Explore the culinary history of Freedom Seekers in St. Catharines, focusing on the significance of sweet potatoes in their diet.
They Said Canada Was… Part 2: That’s How It Came to Grow There
Explore the role of corn in 19th-century St. Catharines as culinary historian Abbey Stansfield uncovers the truths for Freedom Seekers.
They Said Canada Was… Part 1: No Hogs, No Cows, and All Such Stuff
Celebrate Black History Month by exploring important dishes that link together food, celebration, and history for Freedom Seekers in 19th century St. Catharines.
People of the Parks Part 4: The Southeast
Click HERE for Part 1, HERE for Part 2, and HERE for Part 3 Welcome to our People of the Parks […]
People of the Parks Part 3: The Southwest
Click HERE for Part 1 and HERE for Part 2 Welcome to our People of the Parks blog series. This four-part […]
People of the Parks Part 2: The Northeast
Click HERE for Part 1 Welcome to our People of the Parks blog series. This four-part series is a companion to […]
People of the Parks Part 1: The Northwest
Welcome to our People of the Parks blog series. This four-part series is a companion to “You are Here,” our temporary exhibit […]
Museum Chat Live! E1005 – Food, Glorious Food Blog Series Wrap-up
On this episode of Museum Chat Live! we’re chatting local food history and baking as we wrap up our (now beloved) Food, Glorious Food Blog Series. The series was a chance for Abbey Stansfield (public programmer) and Kathleen Powell (curator) to explore local food history by baking through historic recipes in our collection. This bake-off was a way to explore food history in a first-hand way and draw attention to our temporary exhibit of the same name, on display at the Museum through the autumn of this year. Listen in for a chat about food history, writing a blog series together, challenges in baking historic recipes, the things we learned, and most importantly: our favourite desserts!
Food, Glorious Food! Part 8: Peach Pie Ontario
Throughout the series, Curator Kathleen Powell and Public Programmer Abbey Stansfield (both the expert bakers here at the Museum), have been exploring Victorian-era recipes and local food history to help us all appreciate the importance of food and its history in our daily lives.
Please enjoy the final installation of the series, Part 7: Peach Pie, baked by Abbey Stansfield.
Thank you to Abbey and Kathleen for an engaging and tasty blog series. And a big thank you to all of our readers for their support, participation, and sharing food memories with us!
Food, Glorious Food! Part 7: Calla Lillies
Things are about to become a whole lot sweeter with Part 7: Calla Lillies, written and baked by Curator Kathleen Powell.
Food, Glorious Food! Part 6: Wartime Cake
In this edition of Food, Glorious Food, we’re back with another sweet treat: Wartime Cake, written and baked by Curator Kathleen Powell.
Food, Glorious Food! Part 5: Cheese Timbals
In this edition of Food, Glorious Food, Kathleen tries a recipe for Cheese Timbals from the St. George’s ACW Jubilee Cookbook.
Hiding in Plain Sight Part 4: Hiding Our History
In part four of our annual Black History Month blog series we explore the persistence of myths and their contribution to our national identity.
Food, Glorious Food! Part 4: Pink Velvet
In this edition of Food, Glorious Food, we discover the strange world of Jello in the 1920s with a post written by our curator Kathleen Powell.
Hiding in Plain Sight Part 3: Living in Plain Sight
In part three of our annual Black History Month blog series, we explore the experiences of life for those Freedom Seekers who publicly settled in St. Catharines.
Hiding in Plain Sight Part 2: Extradition
In part two of our annual Black History Month blog series, we explore the history of extradition in Upper Canada/Canada West and the legal protections afforded to Freedom Seekers once they “crossed that line.”
Food, Glorious Food! Part 3: Lemon Tartlet
Things are about to become a whole lot sweeter with Part 3: the Lemon Tartlet, written and baked by Public Programmer Abbey Stansfield.
Hiding in Plain Sight Part 1: The Rumour Mill
In part one of our annual Black History Month blog series, we explore the root of the myth that Freedom Seekers remained in hiding even after arriving in St. Catharines on the Underground Railroad.
Food, Glorious Food! Part 2: Baking Powder Biscuits
Welcome to the Food, Glorious Food blog series. This new, limited series is a companion blog series to the Museum’s […]
Food, Glorious Food! Part 1: Almond Macaroons
Welcome to the Food, Glorious Food blog series. This new, limited series is a companion blog series to the Museum’s […]
What Happened to the Old Canals? Part 4: Change Management
In part four of our series about what happened to the old canals, we discover the complexity of managing change against a sense of place.
What Happened to the Old Canals? Part 3: The Dumping Ground
In part three of our blog series about the old canals, we look at how and why the old canals have been abandoned and slowly erased from the landscape.
What Happened to the Old Canals? Part 2: The Modern City
In part two of our blog series about what happened to the old canals, we look at the establishment of the modern city and its impatience for the old canals.
