Free Conference: The Art of Biography

 

There will be a freeday-long conference on The Art of Biography in Toronto this March. This conference is going to be an excellent opportunity to hear four prominent authors and historians discuss their approach to writing biography, with a focus on Canadian history. It is being presented by the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and Department of History, University of Toronto.

The speakers will be -

CECILIA MORGAN - An (Almost) Accidental Biographer: Finding Lives in the Archives

SUZANNE MORTON - The Exploration of a ‘Hidden Life’ Performing ‘Unhistoric Acts’: Jane B. Wisdom and the Development of Social Work in Canada

JOHN ENGLISH - Writing the Biography of Pierre Elliott Trudeau

CHARLIE FORAN - Richler Was Funny, Why Can’t You Be? On Writing the Biography of Mordecai Richler

The conference is taking place at the Jackman Humanities Building (corner of Bloor and St. George) in Toronto on Saturday March 22, 2014.

If you would like further information about this event or would like to confirm your attendance, please contact Michael Wilcox at 416-946-8593 or by email at: michael.wilcox@mail.utoronto.ca

The website is at http://www.biographi.ca/en/article/art_of_biography.html

Note: If anyone is going to this conference, I would be interested to hear how it went.

Family History Library: Orders for Microfilm and Fiche Will Be Restricted During April, 2014

FamilySearch posted this notice on their blog Mar 6th –

“The Granite Mountain Vault will be shifting a large amount of films into their newly renovated space. This entails moving half a million rolls of film, and numerous cabinets of fiche and digital media. Since it will be risky to pull items during this time, the Family History Library will not be able to order microfiche or any microfilms above 1,881, 705. Film and fiche with numbers less than 1,881,704 and lower can still be ordered.

This move is scheduled for early April of 2014 and will last about two weeks. Another update will be posted as soon as we have more information.

We are sorry for the inconvenience”.

The Times are A-Changing!

Sunday, March 9, the GANS Office Open from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm located at 3258 Isleville Street, Halifax, NS

The time is changing this weekend, but don't be sad! If you're tired on Sunday because you lost an hour's sleep, you can just come into the GANS office in your PJs. We don't mind!

The Office is open to everyone. Stop by to chat, do some internet research, check out our library or buy a publication or membership. Bring a friend!

Web: http://www.NovaScotiaAncestors.ca
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NovaScotiaAncestors
Twitter: @NSAncestors

The book catalogue of the OGS is on VITA

The Book Catalogue and the Cemetery Locator of the OGS has been moved to VITA, a division of OurOntario (a site which tells the story of Ontario) at http://vitacollections.ca/ogscollections/search

Some feature are –

Family Histories

You can now search our Family History Collection at VITA

Periodicals

The entire Periodical Collection is easier to search. They have now been able to provide more info for their Branch Newsletters, i.e., location information for branch libraries and contact information.

Mystery Photos

They have had the Mystery Photos site on their OGS Old Photos flickr site for a while, and now they have moved them over to the new VITA site and have them all accessible in one place.

WWI Memorial Wall

I know that the OGS has wanted to do something like this for a number of years. If you have a WWI vet in your family and you would like to share their photo and a bit about their life, the OGS would be honoured to include your WWI vet on our Memorial Wall.

Where are your Ontario Roots?

This is brand new for OGS, an interactive feature where you can share a bit of history about your family and your Ontario roots! You will find this located on the top right hand corner of the page.

Contact librarian@ogs.on.ca if you have any questions.

Editor’s Note: Your editor has used this new service and has found it to be very good. I had a series of surnames, and place names that I wanted to check, and the search feature worked very fast and was complete. Have you tried it yet? How did you find it? Was it a good finding research tool, or could it be improved?

Was your ancestors buried in Ottawa between 1828 and 1845?

I first became aware of this story at the end of last year, while doing the Canadian Week in Review, my weekly online newspaper summary.

As it turned out, the construction crew with the Light Rail Tunnel who has been digging beneath Queen Street in downtown Ottawa, came upon burials in the area.

Subsequently, it was determined that they were the remains in the Barrack’s Hill Cemetery, and that they would have to be removed and reburied elsewhere.

So Ontario's Registry of Cemeteries is looking for descendants of persons buried in the Barrack’s Hill Cemetery which existed near Elgin & Queen Streets in Ottawa between 1828 and 1845.

Descendants will have a say in where the remains are placed if they contact the Registrar by March 21, 2014.

You can contact the registry by going to http://www.omba.com/contact_government.php

For a history of the Barrack’s Hill Cemetery, you can go to the http://www.ottawagraphy.ca/bayfkeyword/cemeteries

A Kensington Market Childhood

There will be an upcoming event at the Lillian H. Smith Library at 239 College Street Toronto called A Kensington Market Childhood on March 20th, 2014 at 6:30 pm.

Leslie McGrath, Head, Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books will present a talk on the programs for children run by the Toronto Public Library from Boys and Girls House on St. George St., and Lillian Butovsky will talk about growing up above the family grocery store at 45 Bellevue Avenue, the youngest child and only daughter of Joe and Sadie Winemaker. Lillian will share memories of growing up in Kensington Market with her five older brothers in the 1940s.

Information is available at http://www.kmhs.ca

The Toronto Public Library has an on-going series of lectures Finding Your Roots at the Library, as well as Grace: A Teacher’s Life, One Room Schools, and a Century of Change in Ontario on March 19th, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. at the North York Central Library, Room 1.

