Canadian Week in Review 21 October 2013

I have come across the following Canadian websites, blogs, Facebook, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too.

Websites

The Petworth Emigration Project www.petworthemigrations.com/‎ This is a case study of assisted emigration from the south of England to Ontario in the 1830s.

Blogs

As Canadian As Can Be http://hoguegirardin.wordpress.com/ As the blog says, “I remember the day I was standing in the gift shop at the Museum of Man and Nature here in Winnipeg, and stumbled upon my great-great grandmother’s name in a history book.  The book was Sylvia Van Kirk’s Many Tender Ties and the name was Margaret Taylor”.

Facebook, Videos, You Tube

OGS Facebook page reaches a 1,000 ‘likes’ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ontario-Genealogical-Society/259163438258

The Petworth Emigration Project also has two Facebook pages, and they are - https://www.facebook.com/PetworthEmigrationProject This Facebook page concentrates on the emigration project, and the second Facebook page concerns the people who emigrated to Canada. The address is https://www.facebook.com/groups/49248715727/

Newspapers Articles of the Week

Minister Fantino Challenges Canadians to Remember: 30 Days, 30 Reasons http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1241531/minister-fantino-challenges-canadians-to-remember-30-days-30-reasons A press release was issued by Veterans Affairs in which it said that "The Honourable Julian Fantino, Minister of Veterans Affairs, today launched 30 Days, 30 Reasons - a social media campaign leading up to Remembrance Day on November 11, 2013. As part of the annual Remembrance Campaign, Veterans Affairs Canada will use social media to engage Canadians in remembering the sacrifices and achievements of Canada's Veterans”.

State of the Arts: Production celebrates 85-year history of Ukrainian Hall http://www.vancourier.com/state-of-the-arts-production-celebrates-85-year-history-of-ukrainian-hall-1.660332 Beverly Dobrinsky, who directs the Barvinok Choir at the hall and researched special anniversary shows Nov. 8 and 10, the building’s history for a new production, Bread & Salt, that celebrates its 85th anniversary.

Less is more for 150th bash http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/less-is-more-for-150th-bash-227773561.html The fields of science, literature, technology, political controversies, aboriginal history and other stories that make up the country's past are not to be included in the 150^th birthday bash.

Canada plans to mark 100th anniversary of First World War http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2013/10/19/21207096.html  Canada met with other European leaders last week to discuss the ceremonies that will take place next year. Canada will be part of an international effort planning the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the First World War.

Story of the Week

Speech From the Throne

Last week was the Speech From the Throne. I went to the site to read it for myself, and I found a few things of interest to genealogists, such as -

2017: Anniversary of Confederation

As we approach our historic 150th anniversary in 2017, our Government will join with Canadians in honouring this momentous milestone by:

Marking the 150th anniversaries of the Charlottetown and Québec Conferences;

 Celebrating the 200th birthdays of two of our greatest Fathers of Confederation, Sir George-Étienne Cartier and Sir John A. Macdonald

Commemorating the centennial of the First World War and the 75th anniversary of the Second World War, and the enormous sacrifices made by Canadians and our Allies in both

Re-dedicating the National War Memorial to the memory of all men and women who fought for our country

Building a Memorial to the Victims of Communism, to remember the millions who suffered under tyranny

Marking the end of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan by honouring the service of our men and women in uniform, including those who made the ultimate sacrifice combating the spread of terrorism

Establishing the Canadian Museum of History to share the story of Canada with pride

Quite an ambitious schedule we have over the next four years.

There is one thing missing though – where are the programs that would help Canadians save their family stories? Genealogy has grown into a large industry in the world, and there hasn’t been a nod to that part of our society.

We, as genealogists, would ask for such an acknowledgement. Maybe the Library and Archives Canada could be a leader in this field.   

The whole Speech is at http://www.speech.gc.ca/sites/sft/files/SFT-EN_2013_c.pdf

Reminder: Check out Canadian Week in Review every Monday for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada. It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in country! The next post will be on 28 October, 2013.

Lecture Series: Grub and Grog: Food and Drink in History

The Shannon lecture series at Carleton University, Ottawa called Grub and Grog: Food and Drink in History will bring in speakers from as far away as San Francisco, Minnesota, and Victoria BC to speak on the history of food and drink.

There are three lectures left, and they are -

October 25, 2013
 Adventures in Cooking from the Past. 
Ken Albala, Department of History, University of the Pacific.

November 8, 2013
 The Tavern Company: Food, Drink, and the Bonds of Sociability in a Colonial Society. 
Julia Roberts, Department of History, University of Waterloo.

November 15, 2013
 Only in Canada: History, Ecology and Culture of Edible Wild Plants of First Peoples in Western Canada. 
Nancy Turner, School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria.

For further information please contact the Department of History at (613) 520-2828, by email to history@carleton.ca or visit our website at www.carleton.ca/history.

All lectures will take place in the Humanities Lecture Theatre, 303 Paterson Hall, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. followed by a reception in the Department of History Lobby, fourth floor Paterson Hall.

And while we are talking about the food industry, here is an entertaining article I found in the Timmins Press about war rationing in the Second World War.  HISTORY: War rationing inspired recipes http://www.timminspress.com/2013/10/18/history-war-rationing-inspired-recipes      

The OGS Facebook page reaches 1000 'likes'

The OGS Genealogy eNews! notice received every Saturday morning, they have said that they have reached the 1000 mark in ‘likes’ on their Facebook page!  

