"Rosies of the North" History Website Project

The Department of History is pleased to announce that Kelly Saxberg, Nathan Hatton, and Ron Harpelle have been awarded a grant of $20,000 from the Thunder Bay Community Foundation to produce an interactive oral history website focused on the contributions of local women during the Second World War at the Canadian Car and Foundry plant.

 

The Rosies of the North interactive website will be based on interviews and documents obtained during the production of Kelly Saxberg’s Rosies of the North, (National Film Board of Canada, 1999) and a collection of historical documents recently obtained from Bombardier Transportation.

 

The department members will also be collaborating with Dr. Jeanette Lynes, (The Factory Voice Coteau Books, 2009), formerly of the Department of English at Lakehead University and now at the University of Saskatchewan.

 

Members of the public will be encouraged to contribute photos, documents and stories about women who worked at the plant during the war and History students working towards a Public History Specialization will also be given opportunities to participate in the project, which is being undertaken with the support of the Friends of the Finnish Labour Temple and the Northwestern Ontario Aviation Heritage Centre.