Sunday, February 8, 2015

Nova Scotia Heritage Day Honours Viola Irene Desmond

Nova Scotia will be celebrating its first Heritage Day public holiday this month, and on 16 February 2015, it will recognize Viola Irene Desmond (née Davis, 1914-1965), an African Nova Scotian woman from New Glasgow who challenged the province's systemic racial discrimination.

This incident, in which she refused to sit in the balcony of a movie theatre, was 9 years previous to the Rosa Parks bus incident in the United States. She was convicted of a minor tax violation on her movie ticket, which was used to enforce segregation in the movie theatres of Nova Scotia.

She fought the violation all the way to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia the following year, and she won.

In the Nova Scotia Archives, they have the court case documents, newspaper coverage, and also background reading at the following sites -

Court Case Documentshttp://novascotia.ca/archives/virtual/desmond/court.asp

Newspaper Coveragehttp://novascotia.ca/archives/virtual/desmond/results.asp?Search=&Start=21

Background Readinghttp://novascotia.ca/archives/virtual/desmond/background.asp




Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/canadian-week-in-review-02-february-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Peterborough Archives to re-open soon

Did you know that the Peterborough Archives―located in Peterborough, Ontario―has been closed over the past two years in order to build a new onsite storage facility? The collections have now been returned from temporary storage, and the grand re-opening will take place on February 12, 2015.

For details on the Museum Renewal Project, go to http://www.peterboroughmuseumandarchives.ca/What_s_On/Museum_Renewal.htm

Plans are underway for a large public open house to be held on May 24, 2015.

The following records are held in the archival facilities of the museum and archives -
  • Personal letters, correspondence, journals, and diaries of individuals.
  • Maps, civil plans, records, and surveys
  • Photographs and albums
  • Early business records of notable Peterborough companies
  • Early catalogues and promotional material
  • Clubs and associations records and minute books
  • Early Peterborough Examiner newspapers Records of Peterborough County Court, 1830-1900
The website is http://www.peterboroughmuseumandarchives.ca

Their Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peterborough-Museum-Archives/112608310308



Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/canadian-week-in-review-02-february-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Kent County Branch live streams meetings

The Kent County Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society www.ogs.on.ca/kent is continuing with live streaming of their monthly meetings.

The meetings take place at St. Andrew's Residence on Park Street in Chatham, Ontario, and there are usually between 40 and 60 people who come out to hear a different speaker each meeting. In the past few months, the meetings have been recorded and shown on You Tube, both live, as well as for later viewing. And lots of people are using this venue. Some of the meetings have more than 150 views, so the branch members know the message is getting out into the public.

The next branch monthly meeting will take place on Friday, February 13th at 7 p.m. at St. Andrew's Residence. The guest speaker will be Brenda Travis, in a presentation entitled Dabbling in DNA. As she is also the president of the board of directors of the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, the evening will also coincide with February as Black History Month.

Their second annual open house will be held on Saturday, February 14th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the second floor of the public library, 120 Queen Street. This will be a free open house to learn more about the resources of the OGS.



Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/canadian-week-in-review-02-february-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

UPDATE: OGS Conference - Interviews

During this week's meeting of the Ontario Chapter of the Associated Professional Genealogists (OCAPG), Shirley Sturdevant—the immediate past-president of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS)—brought us up-to-date with happenings at the 2015 OGS conference to be held this year in Barrie, Ontario.

One thing that she said was new this year are the interviews with the presenters at the conference, and so far, they have interviewed Thomas MacEntee and Dr. Janet Few.

Thomas MacEntee will be the moderator on the Panel Discussion: Tracks through Time on Saturday morning, and on Sunday will present Tracing Your New York Ancestors.

The interview with him is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uax98ie2LxQ

I also listened to the interview with Dr. Janet Few from England, who will give a lecture on Saturday entitled Uproar and Disorder: the Bible Christians of North Devon and their impact upon nineteenth century Canada, and another lecture on Sunday entitled Putting Your Ancestors in their Place: an introduction to one-place studies.

The interview is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN16jlIqxqs&feature=youtu.be, and her lectures will be live streamed to the Conference from England.

The Conference website is online at http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference

The Conference Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioGenealogicalSocietyConference



Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/canadian-week-in-review-02-february-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Friday, February 6, 2015

FREE Valentine's Day Genealogy Workshop


The Alberta Genealogical Day is presenting the Grand Prairie Family Day on Saturday, 14 February 2015 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Montrose Cultural Centre (the library) at 9839 - 103 Avene, Grand Prairie. It will be a fun-packed Family Day featuring workshops, research help, a trade show, and displays.

It will be hosted by Grande Prairie and District Branch of the Alberta Genealogical Society, the Grande Prairie Public Library, and the South Peace Regional Archives.

There will be talks on the archives, researching in Western Canada, scrapbooking, and storytelling.

For more information, go to http://www.abgenealogy.ca/grande-prairie-family-day?id=778.

For more information, please contact the Grand Prairie and District Branch of the Alberta Genealogical Society at gp@abgenealogy.ca.

 
Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/canadian-week-in-review-02-february-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Manitoba Adoption Records

There is great news coming from Manitoba. They will be opening birth records related to adoption.

The changes to The Adoption Act and The Vital Statistics Act will allow for more openness with respect to birth records related to adoption. Adult adoptees and birth parents can access birth record information and protect their information.

The new legislation is expected to come into effect in June 2015. Manitoba’s new legislation will allow adoptees and birth parents to access available identifying information. It will also allow them to keep their information confidential if they wish.

You can read the press release at http://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?item=30552


Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/canadian-week-in-review-02-february-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Victoria (VGS) offers half-year memberships

Steele Family Picnic, 1942 - submitted by VGS member Lauren Pinkerton of Peterborough, Ontario

The Victoria Genealogical Society of British Columbia has now joined the Ontario Genealogical Society and the Quebec Family History Society in offering half-year membership fees for 2015.

For a limited time (Feb 1 to Apr 30), regular and family memberships are being offered at half-price for a six-month membership. Regular (adult and senior) members will only pay $25 instead of the usual $50. Family memberships will only cost $37.50 instead of the usual $75.

Check out their membership page to learn all about the benefits of joining, and how easy it is to sign up. Benefits include free access to their Resource Centre and their monthly Speaker Series events. And the networking opportunities with other talented researchers are phenomenal! They also offer online options for joining and paying your membership fees from the comfort of your home.

Spread the word about this wonderful opportunity. They hope you, your friends, and family will give them a try.

The website is at http://www.victoriags.org, and their Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/vicgs.


Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/canadian-week-in-review-02-february-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.