques Roadshow", and Harold MacMillan will give a talk on the Gaelic language at the Vankleek Hill Museum.

On Sunday, Kyla Ubbink, a well-known conservator, will be at the Community Centre to offer a 90-minute workshop, and there will be Walking Tours on Sunday afternoon with Denis Seguin, an architect, who will act as the tour leader and point out the various houses and businesses in the “Gingerbread Capital of Ontario”.

A weekend like this is a great opportunity the share your family history with others. Bring your photos and genealogies, and you can research and talk to others – for FREE! You might even break down a brick wall while you are there!

To contact the Family History Weekend, email the organizers at family@vankleek.ca or call them at 613.678.2323.

The event is hosted by the Vankleek Hill & District Historical Society as a fundraiser for the Vankleek Hill Museum. Visit their website for details www.vankleek.ca.

Canada's Person’s Day 2012

The Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case was created in 1979 to mark the 50th anniversary of this groundbreaking case, which changed the course of history for women in Canada. www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/gg/index-eng.html

Every year, on Person’s Day, October the 18th, people gather at the statue erected to these five Alberta women known as the "Famous Five"—Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Emily Murphy, and Irene Parlby—who had taken the case to the courts in 1927 to protest the fact that before their time, women were not considered as people when it came to Senate appointments.

These women saw this case to the Court of Privy Council, when on October 18, 1929, it declared that both men and women could be considered as “people” when it came to their appointment to the Senate Court of Appeal – the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Great Britain.

On a warm and sunny day, people gathered on Parliament Hill in Ottawa for tea and cookies at the statue to the five women who fought the case to have women recognized as “persons” in Canadian political life.

On hand to partake in the event was Corinne Gallant of Moncton, New Brunswick, one of the five recipients of this year's awards. The other recipients are Caroline Andrew, Régine Alende Tshombokongo, and two Youth Recipients, Saara Bhanji and Joanne Cave. Their biographies are listed at www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/gg/index-eng.html#tab2

June Coxon (L), President of the Media Club of Ottawa, with Maria Neil, President of the Ottawa Council of Women, next to the statues of Nellie McClung and Irene Parlby (R)

For more information, go to the following websites –

The Famous Five (Canada) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Famous_Five_(Canada)

Are Women Persons? The “Persons” Case www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/015/002/015002-2100-e.html

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved.

Sisters Of Saint Anne Historic Centre

The Old Convent of the Sisters of Saint Anne in Montreal is offering an unique way of exploring the presence of the Sisters of Saint Anne in Lachine from 1860 to 2010, and that unique way is through podcasts!.

They say that "You can now take a guided tour at your own pace that focuses on the history of the buildings that now comprise Collège Sainte-Anne and the Sisters of Saint Anne Historic Centre. Located near the Lachine Canal, the Convent Complex is a major point of interest in the borough of Lachine that attests to the important religious, educational and cultural heritage left by the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Anne".

Visitors can also download the podcast on their own MP3 player from the Conseil’s website at www.patrimoine-religieux.qc.ca/en/activites/eglises/cssa.php or from the Historic Centre’s website at www.ssacong.org/musee

The Historic Centre is open from Wednesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. until October 31, and Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from November 1 to June 1.

Free admission. Reservations required for groups of 8 or more.

For more information, please call us at 51.637.4616, ext. 212 or e-mail us at chssa@bellnet.ca.

The “Discovering the Convent Complex of the Sisters of Saint Anne” podcast is a production of the Conseil du patrimoine religieux du Québec. It is available in English and French. 

Manitoba Heritage Tattoo Cancelled

On Friday, October the 12th, I wrote about the Manitoba Heritage Tattoo to be held on the 27th of October, and now it has been cancelled due to lack of tickets sales.

Read the full story at the Brandon Sun
www.brandonsun.com/breaking-news/Manitoba-Heritage-Tattoo-cancelled-174609701.html?thx=y

Kitchener Public Library Genealogy Fair

The Kitchener Public Library is holding their second annual Genealogy Fair on Saturday, November 3 from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. There is no registration, simply drop by. FREE admission!

The Keynote Speaker will be Kevin James, Professor of History, Centre for Scottish Studies, University of Guelph, and he will speak at 10:00 am in the Kitchener City Hall Rotunda. The subject will be "Connecting Family and Public Histories"

The press release says that “Drawing on novel examples of partnerships using sources from census returns to cookbooks, Kevin explores recent efforts to connect family history and genealogy to 'public' history, and talks about exciting new directions for collaborations between historians (amateur and professional), of the family, of the state and of society. Kevin’s research focuses on comparative Scottish and Irish social history.”

To find more information about the Fair, go to www.kpl.org/programs/program_listings/all.html#genealogy

There will be more than 25 exhibits and vendors!

The Canadian Museum of History

Monday I wrote about the pending announcement about the renaming and rebranding of the Museum of Civilization, and as luck would have it – the announcement was made yesterday!

The Museum of Civilization will be renamed The Canadian Museum of History, and Toronto Star reporter, Susan Delacourt of the Ottawa Bureau, among others, covered the story in the
www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1272496--civilization-ends-history-begins-at-canada-s-biggest-museum

The Museum of Civilization has background on the story, The Canadian Museum of History at a Glance, at their website at
www.civilization.ca/about-us/canada-history-museum

The Ontario Name Index TONI

The goal of TONI is to include EVERY name found in any publication relating to Ontario. The index will go over a million entries in October.

The members of the Ontario Genealogical Society is indexing this list. It is free, and open to everyone at www.ogs.on.ca/integrated/toni_database1.php