History Graduate Students' Museum Presentations

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.