This lesson will focus on understanding the challenges Freedom Seekers faced with the decision on whether to attempt the Underground Railroad to Canada.
BHM Series Part Two: Abolitionist Activities in St. Catharines
The wealth of abolitionist activity that took place in St. Catharines during the Underground Railroad Era tells a story of a community of people committed to aiding in the escape of Freedom Seekers.
VMLS via Podcast – Where They Walk: the Making of the Annual Guided Spirit Walks at Victoria Lawn Cemetery
Today’s lecture features Adrian Petry, visitor services coordinator here at the Museum. In this presentation, he looks at the research that goes into creating our annual Guided Spirit Walks at Victoria Lawn Cemetery, and how dark tourism like ghost walks have influenced the practice public history and the public’s imagination of historical personalities.
BHM Series Part One: Welcome to St. Catharines, Canada West
Mary Shadd wrote a thirty-six-page book called A Plea for Emigration to share information on Canada. Shadd came to Canada after the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 as a means of helping Freedom Seekers who had managed to make it across the border.
History from Here: The Lake Street Armoury
On this episode of History from Here, Sara takes you to the Lake Street Armoury. Not only does this conspicuous landmark help us understand our local military history, but was also once a social hub for the community.
Reminiscences of 10 years of Guided Spirit Walks
There’s nothing quite like a guided tour through a cemetery. There are a lot of versions of this type of event. A spooky walk in the dark, a theatrical ‘spirit walk’ featuring actors portraying folks buried in the cemetery, or even an afternoon historian-led walking tour. Everyone has their favourite experience but it’s the theatrical spirit walk that advances important and personal historical narratives with a high return on interpretive value. The spirit walks also have the unique ability to allow us to lift the primary sources found in the Museum’s collection off the pages of the archives and bring them to life. In most cases, there may not be another opportunity to present those archival sources to the public.
History from Here: The Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course
Home of the St. Catharines Rowing Club, Brock University Rowing, the Ridley Rowing Club, and the Ridley Graduate Boat Club; a training site for numerous school rowing teams, and a venue for rowing competitions of all levels, including the highly reputable Henley Regatta – the Royal Canadian Henley Course has welcomed and cultivated world-class rowers and coaches on its waters, since 1903.
On this episode of History from Here, Sara takes you to Rennie Park, across from the Henley Grandstand, to learn about the Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course in St. Catharines, Ontario.
Remembering the Welland House
From what we’ve seen online and in the news over the last few weeks, it is clear that the loss of the Welland House Hotel has hit the St. Catharines community hard. It is no different here at the St. Catharines Museum. Within all the varied work of a museum, the history of the Welland House would come up at least once a week among staff, volunteers, researchers, and visitors in some way. It’s tangible loss is stark.
Eureka! Inventive Moments from our History
For Museum Week’s “Eureka Moments” theme, we’re counting down the top 5 Eureka Moments in St. Catharines history.
There are definitely more than 5 eureka moments in St. Catharines history, so if we left one out that you feel MUST be included, add it in the comments!
Blossom Time in Niagara
As we near the end of another blossom season here in Niagara, our collective draw to the mesmerising colours and spring smells of the many blossoming fruit orchards dotting across our region is nothing new. Rather, Blossom Time in Niagara is part of a rich history of fruit farming and scenic tourism.
Picture This: Scrapbooking
The tradition or art of scrapbooking emerges from an inherent desire for individuals to leave a legacy. Tangible, but highly visual in nature, a scrapbook is a careful curation of images, clippings, and other ephemera that tells a story of someone’s life at a particular moment in time. Unlike a diary or journal, which are much more intimate and introspective, a scrapbook can be personal, but there is also a performative element of display, or presentation in the way each page is organized. Scrapbooks are curated with an audience in mind.
History from Here: St. James Church at 405 Merritt Street
A building dismantled and relocated to a different community, then destroyed by fire and rebuilt, only to be met with a treacherous tornado a few years later. The story of St. James Anglican Church is a story of grit.
General Tubman: St. Catharines 1858 – Part III
Enslaved African Americans would continue to escape from the Eastern Shore in the summer and the fall of that year. Some were caught and were forced to return to a life of enslavement while many others made their way to St. Catharines.