Join Millie Morton as she talks about her book. Hear about how it was to grow up on a farm, teach in one-room schools, and live in small rural Ontario communities

Go to the Toronto Public Library genealogy website at http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/programs-and-classes/categories/history-genealogy.jsp

Canadian Week in Review - 03 March 2014

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

Websites

No new websites this week.

Social Media

Black History Month is Not a Feel-Good Mass Therapy Session
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/dr-lisa-tomlinson/black-history-month_b_4839232.html
Dr. Lisa Tomlinson, in the Huffington Post blog, offers her view on Black History Month.

Top five Team Canada wins in hockey history
http://www.saultstar.com/2014/02/23/top-five-team-canada-wins-in-hockey-history
Here are the top five Team Canada hockey victories in history (with accompanying videos).

New Montcalm videoconferencing activity - Quebec High School students virtually visit the Plains of Abraham
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1757631
Here is a new way to learn history. The National Battlefields Commission has produced new video called Montcalm, an interactive way to learn about the history of the siege of Québec and the battles of the Plains of Abraham.

So Many Ancestors!
http://so-many-ancestors.blogspot.com
Beth Gatlin studies her ancestors including a Canadian ancestor, Ann Walker, whom she thinks was born in Ontario, Canada.

South Coast Family Research
http://www.southcoastfamilyresearch.co.uk/blog
This blogger is studying the surname Hiscock in Canada, as well as in other countries such as England and Wales.

News Stories

Groups worry Saskatoon historic site threatened by cell tower
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/groups-worry-saskatoon-historic-site-threatened-by-cell-tower-1.2533492
The Friends of the Forestry Farm House and the Saskatoon Heritage Society are teaming up to try and protect what they consider to be a valuable piece of prairie history, but SaskTel already has approval for the tower.

History and memory lives in the archives at the Stony Plain Multicultural Heritage Centre
http://www.stonyplainreporter.com/2014/02/28/history-and-memory-lives-in-the-archives-at-the-stony-plain-multicultural-heritage-centre
John Althouse, from the Alberta Genealogical Society, says taking a course may be the best way to get started — and incidentally, he’s teaching a few of them in March at the Multicultural Heritage Centre in Stony Plain.

Vaughan African Canadian Association pays tribute to accomplishments of community
http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/4380772-vaughan-african-canadian-association-pays-tribute-to-accomplishments-of-community
Members of the Vaughan African Canadian Association marked Black History Month with a brunch at the GTA Faith Alliance office in Richmond Hill last Saturday.

The story of Canada in Oshawa: Historical prints on display at Robert McLaughlin Gallery 
http://www.durhamregion.com/whatson-story/4374192-the-story-of-canada-in-oshawa
The prints, which date from the late 18th to the late 19th centuries, are being publicly exhibited for the first time. There is a video on the news site called Capturing Canada.

Never pause blankly over history
http://www.innisfailprovince.ca/article/20140225/INN0902/302259982/-1/inn09/never-pause-blankly-over-history
Red Deer historian, Michael Dawe, is the subject of an article that talks about Alberta history.

Young Newport woman nets provincial African Heritage Month award
http://www.novanewsnow.com/Community/2014-02-24/article-3626417/Young-Newport-woman-nets-provincial-African-Heritage-Month/1
A West Hants resident is one of six recipients of a provincial award recognizing young Nova Scotians of African descent who are making positive contributions to their communities.

Inclusive society best way to honour pioneers
http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1189978-inclusive-society-best-way-to-honour-pioneers
There is an opinion piece in The Chronicle Herald which says that the best way to honour the pioneers of our community is to include them in our history – something which is not always done.

Column: For one dollar, a history of Nova Scotia
http://www.theadvance.ca/Opinion/Columnists/2014-02-27/article-3628867/Column%3A-For-one-dollar,-a-history-of-Nova-Scotia%0D%0A/1
Learn how a family discovered how the book Atlantic Hearth: Early Homes and Families of Nova Scotia was available for a dollar on the Internet.

Conservation of Painted House earns AGNS a heritage award 
http://www.novanewsnow.com/section/2014-02-28/article-3629811/Conservation-of-Painted-House-earns-AGNS-a-heritage-award/1
The Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia has recognized the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia for its conservation of Maud Lewis’ painted house.

Redpath Mansion is history — will be demolished
http://www.montrealgazette.com/Redpath+Mansion+history+will+demolished/9565724/story.html
After a 10-day reprieve, Quebec Culture Minister Maka Kotto issued a decision late Friday declaring the mansion, built in 1886 for the Redpath family, “does not present a national heritage interest” and can be torn down.

City riddle of WWI soldier's ID found in Sefton Park
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/id-world-war-one-soldier-6760071
Thomas Evans from Liverpool, England found a WW1 Canadian dog tag in 1991 as he was planting daffodil bulbs for the Field of Hope in Sefton Park, England. And he is wondering how to get in touch with the descendants so that he can return the tags. This story was first seen on Gail Dever’s blog, Genealogy à la carte at http://genealogyalacarte.wordpress.com

Story of the Week

March 8th is International Women’s Day in Canada , and this year, the theme of the day is Strong Women. Strong Canada. Canadian Women – Creating Jobs One Business at a time.

Some facts about women and business in Canada are –

According to the BMO Financial Group, women-owned businesses currently employ over 1.5 million Canadians. The same study indicated that 71% of Canadian women would like to start their own business

Each year, March 8 and the week of March 8 provide an opportunity to take stock of our progress towards gender equality of women in Canada. We honour the contributions women have made and are making — both in Canada and around the world.

Reminder: Check the Canadian Week in Review next 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 10 Match 2014.