They do have a very informative Facebook page, and if you are not a member, but would still like to keep up on the news, then click on the “Like”.

They say that “New information is shared several times a day and the page has grown into a family history discussion forum for members and non members alike. Come join us!”

The Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ontario-Genealogical-Society/259163438258

They also have a blog at http://www.ogs.on.ca/ogsblog/  

UPDATE: Nova Scotia 1921 Census

Here is the latest update from Dwayne Meisner -

Hi All, just wanted to let you know that many more sub-districts for the

Province of Nova Scotia have been transcribed. Halifax County is nearing

completion, with only a few more areas to finish,  and of course, the Town

of Dartmouth and the City of Halifax. Annapolis County has had more areas

finished, and I am expecting some more areas from some of our busy volunteer

transcribers, including parts of Lunenburg and Cape Breton Counties, and

others.

There is still a long way to go to finish the whole province. You

can view the completed areas by visiting

http://dwaynemeisner.com/census/novascotia/index.php

If you would like to help by contributing a transcription, see

http://dwaynemeisner.com/census/volunteer.php for information on how to do

it.

Or, if you have a Facebook account, you can follow the progress

here at

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nova-Scotia-Census-Records/211456578879930

FamilySearch does it again!

FamilySearch has done it again! In addition to being partners now with Ancestry.com, and MyHeritage, they have become partners with the new DC Thomson Family History, formerly known as findmypast. 

LONDON, England and SALT LAKE CITY, Utah--Annelies van den Belt, the new CEO of DC Thomson Family History, the British-based leader in online family history and owner of findmypast and Genes Reunited, has announced a major new partnership with US-based FamilySearch.org that will give family history enthusiasts access to billions of records online and new technology to collaboratively research their family roots.

DC Thomson Family History, formerly known as brightsolid online publishing, is collaborating with FamilySearch, which has the largest collections of genealogical and historical records in the world, to deliver a wide range of projects including digital preservation, records search, technological development and the means to allow family historians to share their discoveries.

More than 13 million records from FamilySearch.org launched today on findmypast.com, including major collections of births, marriages and deaths covering America, Australia, and Ireland. Around 600 additional collections, containing millions of records, will follow.

The two organisations have a long history of working together on historical projects, including indexing 132 million records of the 1940 US census and two hundred years of British Army Service Records (Chelsea Pensioners) in a joint digitisation project with The National Archives.

Van den Belt said: “This is fantastic news for our customers all over the world. As a leader in online family history we will be able to offer access to a much wider variety of records dating back hundreds of years and the first batch are ready to search on findmypast. The convenience of searching many treasures from FamilySearch.org along with our own extensive collections will provide rich new insights for our customers.

“This partnership with FamilySearch will accelerate the momentum of our next phase of global growth into new non-English-speaking markets and give more people more access to more records to uncover their family history. This really cements our position as a market leader.”

“We are excited to work with DC Thompson Family History on a vision we both share,” said Dennis Brimhall, CEO of FamilySearch. “Expanding online access to historical records through this type of collaboration can help millions more people discover and share their family’s history.”

DC Thomson Family History is the British-based leader in online family history, which operates major online sites including findmypast, Genes Reunited and the British Newspaper Archive. It launched in America last year with its findmypast brand.

DC Thomson Family History has a strong record of partnerships with non-profit and public sector organisations such as the British Library and The National Archives among many other major archives and organisations around the world.

October is Canadian Islamic History Month

Islamic History Month Canada (IHMC) was launched on October 25, 2007, and October was proclaimed as the Islamic History month in Canada.

The press release says that “The Objective of IHMC is to celebrate, inform, educate and share with fellow Canadians the Muslim cultural heritage and Canadian Muslim contributions to Canada and the contributions made by the Islamic civilization throughout its history; to sciences, humanities, medicines, astronomy, and other disciplines that have contributed positively to human progress. IHMC believes that it is through education and sharing positive stories that we can build a more inclusive and gentle multicultural Canada.”

A few facts about Canadian –

- The census of 1871 reports 13 Muslims in the country

- Edmonton has the oldest mosque in North America, built in 1938

- There are 1 million Muslims in the country.

Their website is at http://www.islamichistorymonth.com/ihmc2010/

They also have a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Islamic-History-Month-Canada/322440464106?ref=stream&hc_location=stream

Top LAC job up for grabs

It appears that the government is starting to look for a person to assume the LAC top archivist and librarian job in the near future. Who will they pick, and more important, what will be the qualifications for the job?

If one looks at the requirements for the job, as people from the archivist and librarian community has done already, the news is not good for the Canadian genealogical community.

It says that it will be an “asset” and not a “requirement” for the successful person to have experience in the library and archivist field.

So, does this leave us with another person like the former LAC head Daniel Caron who was a career bureaucrat and not an archivist or librarian?

To read the story, here is a newspaper article, and a statement by The Canadian Association of Law Libraries -

Joint Statement on Qualities of a Successful Librarian and Archivist of Canada
http://www.callacbd.ca/en/content/joint-statement-qualities-successful-librarian-and-archivist-canada

Top librarian job up for grabs; head of Library and Archives Canada could bag a $226,500 salary http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/national/librarian+grabs+head+Library+Archives+Canada+could/9034221/story.html

Postscript: I would like to thank two of my readers for sending me the news story and the job description.