Join us on 23 January for presentation by current graduate students in the Department of History. 

More information will be posted in the coming month. 

This presentation will be in-person and online. Complete information and how to register to attend virtually will be posted in the coming month.

This presentation is part of the 2023-24 Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society’s Lecture Series sponsored by the Department of History.  Since 1908, the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society has been regularly holding talks on a wide range of topics on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the Thunder Bay Museum (425 Donald Street East) from September to April. All presentations are free and open to the public.

Join us on 27 February for presentation by Allan Campbell on the Logging Industry and Career in Northwestern Ontario.

More information will be posted in the coming month. 

This presentation will be in-person and online. Complete information and how to register to attend virtually will be posed in the coming month.

This presentation is part of the 2023-24 Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society’s Lecture Series sponsored by the Department of History.  Since 1908, the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society has been regularly holding talks on a wide range of topics on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the Thunder Bay Museum (425 Donald Street East) from September to April. All presentations are free and open to the public.

Join us on 28 November to hear contract lecture Kelly Saxberg discuss “A Tale of Two Qallunaat.”

A Tale of Two Qallunaat is a one hour documentary about the legacy of two women artists who travelled to the Arctic in the early 1970s and what happens when elders and youth in today’s Pond Inlet and Iqaluit encounter that unique record of the past.

This presentation will be in-person and online. Complete information and how to register to attend virtually can be found at https://thunderbaymuseum1.wildapricot.org/event-5390838

Speakers Bio: Kelly Saxberg is a film producer, director, editor, and cinematographer who has worked on well over 100 films. She works in English, French, Spanish and Finnish. Her works have received and been nominated for many prestigious film awards. Kelly is actively involved with the Friends of the Finnish Labour Temple and their many projects; recently the interactive website www.Rosiesofthenorth.ca and for the educational streaming channel: www.ResearchTV.ca. She was a founding member of The Bay Street Film Festival (Now Vox Popular Media Arts Festival). As a contract lecturer with Lakehead University’s History Department, Kelly assists students in developing a love of film. She has mentored dozens of emerging filmmakers through her Flash Frame workshops and collaborative film projects.

This presentation is part of the 2023-24 Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society’s Lecture Series sponsored by the Department of History.  Since 1908, the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society has been regularly holding talks on a wide range of topics on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the Thunder Bay Museum (425 Donald Street East) from September to April. All presentations are free and open to the public.

Join us on 24 October to hear alumna and contract lecture Beverly Soloway discuss “The Fur Trader’s Table” A ‘Bill of Fare’ From 18th Century Rupert’s Land.” 

135 years before Fort William was built, the Hudson’s Bay Company was sending fur traders to the meager posts dotting the Hudson and James Bays coastline. These men were predominantly from Scotland’s northern Orkney Islands. When the annual ship from Britain arrived in the north, it brought imported food that was expected to last the year, supplemented with local foodstuffs from around the posts. The Fur Traders’ Table takes a closer look at what imported and local foods were eaten, as well as to what extent the men sustained old world foodways while experiencing new world resources.

This presentation will be in-person and online. Complete information and how to register to attend virtually can be found at https://thunderbaymuseum1.wildapricot.org/event-5388515

This presentation is part of the 2023-24 Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society’s Lecture Series sponsored by the Department of History.  Since 1908, the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society has been regularly holding talks on a wide range of topics on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the Thunder Bay Museum (425 Donald Street East) from September to April. All presentations are free and open to the public. 

Join us on 26 September to hear Stephanie Pesheau (C.E.T.), the Northern Regional Director for the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists (OACETT), discuss how today’s growing success of Women in Engineering and Technology is the direct efforts of women, and mentors, of past generations.

In recent years Stephanie has augmented her career through volunteering and helping assist in creating a community of networking for “Women in Technology” thus opening communications and developing support and kinship for other women working in the STEM field locally and throughout the province. Her presentation will also discuss how she was able to turn her love of math and art into a career that she loves and how she inspires and assists other young women in pursuing their dreams working in STEM, taking note that opportunities will find you when you follow your passions.

Speaker Bio: Stephanie Pesheau is the Electrical Designer and CAD Development Supervisor for TBT Engineering Limited in Thunder Bay, a representative for the Thunder Bay chapter of the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists (OACETT) as well as a teacher at Confederation College in the Engineering Technology program. She is a strong believer in empowering girls to follow their dreams in technology, engineering and math.

This presentation will be in-person and online. Complete information and how to register to attend virtually can be found at https://thunderbaymuseum1.wildapricot.org/event-5388013

This presentation is part of the 2023-24 Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society’s Lecture Series sponsored by the Department of History.  Since 1908, the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society has been regularly holding talks on a wide range of topics on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the Thunder Bay Museum (425 Donald Street East) from September to April. All presentations are free and open to the public.

Every year the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society is proud to host a lecture presented by graduate students from the Lakehead University Department of History.  

This year current Master of Arts in History students Christine Green and Haileigh Riddell will be presenting (abstracts and bios below). This will be an in-person event that can also be viewed online via ZOOM. Their presentations will also be posted to the Museum's YouTube channel at a later date. 

Instructions about how to watch live online can be found at https://thunderbaymuseum1.wildapricot.org/event-5093925

Presentation Information:

"Constructing a Collective Past: Locating Indigenous Histories in Local Narratives" - Christine Green
Abstract: Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action #67 calls for the federal government to undertake a national review of museum policies and best practices to determine compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and make recommendations. Of specific importance is UNDRIP Article 15.1, outlining Indigenous peoples’ right to have their cultures, traditions, and histories appropriately represented in education and public information.