What Happened to the Old Canals? Part 1: Apathy and Indifference
In part one of a new series examining the fate of the old canals, we look at the centuries of “apathy and indifference” stuck to the Welland Canal.
Art in St. Catharines: The Merritt Family
While the Merritt family is revered for their contribution to the building of the canal, their relationship to the artistic […]
Picture This: 19th-Century Studio Photographers in St. Catharines
St. Catharines was on board with the photography boom of the late 19th century. The St. Catharines Museum collection contains […]
Yearbook Flip – Student Stanzas
1972-73 St. Catharines high school alumni are now celebrating their 50-year anniversary. Though they no doubt have witnessed many changes […]
Filling in the Gaps: Historical Records After the Underground Railroad
The stories told over this blog series highlight moments of success, aspiration, challenge, pride, joy, and determination in the lives of Black individuals. These are universal concepts we all feel and experience. These are stories of everyday people, People of Colour who lived, went to school, worked, made friends, and pursued a full life in St. Catharines. These were the lives Freedom Seekers aspired to for themselves and their families when they arrived in St. Catharines more than 170 years ago.
Life in the City Directories: Historical Records After the Underground Railroad
One brief line in a city directory can offer endless possibility in delving into the working experiences of the people who lived and worked in St. Catharines throughout our past. By tracing the names of Black community members from the earliest editions of our directories in the 1850s through to today, we can trace the legacies first sowed by Freedom Seekers, as well as the continuity of determination and hard work within the community.
Life in the Year Books: Historical Records After the Underground Railroad
As a source, high school yearbooks certainly bring light to the achievements of Black students through the decades of the 20th century, but beyond this, they also offer unique insight into how these students navigated such a formative period of their lives. Though the Black student population in St. Catharines’ high school was small through most of the 20th century, students of colour made considerable impact in their school communities, from their academic successes to contributing their talents to clubs and sports teams. Black experiences, visible on the pages of local yearbooks, shows us all aspects of student life: friendship, school spirit, team participation, and aspirations.
Who Stayed? Historical Records After the Underground Railroad
There is no information available as to why this population change, although the historical record might help shed some light on some of the reasons, such as difficulty finding work due to discriminatory hiring practices, people moving to be closer to family or support groups in other communities, people moving back to the United States after the Civil War, etc. We can only speculate based on the historical information available. The numbers don’t illustrate motivations.
Should I Stay? Historical Records After the Underground Railroad
Our series this year will look at the lives of those of the Black community left behind – those few Freedom Seekers who stayed to build a new life and those, along with their descendants, who had been the backbone of the community’s efforts to help during the Underground Railroad.
Stories From the Front: St Catharines’ Wartime Sources Part Four
John D. Hills was taken prisoner of war by the Germans after the raid at Dieppe in 1942. He remained a prisoner until his liberation in 1945.
Stories From the Front: St Catharines’ Wartime Sources Part Three
Within days of Canada declared war on Germany in 1914 the 19th Lincoln Regiment and the 44th Lincoln and Welland Regiment were placed on active duty. The men from these regiments were charged with protecting potential targets in Niagara including the hydroelectric sites, bridges, railways and the canal.
Stories from the Front: St Catharines’ Wartime Sources Part Two
ohn “Jack” Hardy transcribed his diaries after the war to ensure that his experience fighting in Europe wasn’t lost.
Stories from the Front: St. Catharines’ Wartime Sources Part One
This November we are using the Museum’s blog to take a more in-depth investigation over four blog posts into a selection of the sources featured in Stories from the Front.
My Year with Mrs. Beeton Episode 11 – A Final Look and Celebrating with Christmas Pudding
In our last installment of My Year with Mrs. Beeton we take a look at the Christmas Pudding and try our hand at this interpid dessert! Our year comes to a close with a quick look back on the book that immersed us in 19th century domestic management.
How the Story Goes: Reexamining the Story of the First Welland Canal Part 4
The whole point of reexamining the story then is to show that the reduction of the narrative undervalues significant contributions and struggles and is an injustice to the memory of the people who built the canal. Can you imagine the labourers hearing the story as it is traditionally told and rightly crying out ‘what about us!? We dug the darn thing!” Or Merritt himself admitting “woah, woah, it was not that easy.” The simplified version risks undervaluing the accomplishments they all spent their lives (literally and figuratively) working for.
My Year with Mrs. Beeton – Part 10 – Invalid Cookery
As we approach the end of our year of adventures with Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, for our second to last post, let’s take a look at what Mrs. Beeton has to say about cooking for the sick.
How the Story Goes: Reexamining the Story of the First Welland Canal Part 3
There is no such thing as an easy infrastructure project. But when it comes to the First Welland Canal, it seems the project was plagued with bad luck.