General Tubman: St. Catharines, 1858 – Part II
We do know that on April 7th,1858, Tubman was in St. Catharines at the boarding house she rented. The boarding house, which no longer stands, was located in the “Colored Village” on North Street behind the British Methodist Episcopal Church (BMEC) which she attended. The Black settlement was located on the outskirts of the town. It was at this boarding house where she received and met, John Brown, a notorious, radical abolitionist, for the first time.
History from Here: Richard Pierpoint at Centennial Gardens
We are so pleased to introduce the newest virtual series presented by the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre: […]
General Tubman: St. Catharines, 1858 – Part I
At the start of 1858 Tubman was living in the boarding house she rented in St. Catharines, Canada West (now Ontario) with her elderly parents; Benjamin Ross Sr. and Ritta ‘Rit’ Green Ross. The town of St. Catharines was a hub for abolitionist activity. With a population of about 6,500 in 1857, around 600 were people of African descent, and the majority of them were self-liberated African Americans.
Museum Chat Live! E607 – The Howe Report Revisited
On this episode of Museum Chat Live! Sara and Adrian revisit their lecture on the Howe Report presented as a part of the Museum’s Virtual Museum Lecture Series in November of 2020. The lecture focussed on the Howe Report, or using it’s proper name, “The Refugees from Slavery in Canada West: a Report to the Freedman’s Inquiry Commission,” written by Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe after his visit to St. Catharines in 1863 to report on the condition of refugee Freedom Seekers to Congress. Howe’s interviews were transcribed and reveal a lot about our community in 1863.
Historic Schools of St. Catharines – Alexandra Public School
St. Catharines is the home to many built historic landmarks including educational institutions.
Museum Classroom: The Old Canals
Explore how the former Welland Canals looked and what has become of them. Understand the importance of protecting historical places and landmarks.
Museum Chat Live! 507 – 75th Anniversary of Victory in Europe
In this episode of Museum Chat Live! we are talking to Mayor Walter Sendzik who tells us about his trip to the Netherlands and Bergen op Zoom in October 2019 to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands and the contributions of local soldiers in that campaign. Kathleen Powell and Adrian Petry will also chat about St. Catharines and the home front during the Second World War and about how the city welcomed its soldiers home to the community.
Museum Classroom: Re-purposing the Welland Canal
Explore how the former Welland Canals looked and what has become of them since. Analyse photographs and explore the importance of protecting historical objects and places.
Museum Classroom: Virtual Tours and Programs
St. Catharines Museum is presenting free virtual tours and programs!
The St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre is happy to offer free, private, booked virtual school and educational programs and tours.
Our engaging and experienced staff are ready to take your students on a virtual tour of our permanent galleries or behind-the-scenes in our Museum’s collection. Other fun and exciting opportunities involve programs like The Travelling Museum and Jr. Engineers, which have been modified slightly to ensure enjoyment for all your students learning from home.
BHM: The Howe Report Part 4
The picture of Canada and of St. Catharines I had in my head was one that was a ‘safe haven’ for Freedom Seekers. Technically true: legal freedom was available to Freedom Seekers. But St. Catharines wasn’t much of a ‘promised land’ afterall. Understandably, it is difficult to reconcile this information found in the testimonies of the Howe Commission, into the established picture we have of St. Catharines.
BHM: The Howe Report Part 3
St. Catharines in this period was truly the industrial hub of Niagara. Agriculture and shipbuilding – the largest employers – dominated the landscape. The Welland Canal brought innovation, wealth, technology, and tourists to St. Catharines. It was dirty – animals had the run of downtown, but it was also clean – Victorian tourists swept into the city at this time to take advantage of all the recreational opportunities available.
BMH: The Howe Report Part 2
I have seen hundreds of cases where families were separated. I have seen them in droves 150-200 together – men, women, and children – linked side by side. There used to be two drivers to a drove, one driver in front and one behind. I have seen them from eight or nine years old up to 45 and 50; and when the mothers were sold, I have seen young babes, torn from the cradle in these gangs. I have seen this, many and many a time, and heard them cry fit to break their hearts.