One of the main ways the public interacts with Canadian history is through museums and public history initiatives. So, the question becomes what representations of Indigenous histories are being presented in museums? This presentation will examine exhibition and programming practices in museums located in Northwestern Ontario in order to analyze the collective imagining of community histories in relation to Indigenous peoples. By examining exhibits, programming, and outreach materials at various museums across Northwestern Ontario a pattern of representation emerges where Indigenous histories are relegated to the fur trade era and earlier. This presentation will examine why this pattern exists, what museums are doing to correct it, and what museums need in order to support the major changes required.

Speaker Bio: Christine Green is MA student at Lakehead University and is completing her thesis on Indigenous representation in community museums in Northwestern Ontario. She has worked in several community and specialized museums. She also works as a high school teacher for both the Superior-Greenstone and Lakehead School Boards.

"Eugenics: A comparison of Ontario and Alberta while examining the connection to Northwestern Ontario" - Haileigh Riddell
Abstract: A comparative look at the Eugenics Society of Canada, based in Ontario, and the Alberta Eugenics Board and the connection to Northwestern Ontario. In comparing the two provincial eugenic organizations, the talk explores the similarities and differences in key policies, legislation, and public sentiment, while discussing the lasting impact of eugenic practices in Canada.

Speaker Bio: Haileigh Riddell is currently pursuing her MA in History at Lakehead University and holds an HBA in History with a minor in Criminology at Lakehead. She is also a Canada Graduate Scholarship – SSHRC recipient. Her MA research examines settler-colonial health interactions. She is focusing on eugenics in Canada, with a specific interest in Ontario and Alberta.

The 2022-2023 Thunder Bay Historical Museum lecture series is sponsored by Lakehead University's Department of History.

Nancy Angus will present "Places and Faces: Gathering Older Adults’ Stories of Connecting, Belonging, Placemaking in Thunder Bay." More information will be posted in the coming month. 

This will be a in-person event that is free to view. The lecture will be broadcast live via ZOOM for those who cannot attend in-person and recorded and posted to the Museum's YouTube at a later date.

The 2022-2023 Thunder Bay Historical Museum lecture series is sponsored by Lakehead University's Department of History.

Please join the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society for a virtual lecture from Dr. Michael O'Hagan on Camp 100 (Neys). This will be a virtual event that is free to view.

This presentation will explore the history of Camp 100, an internment camp situated on the coast of Lake Superior, from its inception in 1941 to its eventual closing in 1946. Tracing the camp's history from its origins as an internment camp for German combatant officers, I will examine how the camp was repurposed to house Enemy Merchant Seamen and Civilian Internees and, later, some of the most extreme Nazi prisoners interned in Canada. Relying heavily on archival records and historical photographs, I will explore what daily life was like for hundreds of German POWs who unexpectedly found themselves living on the North Shore of Lake Superior. 

 Dr. Michael O'Hagan is a historian researching German POWs in Canada during the Second World War. He completed his PhD in History at Western University in London, Ontario in 2020 and his dissertation focused on the employment of German POWs in labour projects scattered across Canada. He continues researching POWs in Canada and publishes his research on his blog, www.powsincanada.ca.

ZOOM INFORMATION: 

How did Thunder Bay get its name? Why were two almost identical names placed on the ballot when citizens were asked to make their choice from three options in the 1969 plebiscite? Was the result contrived by local and provincial politicians who wanted a clean break with the past? Or was it a genuine expression of the electors’ will?

Dr. Peter Raffo seeks answers and discovers some interesting new evidence.

This will be a in-person event that is free to view. The lecture will be broadcast live via ZOOM for those who cannot attend in-person and recorded and posted to the Museum's YouTube at a later date.  

Speaker Bio:

Since 1970, Peter has maintained a continuing interest in the amalgamation of the Twin Cities. He has published several articles in Papers and Records on the history and consequences of this seminal event in the life of Thunder Bay. In 1995 he oversaw the creation of an Oral History of Amalgamation, which included interviews with politicians, city administrators and staff who had been involved in the process.

ZOOM INFORMATiON:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83981463734?pwd=UlRFSTl4RGVMZ3hCcU5SRVZUSk5OUT09

Passcode: 530127

The 2022-2023 Thunder Bay Historical Museum lecture series is sponsored by Lakehead University's Department of History.

The Department of History, Department of Geography and the Environment, and the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Mining and Exploration invite you to join the authors of Mining Country: A History of Canada’s Mines and Miners, Drs. Arn Keeling and John Sandlos, who will discuss the history of mining in Canada and how the industry has shaped the country.

There are countless mining towns across Canada and each one has played an important role in mining history. Arn and John will talk specifically about how mining in Northern Ontario has shaped both local and national history.

This will be an in-person and virtual event.  This event will be recorded for rebroadcast later.

To register and find out how to take part virtually, go to https://thunderbaymuseum1.wildapricot.org/event-4837411?fs=e&s=cl

This event is brought to you by the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, Department of Geography and the Environment, the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Mining and Exploration, James Lorimer & Co Ltd, and the Department of History.

Speaker Bios:

John Sandlos is a professor of history at Memorial University of Newfoundland, with a research focus on the history of abandoned mines in Northern Canada. He is the author of Hunters at the Margin and co-editor (with Arn Keeling) of Mining and Communities in Northern Canada: History, Politics, Memory. He lives in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Arn Keeling is a professor of geography at Memorial University of Newfoundland. His research examines the environmental legacies of abandoned mines, mine closure and remediation, and the social issues surrounding environmental contamination and its effects on northern Indigenous communities. He co-directed the Toxic Legacies Project with John Sandlos, conducting community-engaged research on the history and legacy of Giant Mine. He lives in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.