Explore the crucial role of kitchen gardens for Freedom Seekers in 19th-century St. Catharines, as they overcame myths about Canada.
They Said Canada Was…Part 3: Everything They Had There Was Imported
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.
Know Your Neighbours – Delos White Beadle
In Canada, Delos White Beadle of St. Catharines, a prominent figure in horticulture and gardening, exemplified how legitimacy in horticulture became increasingly tied to institutional affiliation, publishing, and participation in formal associations.
Know Your Neighbours – Sidney Rose Badgley
The architect of Massey Hall in Toronto, Sidney Rose Badgley was born in 1850 in Ernest Township, Ontario near Kingston. As a young boy however, the family moved to St. Catharines. Badgley attended Grantham Academy on Church Street, a building that still stands today and is home to Bridges Niagara.
14th Annual Guided Spirit Walks – The Source Material
It’s this imbalance of the application of justice, which runs through all the source materials – letters, diaries, court records, jail lists, summaries of convictions, and most of all, newspapers – that threads the many narratives of crime together in this year’s walks. Hundreds of pages of newspapers and handfuls of letters, testimony, and court records show us a St. Catharines that in some ways is unrecognizable, and in other ways, show us that society still has a long way to go.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
Pre-Order Know Your Ships 2024
Know Your Ships 2024 is available for pre-order. Please come speak to a Hospitality Associate about reserving your copy.
Grab a Plate: Food Traditions in the St. Catharines Black Community
This year’s four-part Black History Month blog series is all about community. In previous blogs we have often focused on […]
The Sound of a Community II: Blues and Jazz in St. Catharines
This year’s four-part Black History Month blog series is all about community. In previous blogs we have often focused on […]
The Sound of a Community: Plantation Songs and Spiritual Music in St. Catharines
This year’s four-part Black History Month blog series is all about community. In previous blogs we have often focused on […]
Who Can Play? A History of Sports in St. Catharines’ Black Community
This year’s four-part Black History Month blog series is all about community. In previous blogs we have often focused on […]
Neutral Niagara: Indigenous Pasts and Presents in St. Catharines
Part 3 of 3 Click here for Part 1 or Click here for Part 2 Toward the Present By the […]
Neutral Niagara: Indigenous Pasts and Presents in St. Catharines
Part 2 of 3 Click here for Part 1 or Click here for Part 3 The Neutrals and Barbican Heights […]
Neutral Niagara: Indigenous Pasts and Presents in St. Catharines
Part 1 of 3 Discussing the Indigenous history of St. Catharines and the Niagara Region can be a particularly challenging […]
The St. Catharines Women’s Literary Club
To mark International Women’s Day, we are looking at the rich history of the Women’s Literary Club, a St. Catharines institution for the education and enrichment of women in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
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.
Life in the News: Historical Records After the Underground Railroad
Newspapers are an important source of information in finding the historical pulse of a community. While the documentation isn’t perfect, and there are always gaps of subjects that didn’t receive coverage, the news stories and photographs can tell us a lot about the tangible history of the subject of news and the history of the community’s intangible biases and interests.
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.
St. Catharines Museum Black History Resources
With over thirty different resources centred on Black History there is plenty of content to catch up on this Black History Month. The St. Catharines Museum has created this resource to help navigate our content by detailing where it can be accessed and what it is on. Included are Black History Blog Posts, Lectures, Presentations and Podcasts detailing Black History in St. Catharines.
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.
VMLS via Podcast: Myths of the Underground Railroad
Today’s lecture, originally presented in February 2021, features public programmer Sara Nixon with a lecture about the most prevalent and persistent myths about the Underground Railroad.
VMLS vis Podcast – Visiting Abolitionists
Today’s lecture features very special guest, local historian, and trustee of the Salem Chapel, BME Church Rochelle Bush. Rochelle discusses how St. Catharines became a hub of abolitionist activity in the 1850s and 60s, and the famous names to visited St. Catharines to do their important work.
VMLS via Podcast – Lost and Forgotten: the Third Welland Canal
Today’s lecture explores the hidden history of the Third Welland Canal. As one of the first major infrastructure projects following Confederation, the canal was a huge success but today is mostly forgotten. Please enjoy “Lost and Forgotten: the Third Welland Canal” originally presented on October 27, 2020.
The Remarkable Estelle Cuffe Hawley
Estelle Cuffe Hawley, here forever known as the ‘remarkable’ Estelle Cuffe Hawley (according to me, anyway) was described as strong-willed, engaged in the community, caring and hardworking. Cuffe Hawley led a life filled with energy, drive, poise, and, of course, hats! Estelle Cuffe Hawley’s penchant for hats won her pride of place in our ‘Hold onto Your Hats’ exhibit, now on display here at the Museum.
BHM Series Part Four- Prioritizing Education
Imagining a world where everyone isn’t guaranteed an opportunity to read and write is strange to us. While studying history, […]
VMLS via Podcast – Ontario’s Racially Segregated Schools
Today’s lecture features a very special guest. We were thrilled to welcome Natasha Henry, PhD candidate at York University and President of the Ontario Black History Society. Natasha’s lecture on racially segregated schools in Ontario was fascinating and we think you’ll really enjoy it. This lecture was originally produced on October 13, 2020.
BHM Series Part Three: Letters From St. Catharines
Abolitionist William Still aided some eight-hundred Freedom Seekers in their journey to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Still, a clerk from Philadelphia, kept meticulous records regarding the part he played in the Underground Railroad. Still’s book: The Underground Railroad contains correspondence written by St. Catharines Freedom Seekers that he had aided. The contents of these letters vary in subject matter on everything from where to forward material goods from their old lives to the details of helping loved ones escape. Examination of these letters gives a better understanding of the transition period Freedom Seekers experienced when they reached St. Catharines and provides perspective on what they needed most to start their new life.