BHM: The Howe Report Part 1
Black history is a part of Canadian history and that history includes racism. It’s difficult to come to terms with, I know. I love sharing the exciting story of Harriet Tubman and others who found freedom and refuge in St. Catharines. I have difficulty coming to terms with the idea that even though Freedom Seekers were welcome and supported in the community, they (and other minority or immigrant groups) were treated poorly, were openly disrespected, and experienced racism.
Yearbook Flip: High School Variety Shows
In the era of the Ed Sullivan Show, student variety shows were a staple production in high schools. Though variety shows first gained their popularity on the radio, live television brought a new immediacy and intimacy between the viewers at home and the stars on stage. As variety shows saturated pop culture, it was only natural for the sensation to make its way into the high school auditorium. Variety shows became a fun opportunity for teenagers to showcase their talents among their peers, and emulate the celebrities they adored on television.
Yearbook Flip: Festive School Spirit
Ho ho ho, Santa Claus is coming to….high school! As the holidays season gets into full swing and St. Catharines decks its halls, it’s always fun to look back and reminisce on holidays past – including the festive spirit that filled the halls of St. Catharines’ high schools in our youth. This time on Yearbook Flip, we’ll look back to the 1960s and consider how the baby boomer generation got into the holiday spirit in their high schools.
St. Catharines Collegiate During the First World War
November 11th marked Remembrance Day, the 101st anniversary of the end of the Great War. When I was told that the St. Catharines Museum Collection had over 250 yearbooks spanning back to 1913, I was immediately curious as to what the St. Catharines Collegiate Institute yearbook would look like in the war years. So, I flipped through the Christmas 1917 edition of the Vox Collegiensis.
Yearbook Flip: Tourism and The Great Depression
While the 1930s is certainly characterized by The Great Depression, it also marked a move toward historical site reconstruction and the growth of heritage tourism. As historian Shannon Ricketts claims, it was the economic downturn that provided public works funding for serious conservation works. Depression relief funds granted by provincial agencies led to the restoration of various historic sites in Ontario; including Niagara.
Yearbook Flip: Into the Second World War
September 2019 marks the 80th anniversary of the Second World War. In the midst of the 1930s and Great Depression, political tensions in Europe grew strong enough for Canadians to feel the tremors. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis had been in power in Germany since 1933 and European powers, still recovering from the devastation of the Great War only two decades earlier, were willing to do whatever they could to avoid the outbreak of another war. The murmurings of impending conflict in Europe heard by the ears of St. Catharines’ youth?
90th Anniversary of Plane Crash Tragedy
September 14th, 2019 marked the 90th anniversary of a plane crash tragedy that occurred in St. Catharines. It was supposed […]
Guided Spirit Walks 2019 Behind-the-Scenes: STORIES THAT DIDN’T MAKE IT
This year’s Guided Spirit Walk research process started with general themes that could be explored. This year’s theme “Glimpses of […]
Guided Spirit Walks 2019 Behind-the-Scenes: RESEARCH
Welcome to a behind-the-scenes look at our research and writing process, rehearsals, costumes, and much more for this year’s Guided Spirit Walks, with some sneak peeks of what is coming in September!
Pride in St. Catharines
At the beginning of June, the St. Catharines Museum put out a call out to our online followers to send […]
Pride in St. Catharines: A Call to the Community
June is Pride Month. The St. Catharines Museum cares for artifacts of all colours of the rainbow but, like many […]
#WomenInCulture: The Foundations of our Community
Museum Week is a global online campaign celebrating the impact of museums and cultural institutions. The campaign kicks off today […]
Yearbook Flip: Nursing a Voice to Lead
Nurses Week, and International Nurses Day (May 12), celebrates the roles nurses play in saving lives and improving the health […]
Yearbook Flip: Girls Athletics
In reflecting on International Women’s Day last month, and the theme of #BalanceforBetter, I wanted to explore how female teenagers were represented in the sports pages of St. Catharines High School yearbooks. Due to traditional ideas of gender roles, athletics in North America have a long history of being male-centered and male-dominated. How did students work to address this imbalance in St. Catharines high schools in the twentieth century?
Yearbook Flip: The Revolutionary Sixties
How did teenagers in St. Catharines respond to the social and cultural revolution of the Sixties? Student yearbooks are a great way to explore how students reacted to the world around them.